Teachers' knowledge and perceptions of children's and adolescents' abuse

Abstract

Violence against children and adolescents affects our society, being present in all social groups. Education professionals play an important role in the identification and notification of child abuse in the school environment. Therefore, this research study had the objective of verifying the knowledge and perception of the teachers of municipal schools of Caruaru (state of Pernambuco, Brazil) concerning child abuse. The sample was non-probabilistic, in which 73 professionals were interviewed. The research technique used in the study was the extensive direct observation, and a specific structured form was employed. The studied variables were: frequency of child abuse, signs of violence, sex and age of the victim, adopted attitude, teachers' knowledge of protection institutions, information received on the subject and its importance. According to the teachers, the frequency of child abuse is low (16.4%), and hematoma (44.8%) and marks of objects and hands (20%) are the most frequent signs. The most mentioned age and sex were school-age (64.4%) and male (56.2%). In 87.3% of the cases the teachers mentioned the Child Guardianship Council as the protection institution for the child. A high percentage of teachers did not have contact with the subject during their education (60.3%). Most of them had some basic knowledge on the subject and all of them stated that it was important to have knowledge about it and would like to receive training.