Since abuse and interpersonal trauma exist in our society, schools and teachers have the duty to prevent them or at least to mitigate their consequences. If a pupil is a victim of domestic violence and the school staff notice it, but do not react, they support such actions. The theoretical part of this thesis presents the forms of abuse, characteristics of both victims and abusers, along with relevant laws and regulations that govern the area of child abuse, domestic abuse and measures taken by responsible institutions in the Republic of Slovenia. It also focuses on the school's role and presents the factors and reasons for child abuse.
The empirical part studies and analyzes the degree to which teachers and support staff are familiar with specific signs of child abuse, their ability to intervene in case of abuse of pupils, whether or not they cooperate with external institutions (Social Work Center, the police, the justice system, therapists …), the amount of knowledge they gain during their undergraduate education and whether or not they attend seminars and workshops on child abuse. The study is quantitative and it was carried out using questionnaires that were distributed among teachers and support staff of primary schools. Its findings are compared to the findings of the same study, carried out in 2007.
The study shows that support staff feel more competent for the intervention when suspecting child abuse than class teachers. The participants did not cover subjects from the field of abuse or inappropriate treatment of children during their undergraduate education. Support staff are better at recognizing the signs of emotional violence and sexual abuse, while both groups are on the same level when it comes to noticing physical abuse and neglect. It is also noted that the findings are similar to those from 2007, the only relevant difference is that this time, the participants were better at recognizing signs of sexual abuse than participants from 2007.
Suggestions and specific records of participants are also given in order to improve the work of teachers and support staff in the future.
The purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of recognizing abuse or inappropriate treatment of children to class teachers and support staff, and the importance of discussing abuse and upgrading our knowledge on the topic.
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