38/38pt heading for Intro NSPCC - Emotional abuse Online survey to inform content for a debate in order to raise awareness of emotional abuse Ursula Horne February 2007

Background and methodology –Research was designed to inform content for a debate sponsored by the NSPCC as part of a campaign to raise awareness of emotional abuse in children. –Professional’s working with children were recruited via the Society & Education areas of Guardian Unlimited with traffic drivers promoting the debate. A link to the survey was also available on the NSPCC’s microsite on Guardian Unlimited –Research was conducted online using Comfirmit software –807 respondents completed the survey which ran for approximately 2 months from 19 th December 2006 – 15 th February 2007 –66% of respondents also wanted to receive the results of the survey and 28% had questions to pose to the panel for the debate

Which of the following best matches your area of employment? All respondents (807)

And for how long have you been professionally qualified? All respondents (807)

In which region of the UK do you currently live? All respondents (807)

Which, if any, of the following do you think constitutes emotional abuse? A parent or carer frequently screaming or swearing at a child or a child witnessing the ill-treatment of another were slightly more likely to be thought of as emotional abuse than preventing or forcing a child to see a parent All respondents (807)

Which, if any, of the following do you think constitutes emotional abuse? Those working in Social Services and Social Care were less likely to think that preventing a child from seeing a parent that they wanted to see was emotional abuse Professions: Education (185), Social Care (109), Social Services (109), Health (82), Early years (79)

Which, if any, of the following do you think constitutes emotional abuse? Londoners were slightly less likely to think that any of the actions were emotional abuse than those in other regions Region: London (135), SE (156), SW & Wales (129), Midlands (119), North (201)

Do you believe that emotional abuse can exist on its own or does it take place alongside other forms of abuse? All respondents (807)

Do you think the public need more awareness / education to understand what constitutes emotional abuse? All respondents (807)

In your opinion, which form of abuse is the most difficult to identify? All respondents (807)

In your opinion, which form of abuse is the most difficult to identify? Social services and social care workers were slightly more likely to think that emotional abuse was the most difficult form of abuse to identify Professions: Education (185), Social Care (109), Social Services (109), Health (82), Early years (79)

In your opinion, which form of abuse is the most difficult to identify? Those who had worked with children for longer than 5 years were slightly more likely to think that emotional abuse was harder to identify than other forms of abuse too Length qualified: In training/<1yr (129), 1-5yrs (162), 5-10yrs (135), +10yrs (381)

In your opinion, which form of abuse is the most difficult to identify? Those living in London or the Midlands were slightly more likely to think that sexual abuse was more difficult to identify Region: London (135), SE (156), SW & Wales (129), Midlands (119), North (201)

Do you think that there is enough support available to help families overcome the effects of emotional abuse? All respondents (807)

Do you think that there is enough support to help families overcome the effects of emotional abuse? Those working in Social care were the most likely professionals to think that there wasn’t sufficient support for families dealing with emotional abuse. Professions: Education (185), Social Care (109), Social Services (109), Health (82), Early years (79)

Do you think that there is enough support to help families overcome the effects of emotional abuse? Those who had been qualified the longest were the least likely to think there was enough support for families Length qualified: In training/<1yr (129), 1-5yrs (162), 5-10yrs (135), +10yrs (381)

Do you think that there is enough support available to help families overcome the effects of emotional abuse? Respondents in the Midlands were the least likely to know if there was enough resource to help families Region: London (135), SE (156), SW & Wales (129), Midlands (119), North (201)

Do you think you are seeing more cases of emotional abuse now than 5 years ago? All qualified for over 5 years (516)

Do you think you are seeing more cases of emotional abuse now than 5 years ago? Those working in Social services and health care were the most likely to think that the number of emotional abuse cases had risen in the last 5 years and social care workers the least likely. Qualified for over 5 years: Education (113), Social Care (74), Social Services (67), Health (61), Early years (43*) * CAUTION LOW BASE

Do you think you are seeing more cases of emotional abuse now than 5 years ago? Those who had worked with children for over 10 years were less likely to think that they were seeing more emotional abuse cases than those who had worked in the industry for less time Length qualified: 5-10yrs (135), +10yrs (381)

Do you think you are seeing more cases of emotional abuse now than 5 years ago? Those in the Midlands were more likely to think that they were seeing more emotional abuse cases Region: London (135), SE (156), SW & Wales (129), Midlands (119), North (201)

In the last 5 years have you had to deal with a case where the primary form of abuse was emotional abuse? All respondents (807)

In the last 5 years have you had to deal with a case where the primary form of abuse was emotional abuse? Those in Education and Early years were the least likely to have dealt with emotional abuse Professions: Education (185), Social Care (109), Social Services (109), Health (82), Early years (79)

In the last 5 years have you had to deal with a case where the primary form of abuse a child was experiencing was emotional abuse? Over half of those who had worked with children for less than a year had dealt with an emotional abuse case Length qualified: In training/<1yr (129), 1-5yrs (162), 5-10yrs (135), +10yrs (381)

In the last 5 years have you had to deal with a case where the primary form of abuse a child was experiencing was emotional abuse? Region: London (135), SE (156), SW & Wales (129), Midlands (119), North (201)

Do you feel you have the knowledge/training to deal effectively with emotional abuse cases? Less than half of professionals working with children thought that they had enough knowledge to deal effectively with an emotional abuse case All respondents (807)

Do you feel you have the knowledge/training to deal effectively with emotional abuse cases? Those working in Education or Early years were the least likely to think that they had enough training to deal with an emotional abuse case. Social care workers were the most likely. Professions: Education (185), Social Care (109), Social Services (109), Health (82), Early years (79)

Do you feel you have the knowledge/training to deal effectively with emotional abuse cases? Feeling you had had sufficient training to deal with an emotional abuse case increased in direct correlation to the length of time as a qualified professional Length qualified: In training/<1yr (129), 1-5yrs (162), 5-10yrs (135), +10yrs (381)

Do you feel you have the knowledge and training to be able to deal effectively with emotional abuse cases? Those in the Midlands and North were more likely to think that they had the experience to deal with emotional abuse cases Region: London (135), SE (156), SW & Wales (129), Midlands (119), North (201)

Do you think the health & social care professions have enough knowledge/training to effectively protect children from emotional abuse? All respondents (807)

Do you think health & social care workers have enough training to protect children from emotional abuse? Those working in social care were the least likely to think that there was enough training within their profession or in health but social services were slightly more likely to think that they had enough training Professions: Education (185), Social Care (109), Social Services (109), Health (82), Early years (79)

Do you think the health & social care professions have enough knowledge/training to effectively protect children from emotional abuse? Length of qualification/experience of working with children increased perceptions of there being a lack of knowledge within social and health care professions about emotional abuse Length qualified: In training/<1yr (129), 1-5yrs (162), 5-10yrs (135), +10yrs (381)

Do you think the health & social care professions have enough knowledge/training to effectively protect children from emotional abuse? A small minority in each region thought that health and social care workers had enough knowledge to protect children from emotional abuse Region: London (135), SE (156), SW & Wales (129), Midlands (119), North (201)

Questions for debate ‘School is one of the biggest institutions that offer stability in children’s lives do you think more could be done in teacher training about working with children that live with emotional abuse?’ ‘Whilst identifying emotional abuse is a challenge in its own right why does it take so long for agencies to respond compared to other types of abuse?’ ‘In my experience the difficulty in protecting children is when there is only emotional abuse apparent and the legal system will not take a case forward because of tangible evidence. How do we change this?’

Summary –Professionals working with children had very high levels of awareness as to what constitutes emotional abuse, although awareness was slightly lower when parents were brought into the equation. –Research provides a strong case for the need to raise awareness of emotional abuse. The majority thought it was the most difficult form of abuse to identify, particularly amongst those who had been qualified the longest. –82% thought that support for families having to deal with the effects of emotional abuse was not adequate, rising to 93% amongst Social Care workers. –44% reported dealing with more cases of emotional abuse now than 5 years ago and ¾ had dealt with an emotional abuse case within the last 5 years. –Those working in Education/Early years were the least likely to have dealt with an emotional abuse case and were the least likely profession to think that they had enough knowledge and training in order to do so. – 71% didn’t think that Health and Social Care professionals had enough training to deal with emotional abuse cases, again increasing to 78% amongst Social Care workers. Although Social Services were slightly more likely to think that they had enough training than other professions.