Browsing by Author "Ashton, V."

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    Does Ethnicity Matter? Social Workers’ Personal Attitudes and Professional Behaviors in Reporting Child Maltreatment.
    (Advances in Social Work, 2010) Ashton, V.
    This study examined differences in the attitudes of professional social workers regarding corporal punishment and the perception and reporting of child maltreatment, according to the worker’s ethnic group membership (Asian, Black American, Black Caribbean, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White). Data were obtained by mailed questionnaires from 808 members of the New York City chapter of NASW. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance. Results indicate that approval of corporal punishment and perception of maltreatment differed according to ethnic group membership. However, ethnicity had no effect on the likelihood of reporting maltreatment. Findings suggest that social work values override personal-culture values in the execution of jobrelated responsibilities. Implications for education and practice are discussed.
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    The effect of statutory regulations on Social Workers’ decisions to report child maltreatment
    (Advances in Social Work, 2009) Ashton, V.
    This study examined social workers’ perceptions of the New York State law requiring the reporting of child maltreatment and the relationship of those perceptions with the likelihood that workers would report incidents of maltreatment to child protective services. Data were collected by a mailed questionnaire from a sample of 710 social workers belonging to the New York City chapter of NASW. Findings show that social workers differ in their understanding of the law and that the worker’s understanding is related to reporting behavior. The worker’s understanding of the law had a small but significant effect on the likelihood of reporting, accounting for 6% of the variance. The binomial effect size of the relationship (r = .24) is such that a worker’s understanding of the law is sufficient to increase the likelihood of reporting a case of maltreatment from 38% to 62%. Implications for practice are discussed.