The Case for Mandatory Reporting as an Ethical Dilemma for Social Workers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18060/24910Keywords:
child welfare, mandatory reporting, social work education, criminalization, ethical dilemmaAbstract
Mandatory reporting of child abuse is a part of the civil legal system that can activate a policy cascade disproportionately criminalizing racialized and marginalized communities. While social work scholarship has explored ways to increase provider compliance with mandatory reporting laws, there is a dearth of research focused on how social work education guides future providers towards the praxis of mandatory reporting discourses. This article presents findings from a content analysis of social work textbook excerpts focused on mandatory reporting of child abuse in the U.S. We found that textbooks affirm social work’s loyalty to the State by approaching mandatory reporting through a deontological lens and systematically reinforcing risk management practices. Although some texts offer a nod to mandatory reporting as facilitating ethical dilemmas, none offer guidance for how to navigate competing social work commitments, and none actually treat mandatory reporting as an ethical dilemma. We argue that social work education should equip future practitioners to: a) have a nuanced understanding of mandatory reporting laws and requirements; b) contextualize mandatory reporting within broader discourses of criminalization, professionalization, and neoliberalism; and c) ground future practices in macro social work ethics.
References
Ambrosino, R., Heffernan, J., Shuttlesworth, G., & Ambrosino, R. (2016). Social work and social welfare (8th ed.). Nelson.
Bailey, C., Shaw, J., & Harris, A. (2021). Mandatory reporting and adolescent sexual assault. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 2021, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380211030239
Bergen, H., & Abji, S. (2019). Facilitating the carceral pipeline: Social work’s role in funneling newcomer children from the child protection system to jail and deportation. Anti-Carceral Feminisms: Imagining A World Without Prisons [Special Issue]. Affilia: Women and Social Work, 35(1), 34-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109919866165
Berg-Weger, M. (2019). Social work and social welfare (5th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429466687
Bird, M. (2018). SAGE guide to social work careers: Your journey to advocacy. Sage.
Campbell, S. (2017). Racial and gender disparities within the direct care workforce: Five key findings. PHI National. https://phinational.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Racial-and-Gender-Disparities-in-DCW-PHI-2017.pdf
Child Welfare Information Gateway [CWIG]. (2018). Establishment and maintenance of central registries for child abuse or neglect reports. USDHHS, Children's Bureau. https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/centreg/
CWIG. (2019a). Mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect. USDHHS, Children’s Bureau. https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/manda/
CWIG. (2019b). Penalties for failure to report and false reporting of child abuse and neglect. USDHHS, Children’s Bureau. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/report.pdf
CWIG. (2019c). Review and expungement of central registries and reporting records. USDHHS, Children’s Bureau. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/registry.pdf
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2021a). Crossreporting among responders to child abuse and neglect. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], Children’s Bureau. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/cross_reporting.pdf
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2021b). Child abuse and neglect fatalities 2019: Statistics and interventions. USDHHS, Children's Bureau. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/fatality.pdf
Colby, I., & Dzięgielewski, S. F. (2015). Introduction to social work: The people's profession (4th ed.). Oxford.
Cooperson, D. (2009). Children’s rights, social work values, and corporal punishment. NASW Child Welfare, 2, 2-7. https://www.socialworkers.org/assets/secured/documents/sections/child_welfare/newsletters/2009%20Child%20Welfare%20Newsletter%20-%20Issue%202.pdf
Cox, L. E., Tice, C. J., & Long, D. D. (2018). Introduction to social work: An advocacy-based profession (2nd ed.). Sage.
Damman, J. L., Johnson-Motoyama, M., Wells, S. J., & Harrington, K. (2020). Factors associated with the decision to investigate child protective services referrals: A systematic review. Child & Family Social, 25(4), 785-804. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12755
Davis, A. Y., Dent, G., Meiners, E., & Richie, B. (2021). Abolition. Feminism. Now. Haymarket Books.
Delaronde, S., King, G., Bendel, R., & Reece, R. (2000). Opinions among mandated reporters toward child maltreatment reporting policies. Child Abuse and Neglect, 24(7), 901-910. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0145-2134(00)00151-4
Dettlaff, A. J., Weber, K., Pendleton, M., Boyd, R., Bettencourt, B., & Burton, L. (2020). It is not a broken system, it is a system that needs to be broken: The upEND movement to abolish the child welfare system. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 14(5), 500-517. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2020.1814542SSS
DuBois, B., & Miley, K. K. (2019). Social work: An empowering profession (9th ed.). Pearson.
Eubanks, V. (2018). Automating inequality: How high tech tools profile police, and punish the poor. St Martin’s Press.
Ewing-Nelson, C. (2020). One in five child care jobs have been lost since February, and women are paying the price. National Women’s Law Center. https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ChildCareWorkersFS.pdf
Farley, O. W., Smith, L. L., & Boyle, S. W. (2012). Introduction to social work (12th ed.). Pearson.
Fong, K. (2020). Getting eyes in the home: Child protective services investigations and state surveillance of family life. American Sociological Review, 85(4), 610-638. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122420938460
Giesler, M. A., & Beadlescomb, T. (2015). Elevated or erased? A content analysis of the portrayal of men in Introduction to Social Work textbooks. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 23(2), 147-160. https://doi.org/10.1177/106082651558248
Gilmore, R. W. (2007). Golden gulag: Prisons, surplus, crisis, and opposition in globalizing California. University of California Press.
Glicken, M. D. (2010). Social work in the 21st century: An introduction to social welfare, social issues, and the profession (2nd ed.). Sage.
Gray, M. (2010). Moral sources and emergent ethical theories in social work. British Journal of Social Work, 40(6), 1794-1811. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcp104
Hsieh, H.-F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687
INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence (Ed.). (2016). Color of violence: The INCITE! anthology. Duke University Press.
International Federation of Social Workers. (2018). Global social work statement of ethical principles. https://www.ifsw.org/global-social-work-statement-of-ethical-principles/
Jacobs, L. A., Kim, M. E., Whitfield, D. L, Gartner, R. E., Panichelli, M., Kattari, S. K., Downey, M. M., McQueen, S. S., & Mountz, S. E. (2021). Defund the police: Moving towards an anti-carceral social work. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 32(1), 37-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/10428232.2020.1852865
Jensen, T. K., Gulbrandsen, W., Mossige, S., Reichelt, S., & Tjersland, O. A. (2005). Reporting possible sexual abuse: A qualitative study on children’s perspectives and the context for disclosure. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29(12), 1395-1413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2005.07.004
Kaba, M. (2021, March 23). Abolition feminism is a practice of freedom [Distinguished Faculty Lecture]. New York University.
Kim, H., Wildeman, C., Jonson-Reid, M., & Drake, B. (2017). Lifetime prevalence of investigating child maltreatment among US children. American Journal of Public Health, 107(2), 274-280. https://dx.doi.org/10.2105%2FAJPH.2016.303545
Kim, M. E. (2013). Challenging the pursuit of criminalisation in an era of mass incarceration: The limitations of social work responses to domestic violence in the USA. British Journal of Social Work, 43, 1276-1293. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcs060
Kim, M. E. (2018). From carceral feminism to transformative justice: Women-of-color feminism and alternatives to incarceration. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 27(3), 219-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2018.1474827
Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2017). Introduction to social work and social welfare: Critical thinking perspectives (5th ed.). Nelson.
Kramer, A. (2019). Banned for 28 years: How child welfare accusations keep women out of the workforce. The New School, Center for New York City Affairs. http://www.centernyc.org/banned-for-28-years
Krase, K. (2018). Social workers as mandatory reporters: What if I don’t report? The New Social Worker. https://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/practice/social-workers-as-mandated-repor ters-what-if-i-dont-report/
Krase, K. S., & DeLong-Hamilton, T. A. (2015a). Comparing reports of suspected child maltreatment in states with and without Universal Mandated Reporting. Children and Youth Services Review, 50, 96-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.01.015
Krase, K. S., & DeLong-Hamilton, T. A. (2015b). Preparing social workers as reporters of suspected child maltreatment. Social Work Education, 34(8), 967-985. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2015.1094047
Lash, D. (2017). “When the welfare people come”: Race and class in the US child protection system. Haymarket Books.
Lau, K. J., Krase, K., & Morse, R. H. (2009). Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect: A practical guide for social workers. Springer Publishing Company.
Lewis, L. (2017). Social workers as game changers: Confronting complex social issues through cases. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071800607
Lytle, R. D., Radatz, D. L., Sample, L. L., & Latiolais, R. M. (2021). Do I report this? Understanding variation in the content of state mandatory reporting laws. Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology, 10(2), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.21428/88de04a1.a323769a
Martin, M. E. (2016). Introduction to social work: Through the eyes of practice settings. Pearson.
Marx, J., Broussard, C. A., Hopper, F., & Worster, D. (2011). Social work and social welfare: An introduction. Pearson.
Matthew, L., Barron, I., & Hodson, A. (2019). Participatory action research: Confidentiality and attitudes of victimized young people unknown to child protection agencies. International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice, 2(1-2), 79-97. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42448-019-00020-x
Mehrotra, G. R., Kimball, E., & Wahab, S. (2016). The Braid that binds us: The impact of neoliberalism, criminalization, and professionalization on domestic violence work. Affilia, 31(2), 153-163. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109916643871
Michalowski, R. J. (1985). Order, law and crime: An introduction to criminology. Random House.
Mullaly, B. (2019). The new structural social work: Ideology, theory, and practice. Oxford University Press.
National Association of Black Social Workers. (n.d.). Code of ethics. https://www.nabsw.org/page/CodeofEthics
National Association of Social Workers [NASW]. (2021). NASW code of ethics. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English
Polowy, C. I., Morgan, S., Khan, A., Schoeneman, B. W., & McLeod, P. (2012). Social workers and child abuse reporting: A review of state mandatory reporting requirements. NASW Press.
Popple, P. R., Leighninger, L., & Leighninger, R. D. (2020). Social work, social welfare, and American society (9th ed.). Pearson.
Raz, M. (2017). Unintended consequences of expanded mandatory reporting laws. Pediatrics, 139(4),1-3. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-3511
Raz, M. (2020). Abusive policies: How the American child welfare system lost its way. University of North Carolina Press.
Reiman, A. (2009). Moral philosophy and social work policy. Journal of social work values and ethics, 6(3), 516-538. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30011585
Reisch, M. (2013). Social work education and the neoliberal challenge: The U.S. response to increasing global inequality. Social Work Education, 32, 217-233. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2013.809200
Ritchie, A. J. (2017). Invisible no more: Police violence against Black women and women of color. Beacon Press.
Ritchie, A. J., Kim, M., Smith, A., Stoops, N., & Spring Up. (2021, April 30). The impact and legacy of INCITE! A 20-year retrospective [webinar]. New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault. https://www.nyscasa.org/event/the-impact-and-legacy-of-incite-a-20-year-retrospective/
Roberts, D. (2002). Shattered bonds: The color of child welfare. Basic Books.
Roberts, D. (2020, June 16). Abolishing policing also means abolishing family regulation. The Chronicle of Social Change. https://chronicleofsocialchange.org/child-welfare-2/abolishingpolicing-also-means-abolishing-family-regulation/44480
Rothman, J. (2012). Education for macro intervention: A survey of problems and prospects. Association of Community Organization and Social Administration. https://swhelper.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/ACOSA+Report-by+Dr.+Rothman.pdf
Rubin, D. (2016). Developing policy when evidence is lacking. JAMA Pediatrics, 170(10), 929-930. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.1945
Sasson, S. (2000). Beneficence versus respect for autonomy: An ethical dilemma in social work practice. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 33(1), 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1300/j083v33n01_02
Segal, E. A., Gerdes, K. E., & Steiner, S. (2016). An introduction to the profession of social work: Becoming a change agent (6th ed.). Nelson.
Sherr, M. E., & Jones, J. M. (2019). Introduction to competence-based social work: The profession of caring, knowing, and serving (2nd ed.). Oxford.
Sinanan, A. (2018). The social work practitioner: An introduction to fundamentals of the social work profession. Cognella.
Strier, R., Feldman, G., & Shdaimah, C. (2012). The construction of social class in social work education: A study of introductory textbooks. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 32(4), 406-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2012.667753
Stumpf, J. (2006). The crimmigration crisis: Immigrants, crime, and sovereign power. American University Law Review, 56(2), 367-419. http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1274&context=aulr
Suppes, M. A., & Wells, C. C. (2018). The social work experience: A case-based introduction to social work and social welfare (7th ed.). Pearson.
US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families [US DHHS ACF]. (2011). Child maltreatment 2010. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/index.htm#can
US DHHS ACF, Children’s Bureau. (2020). Child maltreatment 2018. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/research-data-technology/statistics-research/child-maltreatment
US DHHS ACF, Children’s Bureau. (2021). Child maltreatment 2019. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/cm2019.pdf
Wachholz, S., & Mullaly, B. (2001). The politics of the textbook. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 11(2), 51-76. https://doi.org/10.1300/J059v11n02_04
Wacquant, L. (2009). Punishing the poor: The neoliberal government of social insecurity. Duke University Press.
Wacquant, L. (2010). Class, race & hyperincarceration in revanchist America. Daedalus, 139(3), 74-90. https://doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_00024
Wexler, R. (1990). Wounded innocents: The real victims of the war against child abuse. Prometheus Books.
Zastrow, C. (2017). Empowerment series: Introduction to social work and social welfare: Empowering people (12th ed.). Nelson.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Sam Harrell, Stéphanie Wahab
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
