An Investigation of Preschool Teachers' Recognition of Possible Child Abuse and Neglect in Izmir, Turkey

Child abuse and neglect have a potentially deleterious impact on children's physical, social, and psychological development. Preschool teachers may play a crucial role in the protection, early detection, and the intervention of child abuse and neglect, as they have the opportunity to establish a close contact with the families and to observe day-to-day changes in pupils' behavior. The main purpose of this study is to investigate preschool teachers' experiences and characteristics in relation to their awareness of possible child abuse and neglect signs. A questionnaire survey was designed and administered to 197 preschool teachers who work for the public preschools in the Izmir province of Turkey. In addition to the questionnaire items, a 34-item Likert-type scale measuring the level of familiarity with possible signs of child abuse and neglect was developed. This scale had an internal consistency of 0.94. The results revealed that 10.65% of preschool teachers had training regarding violence against children and 2.03% of them had training in child abuse and neglect. Overall, 35% of all teachers reported that they had prior experience with pupils who were exposed to child abuse and neglect. Moreover, statistical analyses indicated that being a parent and having training in child abuse and neglect, having experience with maltreated children, and having higher job status were significant factors in preschool teachers' ability to recognize the possible signs of child abuse and neglect. Our results support that teacher training in child abuse and neglect can play an important role in preschool teachers' awareness of the possible signs of child abuse and neglect.