Child physical abuse among poor communities in Barbados and the Caribbean

Part One of Research Proposal

Child Physical Abuse

Background and Problem Statement

When we reference to the topic of child abuse there is quite a bit to be considered. We first have
to look at the fundamental cause of the abuse. But before looking at the root causes, it has to be
understood that under no circumstance the child or children are the cause of the abuse. Secondly,
there has to be a clear understanding to differentiate between discipline and abuse. Most times
before the physical abuse starts on the child there are a number of “red flags” that go unnoticed.
There may be an abusive childhood history on the parent’s side, some form of substance
involved or lack of social interaction with the child or understanding of the child’s needs. High
level of stress due to unemployment and/or financial strain on the family can also lead to abuse.

Many parents in the Caribbean and/or caregivers feel that their actions described as physically
abusive is a form of discipline that teaches the child to correct inappropriate behaviour. When
does the line of discipline cross over to abuse? Are the parents or caregivers truly able to tell the
difference; especially if they are accustomed to this method? However, there is a big difference
between using punishment to discipline and physical, verbal or emotional abuse. The point of
disciplining children is to teach them right from wrong, not to make them live in fear. When the
parent or caregiver expresses their anger on the child rather than teach them that is an indicator
of a form of abuse. There are times when it is not clear whether it is discipline or punishment. It
all depends on the severity and the impact on the child. According to Smith (2016) physical
abuse is any act which results in non-accidental physical injury.

‘Violence within the home is hidden since culturally it may be seen as normal. Also because of
allegiance to the home, children are compelled to remain silent about instances of abuse. Abused
children are torn emotionally…loving and hating the abuser in the home…’

During the last two decades, physical child abuse has become a significant concern. There has
been an increase in awareness of the seriousness of child abuse, not only as a critical societal
problem but as a crime. However, it also has a flip side. Some children have tried to utilize the

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Child physical abuse among poor communities in Barbados and the Caribbean

Part One of Research Proposal

awareness to their advantage, causing parents or caregivers to feel powerless with their
disobedience, disrespect, answering back and doing poorly academically. This is what causes
such controversy. At which point is the line drawn?

Physical abuse is increasingly prevalent in Barbados and the Caribbean and exists in the various
forms. This study therefore seeks to answer the questions of why physical child abuse happens
among school children and finally what resources are available to parents and educators to curb
the acts of physical abuse. In essence the study seeks to create a healthy and productive
environment for children to develop.

Research questions/ hypotheses

Research topic:

Child physical abuse among the poor communities in Barbados and the Caribbean

Research hypothesis:

Is child physical abuse among the poor communities a form of child abuse that has been
underreported in Barbados and the Caribbean?

Research questions:

1. What is the incidence of physical child abuse on a monthly basis in Barbados?

2. Are parent’s acts of discipline a reflection of their own upbringing?

3. How does the leading Government protection agency for children deal with children
reports of being physically abused?

4. Has any formal reports been given to Child Care Board on physical abuse and what has
been the outcome?

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Child physical abuse among poor communities in Barbados and the Caribbean

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5. How many cases are being reported to the Police Department?

Literature Review

There are no significant differences in rates of physical abuse by gender. Meeks Gardner et al
(2005) reported that children themselves and parents generally support the use of corporal
punishment for their sons and daughters. However, there is some anecdotal evidence that boys
are more likely to be victims of more severe forms of abuse and this is supported by data on
hospital cases in Jamaica which reported treating more boys than girls for physical abuse. Meeks
Gardner et al (2005) further reports that Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados show that the main
perpetrators of physical abuse in the home are parents / caregivers, particularly mothers. A
significant minority of the physical abuse is perpetrated by children e.g. older siblings. In
Wickham (2015) report the issue of child abuse in Barbados has recently come sharply into
focus as a result of a few well-publicised incidents and there is considerable interest in
understanding the national rates and the extent to which they are reported, investigated and
prosecuted. The Nation news article on 19 September 2015 entitled “800 child abuse reports a
year” highlighted that the Child Care Board receives eight hundred abuse reports a year with a
limited staff of five officers. Alarmingly, Bradshaw (2015) discovered the case of a father to gain
custody of his three physically abusive children ended on September 2015 took six years. Crime
Stoppers Barbados in an article (May 1, 2016) Maria Bradshaw Sunday Sun says it is inundated
with calls about child abuse and child sexual abuse. They reported they received 10 calls about
child abuse last year where they relayed the information to the Royal Barbados Police Force and
the Child Care Board.

Generally in Barbados, the non-governmental organisation Parents Education for Development

in Barbados (PAREDOS) works in partnership with a number of government and non-
governmental organizations to provide a variety of parenting initiatives. These include an

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Child physical abuse among poor communities in Barbados and the Caribbean

Part One of Research Proposal

outreach programme to provide support for pregnant women and mothers of young children, a
day care centre, a parenting education newsletter, parent support groups, parent month, a radio
programme and weekly newspaper articles (http://bajan.info/paredos/home.html).

Meeks Gardner et al (2005) reported that five of the six countries submitting country
questionnaires found advocacy and awareness raising initiatives run by civil society and/or
government organizations aimed at preventing and protecting children from child abuse and
neglect. Some of these were local initiatives while others were national efforts at raising
awareness such as using the media to disseminate messages and having a Child Abuse
Prevention Month as an annual event. However, no evaluations of the impact and effectiveness
of these programmes had been conducted. Haiti reported no such initiatives.

Justification/Significance of the Study

Caribbean parents need to be educated on child abuse, especially signs of physical abuse. The
efforts of PAREDOS and Child Care Board are inadequate to truly resolve the issues of physical
abuse among school aged children. The purpose of this research is to strengthen the information
for parents and educators to understand what physical abuse is and how to prevent it. This
increased understanding and knowledge to parents will also strengthen their parenting skills and
give children another safety net against abuse.

In order to conduct this study research regarding child abuse in Barbados and the Caribbean a
mixed method approached will be used. At completion, this information will be used as a
highlight to some government agencies and Child Abused Groups in Barbados as research
material. A checklist of the risk factors, understanding the prevalence, and finally identifying
steps to be taken once a child is physical abuse will be provided to enhance family functioning.

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REFERENCES

800 child abuse reports a year, (19 September 2015).

http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/72393/800-child-abuse-reports

Bradshaw, M. (06 September 2015) The shameful face of abuse.

http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/71939/shameful-abuse

Bradshaw, M. (01 May 2016 Newspaper Article) More Child Abuse reports

Johnson, B. (2014). Child Abuse in Barbados. https://prezi.com/vbo81mgx3ukj/child-abuse-in-

barbados/

Smith, M. & Segal, J. (6 March, 2016) Child Abuse and Neglect

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/child-abuse-and-neglect.htm

Wickham, P. (04 October 2015). Focusing on child abuse

http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/72965/peter-wickham-focusing-child-abuse

Meeks Gardner, J., Henry-Lee, A., Chevannes, P., Thomas, J., Henningham, H., & Coore, C.
(March 9-11, 2005). Violence against children in the Caribbean region regional assessment UN
secretary general’s study on violence against children.
http://www.unicef.org/lac/Caribe_web(1).pdf

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Type of Study and Why

Type of study

What is Physical Abuse?

Defined as non-accidental trauma or physical injury caused by punching, beating, kicking,

biting, burning or otherwise harming a child, physical abuse is the most visible form of child
maltreatment. Many times, physical abuse results from inappropriate or excessive physical
discipline.

I chose this topic to educate individuals about the harm and effects of physical child abuse in the
lower income families around them and how they can make a difference in a child’s life, because
children that are exposed to abuse are at risk for mental, physical or psychological problems as
adults in life.

Sampling Plan

This research proposal will be using the Stratified Random sampling plan where I will divide the
population into homogeneous subgroups and then take a simple random sample in each
subgroup. I will be using both qualitative and quantitative research methodology in this research.
Subjects of the study will be 110 individuals including groups focused on Child Abuse (10
persons from the 11 parishes of Barbados).

Lower
Upper
income Middle
income
families income
families
families 6
Child physical abuse among poor communities in Barbados and the Caribbean
Part One of Research Proposal
Data Collection Plan
Quantitative
Data collection strategy
Interviews: one-on-one
question-and-answer sessions
where I will use a variety of
techniques. Interviews average
30–45 minutes per person.
Focus groups: group
interviews, using the same
variety of techniques and
taking approximately the same
length of time as interviews.
Qualitative
Child Care Board
Receive referrals and
statistics about the
number of cases per
year
Time Schedule
1 week in one parish Interviews are a time-
consuming form of data
collection. To gather data
from one person requires
preparation, the time of the
interview, and the time of
transcription
Meet with the focus groups in The group dynamics may
a town hall meeting setting interfere with complete or
accurate data.
Crime Stoppers
Association
Receive calls reported and
transferred to the Police
Department
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Questionnaires and surveys will be needed to complete the qualitative methods. I will also be
looking at any literature review on the topic.

Data Analysis Plan

Data Type of Data Source of Assessment Specific Data By Whom? By When?

Collection this Method Data/Target Questions Collection
Method Will Collect Respondents these Data Activities
will answer

 Number  Low Is child  Develop Crime Develop

of abuse income physical survey Stoppers survey by
Interviews abuse being and 30th June
cases families
reported underreported  Partner with Governmen 2016
Questionn
 Single in your Child Care t Agencies
aires Test Pilot
 physical parents community Board & for
child Schools protecting by 25th July
abuse on  Child 2016
Children
a Care  Recruit
Right’s Administer
monthly Service volunteers
Agencies survey by
basis  Pilot test 31st August
 Number survey 2016
of police  Administer
cases survey

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Ethical Considerations
It is important to evaluate the ethical consequences when dealing with research material
concerning something as delicate as child physical abuse. Trost (1997) implies that no research
in the world is so important that the ethical principles can be set aside. The individuals and the
families that will be targeted in this study will not be aware that they are part of a research
project. Instead all information will be coded and the reports, files, and charts will be stored in an
archive.

Limitations
Reading part one of research proposal, some limitations to this proposal has to be pointed out.
The first has to do with the under representation of child abuse cases that is evident in official
reports. Studies indicate this to only represent the tip of an iceberg (Nation News, 2015 & 2016)
and this research proposal cannot therefore give a complete picture of child physical abuse in
Barbados. This becomes obvious when comparing our incidence figure of child physical abuse
reported to the police (10 cases in 2015). The second issue concerns the degree to which Child
Care Board steps in and removes the child/children from the abusive environment. The number
of cases being reported and the number of officers employed at the department was taken into
consideration. Interpretations have to be made with contextual factors in mind. There are also the
limitations regarding studying documents and drawing conclusions from what cannot be
considered as the prime source of information. The abuse reports at the Child Care Board
differed depending on who had received the information and who had written the report and
whether it had been completed in connection to the abuse incident or after a time lapse. Some
things that were mentioned in one report were overlooked in another, and if much was left out it
was impossible to investigate the case satisfactorily. This was of course the case for the social
services files, especially because these files were often written over a long period of time, which
meant that a researcher had to deal with different social workers’ personal ways of writing. Too
few respondents in the interview study may lead a somewhat biased view. To sum up, this
proposal represents merely one way of looking at a phenomenon such as child physical abuse
from a social service, cultural and a user perspective.

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REFERENCES

Introduction to Social Research- SOCI 1001 2016.

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