Revistadeasistentasociala Nr2 2012 Final Final

Sumar
Maria Roth, Mihai Bogdan Iovu, Imola Antal

Editorial – Drepturile copiilor, bunăstarea şi protecţia lor / 3
Manfred Liebel
Children’s Rights as Living Rights: Why Human Rights Only Make Sense
if They Are Connected to the Lives of Children / 13
Smiljana Simeunovic Frick
The Committee’s View on Children’s Participation in the CRC Monitoring
and Reporting Process / 27
Paroula Naskou‑Perraki
The Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Greece / 39
Imola Antal, Maria Roth, Elemér Mezei, Ágnes Dávid‑Kacsó, Corina Voicu, Rozália Szász
The Balkan Epidemiological Study on Child Abuse and Neglect (BECAN) in Romania / 51
Ágnes Dávid‑Kacsó, Imola Antal, Maria Roth, Elemér Mezei, Rozália Szász
Abuzul fizic, psihologic şi metodele de disciplinare pozitivă în practica parentală
a părinţilor adolescenţilor de 16 ani din România / 65
Cristina Baciu, Corina Voicu, Imola Antal, Elemér Mezei, Maria Roth
Abusive Parents from Rural and Urban Areas / 81
Gabriella Tonk, Júlia Adorjáni, Éva László
Providing Services to Maltreated Children and Their Families. Some Findings
of Romanian Case Based Surveillance Study / 91
Salomea Popoviciu, Ioan Popoviciu, Daniel Bara, Damaris Costea, Emanuela Drăgan
Engaging Mothers in Romanian Child Protection Services: Caseworkers’ Perspectives / 103
Adriana Fărcaş, Maria Roth
Detecting and Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect. Dilemma and Difficulties
for the Medical Staff / 113
Dan A. Ratliff, Riccardo Rossano, Antonio Panico
The Effects of Migration on Romanian Families: An Ecosystemic Review / 125
Maja Gerovska Mitev
The Impact of Economic Crisis on Well‑Being among Vulnerable Children
and Young People in Macedonia / 133
Brînduşa‑Antonia Grigoraş, Sergiu Bălţătescu, Maria Roth
The Well‑Being of Children Aged 12‑14 in Cluj County. A Pilot Study / 147
Diana Dămean
Violence in Secondary Schools: A Comparative Study / 163
Claudia Oşvat
Children in Need. Predisposing Factors in Preventing Child Abandonment
and School Dropout / 181
Camelia Stăiculescu, Monica Ungureanu
The Social Inclusion of the Children and Young People with Social Disabilities –
between Desideratum and Reality / 191
Adela Elena Popa
Practicieni din educaţia preşcolară despre factorii de risc şi rezilienţă
în cazul copiilor cu cerinţe educative speciale / 207
Apariţii editoriale / 221
Errata / 223
Summary
Maria Roth, Mihai Bogdan Iovu, Imola Antal
Editorial – Children’s Rights, Well‑Being and Protection / 9
Manfred Liebel
Children’s Rights as Living Rights: Why Human Rights Only Make Sense
if They Are Connected to the Lives of Children / 13
Smiljana Simeunovic Frick
The Committee’s View on Children’s Participation in the CRC Monitoring
and Reporting Process / 27
Paroula Naskou‑Perraki
The Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Greece / 39
Imola Antal, Maria Roth, Elemér Mezei, Ágnes Dávid‑Kacsó, Corina Voicu, Rozália Szász
The Balkan Epidemiological Study on Child Abuse and Neglect (BECAN) in Romania / 51
Ágnes Dávid‑Kacsó, Imola Antal, Maria Roth, Elemér Mezei, Rozália Szász
Physical Abuse, Psychological Abuse and Positive Disciplinating Methods
Employed by Parents of Romanian 16‑years Old Adolescents / 65
Cristina Baciu, Corina Voicu, Imola Antal, Elemér Mezei, Maria Roth
Abusive Parents from Rural and Urban Areas / 81
Gabriella Tonk, Júlia Adorjáni, Éva László
Providing Services to Maltreated Children and Their Families. Some Findings
of Romanian Case Based Surveillance Study / 91
Salomea Popoviciu, Ioan Popoviciu, Daniel Bara, Damaris Costea, Emanuela Drăgan
Engaging Mothers in Romanian Child Protection Services: Caseworkers’ Perspectives / 103
Adriana Fărcaş, Maria Roth
Detecting and Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect. Dilemma and Difficulties
for the Medical Staff / 113
Dan A. Ratliff, Riccardo Rossano, Antonio Panico
The Effects of Migration on Romanian Families: An Ecosystemic Review / 125
Maja Gerovska Mitev
The Impact of Economic Crisis on Well‑Being among Vulnerable Children
and Young People in Macedonia / 133
Brînduşa‑Antonia Grigoraş, Sergiu Bălţătescu, Maria Roth
The Well‑Being of Children Aged 12‑14 in Cluj County. A Pilot Study / 147
Diana Dămean
Violence in Secondary Schools: A Comparative Study / 163
Claudia Oşvat
Children in Need. Predisposing Factors in Preventing Child Abandonment
and School Dropout / 181
Camelia Stăiculescu, Monica Ungureanu
The Social Inclusion of the Children and Young People with Social Disabilities –
between Desideratum and Reality / 191
Adela Elena Popa
Preschool Education Professionals on Risk and Resilience Factors
for Children with Special Educational Needs / 207
Book Review / 221
Errata / 223
Revista de Asisten]\ Social\, anul XI, nr. 2/2012, pp. 3‑7
www.revistadeasistentasociala.ro
Editorial
Drepturile copiilor, bunăstarea şi protecţia lor
De mai bine de 20 de ani Convenţia ONU cu privire la Drepturile Copilului (CDC) obligă
statele şi profesioniştii să adopte cele mai adecvate măsuri pentru promovarea interesului
superior al copilului. În ciuda ratificării extrem de largi şi a eforturilor făcute de diferite
organizaţii de a asigura bunăstarea copilului şi un mediu de viaţă protectiv în care acesta
să‑şi poată dezvolta pe deplin capacităţile, adesea, în contextele sociale în care trăieşte,
drepturile acestuia nu sunt respectate. Această situaţie se întâlneşte din ce în ce mai des în
diverse ţări – inclusiv în Europa, dar mai ales în Europa de Est – acolo unde guvernele se
dovedesc mai puţin eficiente în a lua măsuri consistente de protejare a copilului şi a familiei
sale de efectele crizei economice. Rezoluţiile ONU, precum şi numeroasele amendamente
aduse de organismele regionale precum Consiliul Europei sau de către unele instituţii
internaţionale nu au reuşit deocamdată să asigure transformarea dezideratelor principiale în
şanse efectiv egale pentru copiii din contexte socioculturale şi economice diferite. Copiii
din familii sărace, romi sau aparţinând altor minorităţi, migranţi sau cu părinţi care migrează,
cu nevoi speciale sau afectaţi de boli cronice au oportunităţi reduse de a participa cu succes
la educaţie, la serviciile de sănătate, la viaţa socială, fericirea sau împlinirea potenţialului
individual neputând fi asigurate. Pe lângă succesele înregistrate în creşterea nivelului de
participare şcolară şi scăderea mortalităţii infantile, dificultăţi ale atingerii obiectivelor de
asigurare a bunăstării şi a protecţiei de orice formă de violenţă se întâlnesc atât în ţările
dezvoltate, cât şi în cele în curs de dezvoltare.
Începând cu semnarea Convenţiei, se manifestă tot mai clar tendinţa de a analiza situaţia
copilului din perspectiva mai largă a drepturilor omului: copiii au nu numai dreptul de a fi
protejaţi împotriva oricăror forme de violenţă – condiţie prioritară pentru bunăstarea oricărei
persoane –, ci şi drepturi de cetăţeni activi: vocile lor se pot face auzite, pot participa activ
la viaţa socială a comunităţii căreia îi aparţin, primind sprijin atât de la familiile lor, cât şi
de la comunitate. Pentru a ne asigura că aceste principii sunt respectate, este important să
fie adunate date despre şi de la copii sau membri ai familiilor lor, respectiv de la profesioniştii
care îi asistă. O atenţie deosebită trebuie acordată datelor ce vizează grupurile de copii
vulnerabili, aflate în situaţii de risc de sărăcie şi de violenţă, dar şi diferenţelor de gen,
etnie şi rasă, respectiv de mediu de viaţă (urban şi rural).
Comparativ cu alte domenii ale ştiinţelor sociale, literatura de specialitate din Europa
de Est şi cea românească sunt mai puţin reprezentative în domeniul asistării şi protecţiei
drepturilor copiilor. Cercetările din domeniul asistării copiilor sunt deocamdată mai puţin
prezente în revistele de cercetare indexate în bazele de date, în raport cu alte domenii ale
ştiinţelor sociale. De aceea, acest volum de studii şi‑a fixat ca scop evidenţierea unei părţi
din agenda de preocupări a cercetătorilor români şi a colegilor lor europeni în domeniul
menţionat în titlu. Articolele vizează calitatea vieţii copiilor, modalităţile de sprijin şi cele
prin care se poate garanta protecţia împotriva violenţei, prin servicii care să asigure bunăstarea
copiilor şi familiilor lor.
4 Editorial
Pentru a acoperi această perspectivă cuprinzătoare, în acest număr al Revistei de Asistenţă

Socială am selectat studii care abordează diverse teme din domeniul drepturilor, bunăstării
şi protecţiei copilului. Cititorii sunt invitaţi să lectureze trei articole despre drepturile copiilor
în ţări în curs de dezvoltare şi în contexte sociale afectate de criza economică, patru articole
despre prevalenţa violenţei asupra copilului în propria familie şi în mediul şcolar, trei articole
despre bunăstarea copilului în diferite contexte sociale sau familiale şi trei articole centrate
pe aspecte educaţionale şi sociale în cazul copiilor cu dizabilităţi.
Manfred Liebel, bine‑cunoscut specialist în domeniul drepturilor copilului, recunoaşte
că, în ciuda ratificării Convenţiei şi în ciuda discursului public referitor la drepturile copiilor,
se acordă puţină atenţie modului în care cei care provin din medii culturale diverse îşi înţeleg
drepturile. Studiul său analizează patru grupe de copii marginalizaţi din diferite părţi ale
globului (copiii străzii din Guatemala şi India, copiii refugiaţi din Europa şi orfanii cu SIDA
din Africa). Articolul subliniază, de asemenea, motivele şi căile prin care discursul public
referitor la drepturile copiilor trebuie relaţionat cu experienţele particulare ale grupurilor
vulnerabile.
Articolul semnat de Smiljana Simeunovic Frick, din Republica Moldova, prezintă câteva
aspecte procedurale legate de monitorizările şi raportările privind respectarea prevederilor
ONU ce vizează drepturile copiilor. Studiul prezintă modalităţile prin care Comitetul pentru
Drepturile Copilului, ca structură ce monitorizează aplicarea Convenţiei, defineşte rolul
copiilor în acest proces. Reprezentanţii guvernelor naţionale şi ai ONG‑urilor sunt încurajaţi
să sprijine copiii, pentru ca ei să se implice efectiv în procesul de monitorizare şi raportare
a drepturilor lor.
Articolul propus de Paroula Naskou‑Perraki prezintă modul în care Convenţia cu privire
la Drepturile Copilului a fost implementată în Grecia. Articolul analizează critic procesul
de aplicare a Convenţiei, precum şi progresele şi punctele slabe realizate în cadrul acestui
proces, prezentându‑ne o analiză detaliată referitoare la legile ce protejează copiii, în special
pe cei vulnerabili, precum romii şi copiii migranţi. În ciuda limbajului mai degrabă juridic
decât sociologic, subiectul este de interes pentru asistenţii sociali, care pot compara cele
citite cu modul în care principiile Convenţiei au fost transpuse în legislaţia lor naţională.
Următoarea secţiune se centrează pe datele prevalente cu privire la abuzul şi neglijarea
minorilor obţinute de o echipă de cercetători de la Departamentul de Asistenţă Socială al
Universităţii „Babeş‑Bolyai” din Cluj‑Napoca. Ele prezintă rezultatele pentru România ale
studiului epidemiologic privind abuzul şi neglijarea copiilor în Balcani, elaborat în cadrul
unui proiect internaţional de cercetare finanţat de către Comisia Europeană prin programul FP7*.
Primul articol (autori Imola Antal et al.) realizează o prezentare generală a metodologiei şi
rezultatelor generale ale proiectului menţionat. Datele privind frecvenţa categoriilor de abuz
şi neglijare, din diferite medii, pe genuri, regiuni şi vârste au fost obţinute prin aplicarea
chestionarelor ICAST la un eşantion naţional reprezentativ de elevi şi părinţi. Semnificaţia
rezultatelor este unică în România, baza de date obţinută fiind o excelentă sursă pentru
cercetătorii care doresc să analizeze relaţia dintre variabilele demografice şi indicatorii
abuzului şi neglijării. Printre altele, autorii arată că pedepsele abuzive sunt încă larg
răspândite în România, fiind raportate atât de copii, cât şi de părinţii înşişi, chiar dacă
metodele de disciplinare pozitivă câştigă din ce în ce mai mult teren. Anumite date pun sub
semnul întrebării cunoştinţele noastre de până acum privind abuzul sexual împotriva copiilor,
relevând că procentul de băieţi cu experienţe de abuz sexual este mai mare decât cel înregistrat
în cazul fetelor. Astfel, lucrarea atrage atenţia asupra vulnerabilităţii şi riscurilor care
ameninţă băieţii şi a nevoii de a‑i proteja.
* Detalii privind proiectul şi partenerii implicaţi pot fi obţinute accesând http://www.becan.eu/.

Revista de Asisten]\ Social\, nr. 2/2012 5
Articolul propus de Ágnes Dávid‑Kacsó şi colaboratorii săi analizează comportamentele

parentale. Rezultatele arată că metodele de disciplinare de tip abuziv fizic şi psihologic sunt
cel mai des raportate de mamele, nu de taţii adolescenţilor de 16 ani. În completarea analizei,
articolul Cristinei Baciu şi al colaboratorilor ei analizează diferenţele în comportamentele
abuzive şi de neglijare în funcţie de mediul de rezidenţă. Rezultatele indică faptul că mediul
urban este un spaţiu în care copiii sunt supuşi mai degrabă abuzului emoţional. În schimb,
mediul rural reprezintă un spaţiu de risc în special pentru abuzul fizic. Abuzul sexual şi
neglijarea nu înregistrează diferenţe semnificative în funcţie de mediul de rezidenţă. Alte
diferenţe statistic semnificative în favoarea mediului urban s‑au înregistrat în privinţa
disciplinării pozitive; ele atrag atenţia asupra nevoii de a spori transmiterea de informaţii
privind metodele pozitive de disciplinare şi de a oferi părinţilor care trăiesc în mediul rural
servicii de tip preventiv într‑un mod mai ţintit.
Într‑un articol ce utilizează, de asemenea, date ale studiului BECAN menţionat anterior,
Gabriella Tonk, Júlia Adorjáni şi Éva László analizează modalitatea de procesare a cazurilor în
cadrul sistemului de monitorizare şi înregistrare a cazurilor de maltratare. Analizând 288 de
dosare din 16 judeţe ale României, studiul evidenţiază absenţa unor instrumente standardizate
de identificare a riscurilor, precum şi absenţa unor puncte de referinţă în luarea deciziilor
şi planificarea intervenţiei. Prin urmare, studiul aduce în prim‑plan câteva chestiuni extrem
de importante pentru sistemul de protecţie a copilului din România: nevoia unui instrumentar
bazat pe dovezi, necesar în toate etapele managementului de caz.
Rămânând în cadrul temei serviciilor de protecţie a copiilor, Salomea Popoviciu şi
colaboratorii analizează modul în care responsabilii de caz concep serviciile de asistenţă
socială şi reuşesc să implice mamele copiilor care beneficiază de acestea. În urma intervievării
asistenţilor sociali responsabili de caz, autorii pun în evidenţă faptul că mamele copiilor
monitorizaţi de sistemul de protecţie a copiilor sunt considerate în general lipsite de capacităţi
parentale şi de resurse. Autorii arată că o astfel de atitudine faţă de mame conduce la
dezangajarea acestora faţă de problemele copiilor şi aduc argumente în privinţa necesităţii
găsirii unor mijloace de a stimula implicarea lor în procesul parental pozitiv.
În domeniul atitudinii profesioniştilor în privinţa detectării şi raportării cazurilor de abuz
şi neglijenţă a copiilor (Child Abuse and Neglect – CAN), conform cerinţelor legislative,
Adriana Fărcaş şi Maria Roth explorează şi compară atitudinile personalului medical (infir
miere şi asistente medicale) din două spitale de pediatrie româneşti cu cele ale studenţilor
la medicină. Aşa cum s‑a presupus, personalul medical din spitalele pediatrice unde s‑a
desfăşurat cercetarea, precum şi studenţii de la medicină nu au o pregătire sistematică în
privinţa CAN. Totuşi, unii membri ai personalului au beneficiat de perioade de formare în
acest domeniu. Datele arată că experienţa de lucru cu victimele violenţei a contribuit la
fundamentarea cunoştinţelor în domeniul CAN, dar nu garantează atitudini proactive ale
personalului medical de a raporta către Direcţia Generală de Asistenţă Socială şi Protecţia
Copilului (DGASPC), conform legislaţiei, cazurile de copii‑victime ale violenţei, respectiv
de implicare în rezolvarea acestora.
De pe o platformă teoretică eco‑sistemică, Dan Ratliff, Riccardo Rossano şi Antonio
Panico revizuiesc studiile privind migranţii români şi copiii lor rămaşi în ţară. Autorii afirmă
că, înainte de a raporta efectele negative ale migraţiei părinţilor, evaluatorii fenomenului ar
trebui să înţeleagă complexitatea problematicii migraţiei şi a rolului jucat de factorii sociali,
politici, culturali, comunitari, familiali şi individuali, precum şi a relaţiilor dintre toţi aceşti
factori şi decizia de a migra. Una dintre concluziile cele mai importante ale studiului este că
migraţia afectează negativ copiii rămaşi acasă, în primul rând din cauza condiţiilor de sărăcie
în care aceştia trăiesc. Este acelaşi motiv care determină părinţii să adopte decizia de a migra
pentru găsirea unui loc de muncă. Considerăm că articolul oferă o bază solidă de studiu pentru
6 Editorial
cei care cercetează fenomenele de adaptare a familiilor româneşti migratoare în Italia sau
într‑o altă ţară.
Utilizând date ale unui studiu UNICEF din Macedonia, Maja Gerovska Mitev analizează
efectele crizei economice actuale asupra bunăstării copiilor şi tinerilor din Macedonia.
Punctul de vedere critic al autoarei oferă un cadru valid de evaluare a vulnerabilităţii familiilor
celor mai expuse dificultăţilor economice specifice perioadei actuale. Analiza vizează trei
aspecte importante: standardele de calitate a vieţii în cadrul gospodăriei, participarea la
educaţie şi indicatorii de sănătate a copiilor şi tinerilor. Lucrarea are meritul de a evidenţia
aspectele critice ale sistemului de protecţie socială, sistem care eşuează în privinţa susţinerii
pe termen lung a familiilor vulnerabile în perioada de criză.
În strânsă legătură cu respectarea drepturilor copiilor, următoarele trei articole se centrează
pe bunăstarea copiilor. Lucrarea Brînduşei‑Antonia Grigoraş, a lui Sergiu Bălţătescu şi a
Mariei Roth se sprijină pe cercetările premergătoare ale domnului dr. Bălţătescu, în cadrul
echipei internaţionale de cercetare International Society for Child Indicators (Societatea
internaţională pentru Indicatorii Copilului). În articol sunt prezentate rezultatele unui studiu
de tip explorator privind bunăstarea subiectivă a copiilor cu vârste cuprinse între 12 şi 14 ani
din România. Noutatea studiului este că abordează calitatea vieţii copiilor din perspectiva
acestora, permiţându‑le să îşi exprime opiniile, punctele de vedere şi percepţiile cu privire
la propriile vieţi şi la bunăstare. Studiul a permis, de asemenea, testarea chestionarului de
bunăstare care, astfel, devine un instrument valid ce va permite în viitor participarea echipei
de cercetători la realizarea unor studii internaţionale care să ofere o perspectivă comparativă
privind datele bunăstării subiective a copiilor.
Percepând şcoala ca mediu de posibilă victimizare a elevilor, Diana Dămean analizează
efectele violenţei asupra rezultatelor şcolare ale celor din ciclul şcolar secundar. Folosind
scale ale Profilului Succesului Şcolar, autoarea realizează comparaţii între elevii participanţi
la un studiu naţional reprezentativ şi cei ai unui eşantion local cu elevi din şcoli profesionale.
Rezultatele arată că violenţa şcolară are un impact negativ asupra comportamentului adoles
cenţilor, afectând capacitatea lor de evitare a problemelor, unul dintre indicatorii importanţi
ai succesului şcolar.
Ultima secţiune a culegerii noastre de articole îi vizează pe copiii vulnerabili şi pe cei
cu nevoi speciale. Claudia Oşvat prezintă serviciile comunitare din cadrul FRCCF, un ONG
cu experienţă îndelungată în derularea programelor şi cu o expertiză recunoscută în acordarea
de sprijin familiilor şi în prevenirea insuccesului şi abandonului şcolar. Evaluarea programelor
a arătat că adolescenţii participanţi la programele centrului au valorizat mai mult şcoala, au
răspuns mai bine cerinţelor şcolare şi s‑au integrat mai bine în cadrul grupurilor de colegi.
Pornind de la tema integrării copiilor cu nevoi speciale, Camelia Stăiculescu şi Monica
Ungureanu pun sub semnul întrebării eficienţa incluziunii şcolare a copiilor şi tinerilor cu
dizabilităţi fizice, în forma în care, în România, ea se realizează de obicei. Pe baza unei
cercetări desfăşurate cu familiile şi tinerii asistaţi, autorii ilustrează eforturile acestora de a
participa la educaţie, la activităţi de muncă şi la diverse forme de viaţă socială, precum şi
nevoile lor de servicii de sprijin. Incluziunea în muncă nu este considerată posibilă fără
accesarea resurselor pe care programele de economie socială le pot pune la dispoziţie.
Şi studiul calitativ al Adelei Popa vizează copiii cu dizabilităţi, dar instituţia analizată
este una preşcolară, iar persoanele investigate sunt 90 de practicieni din educaţia preşcolară.
Cercetarea surprinde factorii de risc şi de sprijin care influenţează incluziunea copiilor
preşcolari cu nevoi speciale în grădiniţe. Concluziile arată că educatoarele surprind cu
claritate factorii de risc ce periclitează incluziunea, precum şi factorii care pot să o promoveze,
dar nu înţeleg dinamica dintre aceste două categorii de factori şi nu sunt conştiente de
propriul rol sau de rolul altor profesionişti în cadrul unor servicii colaborative de suport.
Cercetările prezentate în acest număr al Revistei de Asistenţă Socială au la bază un filtru

critic şi sunt orientate spre promovarea drepturilor şi bunăstării copiilor. Întrucât cunoaşterea
ştiinţifică conferă putere persoanelor care ştiu să o utilizeze, recomandăm lectura articolelor
reunite în acest număr al revistei atât asistenţilor sociali, cât şi planificatorilor, analiştilor
şi decidenţilor din domeniul politicilor sociale, pentru a învăţa din interpretarea studiilor şi
a implementa rezultatele relevante pentru ei. Perspectiva critică a cercetărilor reflectă
complexitatea nevoilor copiilor, indică posibile căi de îmbunătăţire a serviciilor destinate lor
şi promovează şansele copiilor la fericire şi succes.
Maria Roth*
Mihai Bogdan Iovu**
Imola Antal***
* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130 21

decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail:mroth@socasis.ubbcluj.ro.
** postdoctoral researcher within the POSDRU 89/1.5/S/60189 Postdoctoral Programs for Sustainable
Development in a Knowledge Based Society, “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School
of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130 21 decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca,
e‑mail:iovu_mbogdan@yahoo.com.
*** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail:imolaan@yahoo.com.
Editorial
Children’s Rights, Well‑Being and Protection
Committed for more than 20 years to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC),
states and professionals strive to promote the child’s best interest all over the world. In spite
of its wide ratification and the efforts of many civic and professional organizations to create
safe and positive environments for children to grow to their full potential, the rights of the
children are still far from being fully respected. This is true also for Europe and especially
for Eastern Europe or for countries where political governments are less efficient to protect
families and children from the effects of economic crises. In spite of the overall ratification
of the CRC and its many amendments – by both the UN and by regional international bodies
like the Council of Europe – there are different forms of social disadvantages and exclusion
that continue to reduce individual or groups of children’s chances. Children living in poor
families, Roma and other minorities, migrant children or left behind by migrant parents,
children with disabilities and chronic diseases have less opportunity to successful schooling,
healthy development, safety and participation to social life, happiness and fulfillment of
individual potential. Difficulties persist in these areas and have been repeatedly recognized
in both developing and developed countries, in spite of the progress that has been achieved
in increasing school participation and reduction of mortality.
In the last decade there is a growing demand to look at child protection from the larger
perspective of human rights: children have not only the right to be protected from violence,
which is paramount for all human beings, but it is legitimate for them to claim respect as
citizens, to have their voices heard, to participate in the social life of their communities, and
to get support for all these rights by side of their caring family members. To ensure that
these principles are met and that services in place are improving the quality of life of children
in a comprehensive manner, it is essential to collect data on, and from children, as well as
on and from their family members and workers. This is especially important when children
are vulnerable to having their rights ignored or they are at risk of harm.
Eastern European scientific literature in children’s rights and child protection is still less
represented or visible in indexed data bases than other areas of the social sciences. This is
why the present volume aims to highlight some of the agenda of Romanian researchers and
their fellows in the region. It focuses on children’s quality of life and their protection against
violence, and highlights areas that need to be addressed by the child welfare systems.
To cover this comprehensive perspective, the current issue of the Romanian Social Work
Review has selected studies which cover a large area of topics at the intersection of rights,
well‑being and protection. Readers are invited to review 3 articles focusing on children rights
in developing countries and societies affected by economic crises, 4 articles on the prevalence
of violence against children in their own families and in schools, 3 articles on children’s
well‑being in different social, family or impaired contexts, 3 articles on services and
professional competences, and finally 3 articles on social and educational inclusion of
children with disabilities.
10 Editorial
A well known children’s rights analyst, Manfred Liebel acknowledges the fact that in
spite the wide‑spread current debate on children’s rights there is still little attention given
to the meaning these rights have for children from diverse social and cultural contexts.
Therefore, his article reveals four examples of marginalized groups of children from different
parts of the world (street children in Guatemala and India, child refugees in Europe, and
AIDS orphans in Africa). The author explains that the practice of children’s rights has to
be in tight connection with the daily life experiences of vulnerable children and shows
examples of how this could be done.
The work of Smiljana Simeunovic Frick, from Republic of Moldova, takes the discussion
into the framework of monitoring and reporting process connected to the CRC. The article
explores how the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as the authority in monitoring the
Convention, defines and perceives the role of children in this process. An analysis of the
General Comments, which contains the interpretation of the CRC monitoring, shows that
the Committee takes a clear position in favor of children’s participation in this process. Both
the representatives of the Government and the NGOs are encouraged to involve children in
monitoring their rights, as well as to support children’s monitoring activities.
The paper of Paroula Naskou‑Perraki presents a legal perspective on children’s rights in
Greece. It takes a critical stand on the progress and weaknesses of the implementation of
the CRC in the Greek legal framework. It is a detailed and well informed overview referring
to laws protecting children’s rights, with a focus on vulnerable children like Roma and
migrant minors, and the legal procedures used by professionals and judges. In spite of its
more legal than social framework, the topic is of great interest for Romanian and other social
workers, who can compare the strengths and weaknesses of their own national legislations
with the Greek model.
The next section of the issue is focusing on child abuse and neglect (CAN) prevalence
data. Three articles submitted by the School of Sociology and Social work Cluj‑Napoca
present data from the Balkan Epidemiology Study on Child Abuse and Neglect project
(BECAN) related to Romania. This is an international collaborative project financed by
European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Deve
lopment*. The first article authored by Imola Antal et al. makes a general overview of the
results of the project. Mapping CAN was achieved by applying ICAST questionnaires to large
sample of school‑children and their parents, as agreed in the Balcan research consortium.
The extent of the study is unique for Romania, and the resulting data base is an excellent
source for researchers to link demographic data with indicators of child abuse and neglect.
Among many other interesting results, it shows that abusive physical punishment is still
widespread in Romania, although positive discipline is largely reported both by parents and
children. The data justifies questioning previous knowledge about sexual abuse being more
frequent in girls, drawing attention to vulnerabilities of adolescent boys.
Another article, authored by Ágnes Dávid‑Kacsó et al. scrutinizes the parenting methods
of the sample, from a gender perspective. Data show that for children aged 16, psychologically
and physically abusive methods are used more frequently by mothers, compared to fathers.
Continuing the series, the article of Cristina Baciu et al. analyse the differences in CAN,
according to residence. Data show that children in urban areas are more vulnerable to
emotional abuse, while those from rural areas to physical abuse. Other types of maltreatment
such as sexual abuse and neglect do not significantly differ according to children’s residence.
Other statistically significant differences in favor of parents from urban areas, like for positive
discipline, were also registered.
* Details on the project and on the partners involved can be found accessing http://www.becan.eu/.
The next session looks at service provision and its providers. Gabriella Tonk, Júlia
Adorjáni, Éva László review the processing of CAN cases by the Romanian case surveillance
system. Using document analysis of hundreds of case‑files collected from one third of the
Romanian Directorates of Child protection, the study shows the absence of standard investi
gation procedures and of instruments for risk and needs assessment. Case reviews show the
absence of clear thresholds or reference points in decision making and for intervention
planning. Therefore, the study raises an important question in child protection services: the
need for evidence‑based instruments in all phases of case management.
Salomeea Popoviciu et al. also discuss child protection procedures, this time from the
perspective of involving mothers in service planning and in the change process. Interviewing
caseworkers, the authors reveal that mothers with children recorded in protective services
are mostly viewed by professionals as worthless and without resources. The authors demonstrate
how this attitude contribute to the disengagement of mothers and argue for the importance
of engaging clients, even those who may at first seem hostile and indifferent in the parenting
process. This is an important topic to be further pursued by researchers, in order to look at
possible ways of engaging mothers in positive parenting.
Looking for the effects of training and the use of expertise in the area CAN, Adriana
Fărcaş and Maria Roth explore and compare the attitudes of Romanian medical staff and
medical students towards detecting and reporting CAN. As presumed, medical staff in
pediatric hospitals and medical students does not have a systematic training in CAN, but
many have optionally participated to training opportunities in this area. The results indicate
that experience with CAN cases has contributed to the foundation of a CAN knowledge base
of the pediatric medical staff, but it does not empower respondent nurses to report children
‑victims of violence.
Dan Ratliff, Riccardo Rossano and Antonio Panico use an eco‑systemic approach, to
review the existing research on Romanian migrants’ and their left behind or migrating
children. The authors argue that before reporting on negative effects of migration on children,
evaluators need to understand social, political, cultural, community, family, and individual
factors and the relationships of these factors on well‑being of children and their families.
One of the important conclusions of the review is that parental migration negatively affects
left behind children mainly due to the impoverished conditions in which they live. This is
the main reason that motivates parents’ labor migrations. The article represents a strong
base for further research on the mechanisms of adaptation of immigrant Romanian families
in Italy or other foreign country.
Using data from the UNICEF study on the Children and Young people in difficult
economic times in Macedonia, Maja Gerovska Mitev presents interesting data that allow the
analysis of the effects of the economic crisis on children’s well‑being. The author’s critical
views provide us with a valuable framework to assess the vulnerabilities of those families
most at risk in difficult economic times. The analysis is focused on three important aspects:
households standards, participation to education and health indicators for children and young
people. The paper points at critical aspects of the social welfare system that fails to offer
lasting support for the most vulnerable families and their children.
Strongly connected to the CRC provisions, the next three articles are focusing on
children’s well‑being. The work of Brînduşa‑Antonia Grigoraş, Sergiu Bălţătescu and Maria
Roth relies on previous research of dr. Bălţătescu in the frames of the International Society
for Child Indicators and presents the results of an exploratory study of the subjective well‑being
of children aged 12‑14 from Romania. The novelty of this study is the use of a participatory
rights based approach, allowing children to express their views, opinions and perceptions
on their own lives and well‑being. The data helped revising the questionnaire and transform
12 Editorial
it into an instrument that in the future will allow international comparisons between children’s
well‑being data.
Looking at schools as an environment of victimization of its students, Diana Dămean
analyses the effects of violence in the secondary schools. Using scales from the School
Success Profile questionnaire, she conducts a comparative analysis between a national sample
of students and a local sample from vocational schools. The findings indicate that school
violence has a negative impact on the trouble avoidance behavior of adolescents, which is
an important indicator of school success.
The last section of the collection of articles is focusing on children with vulnerabilities
and special needs. Claudia Oşvat presents the services of a Community Center run by an
NGO, with long standing programs and competences in running successful programs to
support families and preventing children from dropping out of school. Evaluation showed
that adolescents included in the programs of the Center value school more, and become
better integrated in their schools work and peer groups.
Camelia Stăiculescu and Monica Ungureanu question the efficiency of social inclusion
of children and young people with social disabilities in Romania. They focus on the results
of a survey conducted with families who have children and young people with disabilities in
their care. Results illustrate the efforts and the difficulties of children and young people with
physical disabilities to participate in education, work and any form of social life, training
and their need for support and services. Inclusion in work is not seen as possible without
accession to supportive social economy programs.
The qualitative study of Adela Popa is also focusing on children with disabilities. It is
based on a research carried out with 90 preschool professionals. Research was focused on
risk and resource factors influencing social inclusion of preschool‑aged children with special
educational needs. The conclusion she reaches states that professionals are well aware about
the factors that endanger inclusion and also the factors that can promote it, but they do not
establish connections between these categories, and cannot see their own role or other
professionals’ role in possible collaborative services.
Scientific knowledge represents power for those who know how to use it, so we recommend
this Journal to social workers and social‑policy makers involved in Child Welfare. It is
essential for both politicians and professionals to access scientific literature, learn from its criticism
and implement its conclusions. This critical perspective is meant to better accommodate
children’s needs and to point to ways capable to efficiently improve services and have a
positive impact on children’s chances to happiness and success.
Maria Roth*
Mihai Bogdan Iovu**
Imola Antal***
* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130, 21

decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail:mroth@socasis.ubbcluj.ro.
** Postdoctoral researcher within the POSDRU 89/1.5/S/60189 Postdoctoral Programs for Sustainable
Development in a Knowledge Based Society, “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School
of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130 21 decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca,
e‑mail:iovu_mbogdan@yahoo.com.
*** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130 21
decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail:imolaan@yahoo.com.
Children’s Rights as Living Rights: Why

Human Rights Only Make Sense if They
Are Connected to the Lives of Children
Manfred Liebel*
Abstract. In the debate on children’s rights there is still little attention given to the
meaning these rights have for children from diverse social and cultural contexts. Frequently,
children whose human rights are violated in the most aggressive ways are seemingly
indifferent to them and seldom claim them. By looking at four examples of marginalised
groups of children in different parts of the world (street children in Guatemala and India,
child refugees in Europe and AIDS orphans in Africa), the paper highlights, why the
legal debate and the practice of children’s rights has to be connected to the daily life
experience of these children and how this could be done.
Keywords: children’s rights, street children, child refugees, child‑headed households,

cross‑cultural perspectives
Introduction
In the debate on children’s rights there is still little attention given to the meaning these rights
have for children living in different social and cultural contexts. It is frequently the case, that
children whose human rights are violated in the most aggressive ways are seemingly indifferent
to those rights and seldom claim them. This raises the question whether the legal debate and the
practise of children’s rights bypass the actual experiences in the lives of these children, and the
issue of how they can be procured to them. After discussing some challenges of a cross‑cultural
understanding of children’s rights, I will elaborate on this question by looking at four examples
of marginalised groups of children in different parts of the world: dealing with human rights
violations towards children in street situations in Guatemala and India, child refugees in
Europe as well as AIDS orphans in Africa who live in so called child‑headed households.
Cross‑cultural perspectives on children’s rights

As all human rights codified in UN conventions, the children’s rights formulated in the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) claim universal validity. Nevertheless they
are criticised especially by people from the majority world who consider them as a manifestation
* International Academy and European Master in Childhood Studies and Children’s Rights at
Free University Berlin, Germany, e‑mail:mliebel@ina‑fu.org.
14 M. Liebel / Children’s Rights as Living Rights: Why Human Rights Only Make Sense if They
of Western hegemony and partly incompatible with certain other cultural traditions. It is
necessary to question whether and to what extent this criticism is qualified, and how the
claim for universality of children’s rights can involve cultural diversity. I am especially
interested in finding out in which way further development of children’s rights can promote
culturally specific ways of living and the equality and acceptance of children as subjects with
own positions and interests.
In relevant literature, the views and answers to this question vary. Some authors, and
especially the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, emphasise the openness of the
UNCRC to different cultures and point out that cultures are no stable self‑contained entities,
but “adaptive systems”. In this sense, the UNCRC and the UN Human Rights system too
are understood as an adaptive system in a permanent process of change. However, it is often
expected from “cultures” to “open up” to the idea of human and children’s rights, i.e. to
align by further development, and by what you might call becoming human rights‑oriented.
This perspective has been formulated particularly explicit by agents of developmental work
focussing on sensitisation and “capacity building” towards human rights.
Other authors equally assume that UNCRC and the concept of human rights are open to
different cultures, but they consider the specific interpretations and attempts of implementation
of human and children’s rights more critically. Among other things their criticism refers to
the fact that the discourse on human and children’s rights is exploited by certain power
groups, who act as “moral watchdogs” with the aim of “modernising” and “civilising” allegedly
backward cultures and ways of living (Pupavac, 1998; Bentley, 2005; Valentin, Meinert,
2009). In their objections against this way of handling human and children’s rights the authors
are not necessarily led by considerations of cultural relativism, but they think it is crucial
to distinguish “real culture” as interpreted by the people whose culture it actually is from
“the culture presented to outsiders by governments and intellectuals” (Freeman, 2002, 30;
see also Harris‑Short, 2003). Thus, the objections are directed against the quasi‑exercise of
human and children’s rights from above by governmental actors and power elites; a “localised”
notion of right and “dialectic” approaches are set against this view. By doing so, the diversity
and meanings of cultures and ways of living are acknowledged and promoted instead of
denigrating them as fundamentally backwards. In this paper, I take up the aforementioned
thoughts and inquire about possible alternatives of a culturally differentiated and localised
dealing with children’s rights.
With regard to children’s rights I want to pose the question if the instrumentalisation I
tagged as problematic is intrinsic to the design of the UNCRC. It has been pointed out
various times in literature that the UNCRC is based on a certain concept of childhood, whose
founding principles have been developed in the European enlightenment and bourgeois
society, and whose global normative validity is now claimed (see e.g. Boyden, 1997;
Pupavac, 1998; Harris‑Short, 2003; Ennew, 2002; Holzscheiter, 2010). Mostly it is given
the name “modern childhood” and conceptualised as a historically particularly sophisticated
stage of childhood (for critical remarks on this see Alanen, 1992). Childhood is – in this
case up to the age of 18 – strictly separated from adulthood and defined as a stage
characterised by particular vulnerability and lack of maturity. In relation to the vulnerability,
the implicit point of reference is a society that harms the child if it isn’t protected from it
(i.e. the focus is on the child’s protection, embodied in the so‑called protection rights). This
is completed by the idea that a child first and foremost has to be attended to, i.e. the
relationship between adult and child is conceived as one of one‑way dependence rather than
one based on interdependence (embodied in so‑called empowerment rights).
The adult, who is presented as perfect or at least as superior to the child is the criterion
with respect to measuring the lack of maturity. Thus a system of power focussed on adults
is confused with personal characteristics, a fact that finds expression even in the conception
of the so‑called participation rights. These merely concede a child the right to be heard, but
not the right to independent decision‑making or self‑determination. The right to be heard
hereby only comprises the idea that opinions of the child (as far as she/he is considered
capable of judging wisely) shall preferentially be taken into account by those governmental
institutions and adults in power. According to this understanding it must be said that for the
first time the child as legal subject is endowed with certain civil liberties, but it is still not
provided with political power (as for example by voting rights)1.
With this critical remark I don’t want to downsize the fact that in the UNCRC children
for the first time ever are guaranteed the status of juridical person according to international
law. Still, I want to point out its constraints and conditionality (sometimes also opposed to the
principles of human rights). I also don’t want to deny that the UNCRC contains some phrases
which imply recognition of other cultures and their ways of practising “childhoods”. According
to the preamble, the public agreements and all activities made in the UNCRC are to be
understood with “due account of the importance of the traditions and cultural values of each
people for the protection and harmonious development of the child”. Yet, the UNCRC leaves
little space to imagine other childhoods, that do not conform to the structural pattern of
“modern” childhood, and which indeed are practised in some cultures or do transcend the
societies and cultures we usually have in mind and which possibly are created by children
themselves.
Guatemala: Persecution and oppression

of children in street situations
Children who live on the streets are often subjected to repressive and arbitrary actions of
police bodies or paramilitary groups. In Guatemala, a country in which human rights
violations towards these children have shown particularly brutal forms2, Angelina Snodgrass
Godoy (1999) researched the question why the human rights work of a very engaged children’s
welfare organisation found such little resonance with children. For her research she drew
on a model that needs further discussion which understands the conscious and goal directed
perception of one’s own rights as the result of a step‑by‑step process, which goes from
naming to blaming to then reach claiming of rights (Felstiner et al., 1980/1981).
Most of the time it is assumed that rights violations is so seldom named by the victims
because they do not know their rights. In her research, Snodgrass Godoy actually found that
generally speaking this does not hold true. Much more important seems to be, that the
children experience violence as so common and so frequent that it seems normal to them.
As a consequence, they no longer see the violence as a problem which is worth paying
attention to and therefore do not talk about it either.
Mostly, criticism of the rights violation (blaming) does not occur because the children
feel guilty and accuse themselves, instead of making others responsible for the violation.
Most of the interviewed children had internalised the existing moral norms to such an extent,
that life on the streets seemed an aberration of “normal life” or a “correct childhood” to
them. A girl for instance emphasised that she wanted to leave the streets, “because the street
doesn’t bring us anything good, and now I want to be a normal person”. Another girl answered
the question whether her boyfriend also lived on the street with: “No, he’s honourable”. A
boy expressed the internalisation of existing norms clearly when he said: “We are, as people
say, the garbage of society” (all citations: Snodgrass Godoy, 1999, 431).
Other interviewed children made a difference between themselves and “the other street
children” by which they wanted to emphasise, that the “real” street children are the others.
As answer to the question, what best could be done to protect these other street children
from police attacks, some children answered that it would be best for them to leave the
streets, “because then they wouldn’t be a problem” (quoted ibidem, 431). They accept that
they themselves or the “other street children” are responsible for their situation, not only
as individuals, but also as a group. Snodgrass Godoy does not only see a self‑accusation in
this, but an attempt to escape the stigma of being a victim. By calling themselves “responsible”,
they define themselves as acting persons, who themselves hold the reigns. However, this can
lead to ignoring the attacks as well as the violation of their rights.
Based on my own research and the research of others, it can be seen, that even children
who live on the streets permanently hardly ever call themselves “street children” and often
fight against this labelling. They feel that this is a word construction that is imposed on
them, in order to separate them as group from other children and to turn them into a
subsumable object of “helping” interventions or to even defame them as “deviant” group
and scandalise their way of living. The explicit non‑regarding of oneself as a street child
can therefore be an expression of self‑esteem and can document the claim to be able to
determine one’s own way of life.
The violations of rights and human dignity that children living on the streets are exposed
to are intertwined so closely to their daily life that “one’s entire existence ¼is seen½ as a
never‑ending series of violations” (ibidem, 1999, 432) and that they would have to continuously
define themselves as victims if they would see all the actions directed towards them as human
rights violations. “As outsiders, it may be easy for us to consider these youths eternally
vulnerable; but for individuals whose daily lives are a struggle to survive, it may be important
to maintain at least the illusion that one is in control” (ibidem).
Upon talking to these children, Snodgrass Godoy got the impression that they avoided
complaining about their situation and the experienced abuses in order to maintain a positive
self image. In particular boys believe it to be weak to complain about their situation. One
boy for instance rejected the offer of legal aid from a child help organization using the
words: “I handle my problems by myself. To each his own”. Another boy disclaimed
assistance, because “we don’t like to be complaining, like women” (ibidem). To this boy,
filing a claim means asking those who have the power in society for help and by this admitting
to vulnerability and weakness. Some who themselves renounce seeking support have in fact
offered support to others. This again shows that they actually are willing to reconcile if they
do not automatically land the role of the victims in the process.
To claim one’s rights means to address a public office in the hopes that it can end the
experienced abuse or injustice suffered. The children interviewed by Snodgrass Godoy name
mostly two reasons, why they do not choose this way: fear of repression and a feeling of
futility. The fear of repression e.g. by the police is not to be underestimated, it has been
proven by many diverse experiences. In order to file a claim they have to go to the police
whose members the children experience first and foremost as their perpetrators. The feeling
of vainness is not in the least an expression of lacking confidence in own capabilities to
achieve change, but rather reflects the loss of confidence in the legitimacy of the entire (legal)
system and is also often based on habitual experiences. The boys and girls living on the
streets are conscious of living in a society and being confronted with institutions that are
not there for them and of whom they have nothing positive to expect because of their
marginalised and stigmatised social position.
It is enlightening to look at the few cases in which the children living on the streets did
actually accept the legal aid offered by child help organisations and did claim their rights.
These children didn’t have fewer reasons to fear consequential repressions or to doubt the
effect of their claim than their peers. Also, they were not better educated or better informed
on their rights. The main difference has to been seen in whether they kept up contact to
institutions of the existing society, be it family, school, legal labour market or (most
frequently) church. The less they felt that they were part of society, the less they were prone
to claim existing rights or to file a claim.
Some of the most marginalised children did fight against the violation of their rights, but
did this without claiming existing, formal rights. Instead, they took the law in their own
hand, so to speak. A 16 year old boy, who had given up all contact to his family years ago,
explicitly referred to his “own law”. It is based on the loyalty in the “street gang”, where
“we are all united. We all take care of each other, and any problems, we all join together
for one (of us)” (ibidem, 434)3.
From her studies, Snodgrass Godoy concludes that: “unfortunately, this means that
human rights principles and mechanisms tend to serve only those who are well off enough
to see them as relevant to begin with – a whole segment of the population essentially leaves
itself out of the human rights paradigm” (ibidem, 436). In order to transform legal principles
into rights practice, she therefore demands to translate “the international human rights
discourse into everyday lived experience” and “to take into account a more contextualized,
«bottom‑up» understanding of rights, privileging the perspectives of those whose rights are
in question over the abstract premises of political philosophy” (ibidem, 437).
India: Children living and working on the streets

As in all countries of the majority world, in the 1990s aid organisations in India also
discovered children’s rights and wrote them on their agenda. They were explicitly asked to
do so by international NGOs or by UNICEF, who finance the local children’s projects. Based
on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, programmes and action forms were
developed that branded the difficult situation of the children as violation of their rights and
that often were to animate the children to fight for their own rights. In three examples of
street children projects in Calcutta, the Indian social researcher Sarada Balagopalan (2012)
shows in which unexpected and headstrong ways the children understood their rights and
how they dealt with them.
Example 1: A local NGO that worked with street children had invited children to
demonstrate in a public skit that they have rights. An educator suggested to a group of 20 street
children: “This sketch should show the audience that all children have rights, you too. You
have a right to food, education, to sleep beneath a mosquito net”. Shankar, one of the older
boys who liked to perform as an actor said: “We are doing this skit so people really
understand the way we live, the way we stay”. Liton, a smaller boy who seldom said a word,
interfered with the question: “Will they give us money when we tell them that we have
rights?” immediately the other boys took this up and argued loudly how this could be done. The
educator answered loudly: “NO all we want is their understanding”. Liton keen not to lose
out on the role added: “I know the perfect first line for the play. I can open the dialogue saying
to the rest of the boys as if my character is not one of them, «Why should the babus (middle‑class)
listen to you? After all they make money from people like you»” (ibidem, 13).
Example 2: Some NGOs wanted to organise a demonstration for children’s rights together
with children. All children who came had, as far as they could, dressed up. Whereas normally
they’d walk in simple sandals, some of the children had somehow organised shoes this time.
Or they wore pretty shirts that hadn’t ever been seen before. At the demonstration which
went through the business district of the city and through a residential area of wealthy people,
the children held up banners and shouted slogans which the educators had given and taught
them. After 15 minutes the interest of the children had ceased, the older boys handed the
banners to the younger ones and complained that there wasn’t anything to drink. Observed
by the disapproving views of the educators, some began to collect pieces of metal they found
on the street and which they obviously thought they could use. The demonstration ended in
a high school which had never been attended by any of the participating children. Here, a
stage was set up, from where NGO officials held speeches against child labour. Some children
started collecting plastic cups and empty coke bottles that were lying around while the
speeches were made, to be able to watch a movie at night with the money earned. When
asked, some older children who only observed the activities said they’d rather not dirty their
nice clothes as they were not meant for working.
Example 3: As on all markets in countries of the majority world, also in Calcutta there
are many children busy collecting left over vegetables and fruit. Sometimes, they also nip
things from stands. Mostly they appear in groups and split the work between each other.
Whereas some collect or steal, others carry away the loot in small sacks in order to distribute
it amongst each other later or to re‑sell the goods in other corners of the market. One
morning, some children brought a small boy to the meeting point of an aid organisation and
said that the boy had been caught by a tradesman and had been beaten up by the police right
then and there. The boy was bleeding in many places and looked really bad. When the boy was
somewhat fixed up he was told that the policeman had acted in an unjust way and must be
sanctioned for his doing. After having listened carefully the boy said: “Aunty, it would have
been much worse if he had arrested me. They would have put me in the lock‑up until I got
bail and in the lock‑up worse things would have happened. He was doing his job and helping
me by beating me at the market itself. I know him because during the times that I have fought
with someone at the shelter and decide to sleep on the station platform he often asks me to
run small errands for him and gives me a blanket to cover myself at night” (ibidem, 17).
Obviously, the children thought it to be of little use to be made aware of their rights. They
couldn’t imagine how reference to these rights could help improve their situation. However it
would be short‑sighted to see a lack of understanding of children’s rights in this. The problem
is on one hand, the manner in which children were imparted their rights and how they were
introduced to them, on the other the socio‑political constellation in which the children are
and which makes it nearly impossible for them to understand themselves as subjects of rights.
In the case of the skit and the demonstration (examples 1 and 2) children were to show
their rights to better‑off people in order to clearly demonstrate that their situation is unjust
and to reach understanding. This approach contradicted their whole life experience. The
“wealthy” people, whom they were to address, are mainly experienced as ruthless and even as
the origin of their problems. How were they to expect in particular from the people, who exploit
and abuse them that they do anything for them? In addition, the children probably felt hurt
in their pride and dignity by this approach, as they must have felt like some sort of beggar
asking for pity from the better‑off. It is not a coincidence that most children hate begging
and that they rather steal or are active in some other way in order to deal with their misery.
In the case of the skit, the children interestingly did not reject the idea of having their
own rights but rather gave this idea an unexpected interpretation of their own. They took
them up not to promote understanding for them but to point out those responsible for their
situation and to ironically make fun of them. The children did not trust that the rights speak
for them or have any effect but wanted to show that the law is rather often used by the powerful
to their advantage at the expense of the children. What seems like a violation of rights in
our eyes, is for the children the normality of the social and rights system in which they live.
The children obviously did not participate in the demonstration because they were
convinced of its sense, but rather in order not to disappoint the educators. That they dressed
up (and likely stole again to be able to do so) shows, that they interpreted their role differently
from the organisers of the demonstration. Whereas the NGOs wanted to achieve authenticity
in recognising children’s rights by showing the visible misery of ragged children, the children
made sure to be seen in their best light and to avoid the impression of being dependent on
other people’s pity. Instead of trusting in verbal appeals to businessmen and well to do
pedestrians, some children seemed to find it more effective to use the anonymity of the
demonstration to do something for their living and enjoyment.
The small boy’s refusal to insist on his rights towards the police that had abused him
(example 3) shows that generally formulated rights can have very different meanings according
to situation and experience. The boy had not only had more complex experiences with the
police than his caregiver was able to, but he also had more in mind than only the recently
experienced abuse. As he was to count with further encounters with the policeman in his daily
(and nightly) life, it was very obvious for him to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a
legal claim. Far from an attitude of submissiveness, he proved to have an extraordinary sense
for the actual existing dependencies and power hierarchies and knew how to use them for
his own good.
The behaviour of the children shown in the three examples may be disappointing for
some children’s rights advocates, yet it demonstrates even more clearly the necessity of not
propagating rights without taking into account the actual life context of the children and to
be sure of the experiences and views of the local children. Sarada Balagopalan, whom I
thank for these examples, clearly depicts that it is not her intention to regard children’s rights
principally as useless and senseless for children in street situations in India because of their
liberal “Western” origin. She also does not want to give way to impunity and rights violations
and accept the existing power hierarchies and injustices or trust in survival tricks of the less
powerful. She does insist however on dealing with children’s rights (and human rights in
general) in a contextual and situational way.
This means: children’s rights cannot be only “implemented” but must be culturally
“translated” and be imparted with local ways of reasoning and according to local customs
as well as legal views and practices. This includes understanding children’s rights not only
in the sense of individual claims, but also as mutual connections and obligations between
members of different generations. This further includes, notwithstanding the cultural and
regional specifities, to take care that rights do not come into force merely by being “naturally”
ascribed to persons or being written in laws and regulations. To refer to them is only useful
if they are not undermined by factual power and ownership differences. In view of their often
marginalised status this holds particularly true for children who live in extreme poverty and
oppression.
Like the children in Guatemala and India, whom I spoke about in the previous sections,
there are many children around the world whose rights are massively violated and who have
little reason to believe in the “power of rights”. Many of these children are not willing to
give in to being seen and treated as victims of adverse circumstances but rather, lacking
other possibilities, try to find solutions for their problems themselves. Taking the example
of child refugees, who came to Europe “alone” and the example of AIDS orphans, who
mainly live in Africa in child‑headed households, the following two sections aim at showing
why only a context specific understanding of children’s rights and an according practice can
do justice to the children’s situation and be helpful to them.
Europe: Separated child refugees

For children who fled from their home country without any relatives, the terms unaccompanied
or separated minor refugees have become commonplace. These terms should express, that
the children are in an extraordinary situation and that they require special protection and
care. The program Separated Children in Europe (Save the Children, 2004) talks of separated
children because this term reflects more adequately the true situation of many children. Their
basic problem is that they are separated from their parents or their legal guardian and that
they suffer from this separation, socially as well as psychologically. The term “separated
child” recognises that some children may appear “accompanied” when they arrive in Europe
but in practice the accompanying adult may be either unable or unsuitable to assume
responsibility for their care. The authorities in the country they arrive in however handle
both terms in a way that does not deal with the situation of child refugees justly and does
not solve their problems but rather magnifies them.
In order to reach legalisation of their status in the new country, children have to prove
that they are unaccompanied or separated. Children are accepted as being “alone” or
“unaccompanied” by the authorities, only if there are no relatives with them or if their
residence is unknown. For the children, this means that in many cases they have to deny
their family or have to pretend that they do not know of any relatives who could care for them.
This can lead to the children feeling even more left alone and that they doubt their moral
integrity, often with traumatic consequences. The often occurring “silence” of the children,
which can be seen as an attempt to make themselves invisible however doesn’t have to be
interpreted in a psychopathological way, but can also have a protecting function also. “It
allows them a psychological space to reflect on their experiences, and make some sense of
them, before using their emotional energy to move on in their new worlds.” (Kohli, 2006, 710)
In addition, the children see themselves confronted with the suspicion that they function
as a kind of bridge or anchor for relatives (“anchor children”), who are only waiting for
legalisation of the children in order to follow them soon by way of family reunification, or to
take material advantage of the children’s stay in the new country (see Engebrigtsen, 2003, 194).
This suspicion is never expressed clearly in official speeches or documents but is always
present when dealing with child refugees4.
Equal to the construction of being alone or unaccompanied, like that of “anchor children”,
is based on a certain cultural model of childhood, parenthood and family care which has its
place in European bourgeois thinking and forms the basis for the welfare systems here (see
Panther‑Brick, Smith, 2000). According to this, the lone or unaccompanied child appears
as a threat to the ideal of security and control. The “correct” childhood is seen as being connected
to living in a home, has its place in the family and is marked by children being dependent on
adults who care for them. This ideal inhibits the perception and recognition of other childhoods
that are located at the margins of society and outside of families and where children possibly
act on their own responsibility and care for themselves. Measured by the European ideal of
a family childhood, refugee children are abnormal beings who are to be mistrusted and who
are to be “domesticated” or who are to be discarded (see Bhabha, 2007, 209).
At the same time, this ideal of childhood has controversial consequences for the perception
of families the children supposedly come from. By assuming that they have left their children
or have sent them on an uncertain journey, they are seen as being irresponsible. “Although
children should, according to the ideal model, be emotionally tied to and live with their parents,
once separated the quality of the parent is questioned rather than the precarious situation that
makes such separations necessary.” (Engebrigtsen, 2003, 195) The parents are seen as not being
qualified to follow their children to the new country and to care for them, yet good enough to
send the children back to them (if they can be found at all). The result is that refugee children
often become a playing field for official decisions. It is claimed – not seldom by making explicit
reference to the UNCRC – that the child’s wellbeing or the best interest of the child is the premise,
yet in the end the state’s interests in having an uncomplicated, smooth official procedure or
in the “securing of the wellbeing” of the native population is the actual premise. For the
affected children reference to the right or even their alleged own interest becomes mockery.
Africa: Child‑headed households

Taking the example of children who take on board the full responsibility for leading
households, I want to depict to what extent, also here, only a contextualized understanding
of children’s rights can do the children justice and can be seen as support by them. Similar
to the separated child refugees, child‑headed households create as unease, as children are
actually not supposed to take on parental responsibility (as one of the most recent examples
see UNICEF, 2006, 62). Parenthood is seen as an adult task. Any living arrangement which
deviates from the norm has the tendency to be seen as a source of mis‑development. Instead
of recognising a justified interest and innovative survival strategy of children, officials and
NGOs who dedicate themselves to orphans tend to discriminate and marginalise these children
further (see Ennew, 2005; Cheney, 2012).
Hereby, no consideration is made of the fact that in many countries children are involved
in taking care of younger siblings, many of whom are still very small. They learn this alongside
their parents and disburden them by caring for the physical and psychological needs of their
younger brothers and sisters and taking on household chores. Looking after siblings is seen
as part of a normal development and as an essential preparation for adult life by many families.
In some societies, the upbringing of children without adult participation is quite widespread.
Judith Ennew (1985) found for instance in the slums of Lima, the Peruvian capital, that sibling
groups were at least as common as two parent families. Luis Aptekar (1991) came to the conclusion
(in a study done on “street children” in Colombia), that the strong supporting relations between
children originated in the care of younger siblings, which they knew from their families.
The gathering of children on their own authority has a long tradition in many non‑Western
cultures. Sometimes it is part of some sort of initiation rite under which children are left to
themselves for a period of time, in order to prove themselves in “autonomous” child groups
and to make themselves fit for life together (see Liebel, 2004, 93‑96). In many parts of
Africa, groups of children take on very clearly defined social functions, for instance
maintenance of wells or mosques (in Muslim communities), keeping villages clean, help for
the sick and handicapped or the support of victims of hard rainfalls or fires (see Sall, 2002,
89). The widespread phenomenon of child‑headed households nowadays is however due to
emergency situations. A particularly high number of such households can be found in
countries that are strongly affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, e.g. in South Africa,
Zimbabwe, Malawi, Uganda or Tanzania (van Breda, 2010; Germann, 2010; Wolf, 2010;
Tolfree, 2004). Also, as a result of the genocide, there are an estimated 60.000 child‑headed
households in Rwanda (Tolfree, 2004, 163).
The following statements of children from Rwanda and Tanzania who lived in such
households illustrate well what affects these children (quoted by Tolfree, 2004, 162):
I am 14 years old and I am a child. But if I ever get married, I know I will always continue to take
care of my children. How could a family abandon its children? To me, a family is a group of people
who care for each other when they are hungry or sick. I have a family, I just need a home.
I am too young to be a mother, but I am a mother and I would never leave my brother and sister
alone.
I am 12 years old and came here with my parents who all passed away one year ago and I don’t
like to be separated from my young sisters and brothers, we stay together, I take care for them
especially the young one who is 1 year old… In order to care for him I have been compelled
to drop from school… But we enjoy when we are together without being interfered by anybody
outside our family.
Such preferences are usually not respected by organisations which, in the name of
children’s rights, promote the protection of and provision for abandoned children and children
living separated from adults. David Tolfree (2004, 161) reports that for instance children
living in such households in Tanzania were hard to convince to confide in a substitutive
family despite enormous difficulties encountered in the own house. In Malawi, child‑headed
households are principally viewed as inappropriate by members of the communities, even if
the oldest “child” is already 18 or older.
Children, who live in child‑headed households, have to count with many difficulties. As
they experience little recognition for their way of living and are hardly supported, they often
have difficulties earning their living. Sometimes they lack needed experience to direct their
day to day life and to solve problems that arise themselves. A 15 year old boy uses these
words (quoted by Tolfree, 2004, 165):
What choice do I have? I am 15 years old. I do not know how to raise these girls. I do not
know how to look after them. I can take care of myself but I cannot take care of them. Sometimes
I do not know what to do. Without me, they would have no food to eat, no place to sleep. But
what can I do?
When these children find neither protection nor support, they are in particular danger
of being abused and exploited (van Breda, 2010, 269; Germann, 2010, 290). Insofar as they
are completely reliant upon themselves for subsistence and public authorities don’t consider
their special situation, they are often not able to attend any school (van Breda, 2010, 272).
The children themselves complain very often that they do not have anyone who speaks for
them and defends them against accusations. They feel left alone frequently and say for
example: “If you are alone you are discouraged” (Tolfree, 2004, 166). The children who
care for their survival and that of their siblings find very little time and opportunities to be
with other children and, when they grow older, to find a possible partner for life. Due to
economic poverty and the everyday experience of stigmatisation and discrimination, these
children are under intense social and emotional stress (van Breda, 2010, 266‑268). The
problems these children face are not least resulting from the fact, “that they are deprived of
acceptance, appreciation and respect for their self‑developed unconventional ways of living”
(Germann, 2010, 294).
Nonetheless, child‑headed households can be more than an emergency solution and can
bring some advantages for the children. They enable siblings to stay together and strengthen
mutual relations that are also important later in life. David Tolfree (2004, 163‑164) reports,
that some children particularly mentioned the fear of being separated from their siblings and
to be maltreated when living in care families or homes. This is partly based on their own
experiences. Sometimes, living together can also be a way of not losing the house or to
continue work and practices established there, which are indispensable for survival. Older
children emphasise that it is especially important to them not to lose economic independence
in order to have a better starting point into adult life. The children show a strong sense of
togetherness and develop the capability, to deal even with the most difficult situations
(Germann, 2010, 293). Angelika Wolf (2010, 189) quotes a boy from a child‑headed household
with the following words:
What I see, what enables us to live together, is the spirit of unity amongst us. We are not arguing
about certain topics… – for example when our father died, there was a conflict about property –…
and one wants to find his own way. But we, we sit together and we advise or tell each other
how we should do things, we exchange ideas. We think nothing of age, one listens to the others.
We do things like a single person.
This difficult life situation rarely allows unambiguous solutions. The children are usually
forced to compromise, where one has to abandon a desire for the sake of the others. In the
two child‑headed households analysed by Angelika Wolf e.g. “the oldest sisters took over
the household and the care for the younger siblings. They resigned from further school
education, to find work and earn money. They set great value on allowing for a school visit
of their younger siblings” (Wolf, 2010, 199). However, the children weren’t satisfied with
the situation and tried with neighbours and other villagers “to be heard, to convince others
or to get them to act on behalf of their interests” (ibidem, 197).
For children a lot depends on, whether their out‑of‑the‑crisis‑born way of life is recognised
by adults and whether they get support with solving their problems. Very often they are
confronted with rejection and distrust or even held responsible for negative incidents (e.g.
theft) in the village or urban quarter. However, as observed by Angelika Wolf (ibidem, 200),
they would also get “help from time and time again by neighbours, friends or former
colleagues of their parents ¼…½. On the one hand, this support was of material nature and
consisted of food, clothes or very little money. On the other hand the adults felt obliged to
support the children with practical advice”. Nowadays some African countries have identified
the necessity of granting support for child‑headed households from the government side and
therefore to develop a legal framework. South Africa is the first country that legally
recognised explicitly with regard to children’s rights the child‑headed household as a new
family structure and integrated them into the public welfare system (see Couzens, Zaal,
2009; van Breda, 2010). However, in South Africa and other African countries, the question
at the heart of the debate is whether children are only seen as objects of welfare, or as being
involved in the search for possible solutions as partners and accepted in their independence
and with their own agenda. Only then will they find children’s rights meaningful to them
and, where applicable, utilise them in their favour.
When children are reliant on helping themselves as in the cases of the “unaccompanied”
refugees or the AIDS orphans, their interests are met the best if they find recognition and
support for the form of living they feel appropriate. Only then will they see any sense in
children’s rights and possibly use them to their advantage.
Conclusion
In order to achieve that children embrace rights and make use of them for themselves, they
have to be conceptualised in a context specific way and give answers to the children’s life
experiences. The task cannot be to “implement” formally existing children’s rights, but they
must rather be reflected according to their cultural, political and structural coherence and
weighed against the possible consequences for the children’s lives. In doing this, the large
differences between living situations of children across the globe have to be considered and
can lead to different meanings of same rights. If need be, the rights have to be specified and
extended with children participating in a significant way. The children are to be respected
as persons who (co‑)construct their rights and participate and design the handling of their
rights (for further explications see Liebel, 2012).
If rights are not understood as a weapon of the powerful, but as “power held by the
powerless” (Federle, 1994, 345), then the child rights discourse held until now is in high
need of revision. Rights are important because they signal to those who hold them that they
do not have to see themselves as beggars or objects of good deeds granted to them. But
“rights without remedies are of symbolic importance, no more” (Freeman, 2007, 8). As
Katherine Hunt Federle (1994, 343‑344) already noted years ago, based on her experiences
in the USA it holds equally true that:
Having the right means having the power to command respect, to make claims and to have them
heard. But if having a right is contingent upon some characteristic, like capacity, then holding
the rights becomes exclusive and exclusionary; thus, only claims made by a particular group
of (competent) being will be recognized. ¼…½ Children, however, have been unable to redefine
themselves as competent beings; thus, powerful elites decide which, if any, of the claims made
by children they will recognize.
Children’s rights become rights of the children and can be understood and practised as
such by them only when they themselves reach the necessary power and means to set their
own priorities and to use the rights according to their own discretion.
Note
1. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has recently started attempts to recognise the
right to be heard as a collective right of children (by way of the General Comment No. 12,
2009), something that definitely strengthens the position of children as social group and disrupts
the adultist power relations.
2. Other countries with similarly brutal human rights violations towards these children are Brazil
and Colombia.
3. The interview is documented in detail in Snodgrass, 1999, 434 and 438; see also Stephenson,
2001; McAdam‑Crisp, Aptekar and Kironyo, 2005.
4. The author refers to experiences in Norway, where reference to children’s rights has an especially
long tradition and official decisions are generally legitimised with the remark that they served
the “best interest” of the child.
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The Committee’s View on Children’s

Participation in the CRC Monitoring
and Reporting Process
Smiljana Simeunovic Frick*
Abstract. Although children’s (direct) participation in the monitoring and reporting

process of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is not a common practice, children
have taken an increasingly active role in these processes. This article explores how the
Committee on the Rights of the Child, as the most authoritative body monitoring the
Convention, perceives children’s role in this process. An analysis of the General Comments,
which contain the Committee’s interpretation of the CRC monitoring on one hand, and
children’s participation on the other, shows that the Committee takes a clear position in
favour of children’s participation in this process. This position is undoubtedly based on
children’s participation rights. The Committee, furthermore, doesn’t favour any particular
type of children’s involvement in the monitoring of the Convention as long as the basic
requirements are met. Given the Committee’s general encouragement of children’s direct
participation in this process, it’s respond to individual children’s reports would be worth
further examination.
Keywords: children’s rights, children’s participation, monitoring, the Committee on the

CRC
Children’s participation in the monitoring and reporting process of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child is not a common practice, let alone children’s direct participation in
these processes. However, children have taken an increasingly active role in that process
recently (see NGO Group for the CRC, 2011a; Simeunovic Frick, 2011). Although the
participation of children in socio‑political processes has become an important topic in
academic literature on childhood and/or children’s rights, their (direct) participation in the
monitoring and reporting process of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereafter
the CRC) has not received due attention so far. Flekkøy (1996) and Collins (2006) make a
strong case for children’s participation in this process in general. Willemot (2003) deals with
the first children’s report from Belgium, Heesterman (2005) focuses on the influence of
children’s reports on the Concluding Observations and Dimmock (2009) discusses children’s
direct participation within the wider context of their general participation in the CRC moni
toring and reporting process. However, last year brought an increase in attention towards children’s
reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (hereafter the Committee). A collection
of children’s reports submitted to the Committee was published (see Simeunovic Frick, 2011)
* Child Rights Information Centre, Moldova, e‑mail:smiljanafrick@gmail.com.

28 S. Simeunovic Frick / The Committee’s View on Children’s Participation in the CRC
Monitoring and Reporting Process
and a report produced by children and young people living in Wales appeared in a compilation
of articles dedicated to significant developments influenced by the CRC (see Invernizzi,
Williams, 2011). In addition, the NGO Group for the CRC issued guidelines for children’s
participation in reporting to the Committee (see NGO Group, 2011b and 2011a).
An introduction into the phenomenon of children’s direct participation in the CRC
monitoring and reporting process can be found in the publication of children’s reports (see
Simeunovic Frick, 2011, 15‑44). Children can participate in the monitoring of the CRC
implementation process performed by State Parties or NGOs and contribute to governmental
or alternative reports respectively. However, their direct participation in this process goes
much further and comprises an independent monitoring by children themselves, which results
in a production of their own report. The Committee emphasises the importance of the
independent monitoring in general. It urges State Parties to cooperate with civil society
organisations and provide them with support while respecting their autonomy (Committee
on the CRC, 2003; see also Vučković Šahović, 2010, 24). As in feminist citizenship theory, the
term of independence refers to the ability to make and act upon one’s choices (independence
as autonomy) in distinction to an illusory self‑sufficiency (not needing help or support) (see
Lister, 2007, 713; Young, 1995, 548‑550; Young, 2003, 21‑22). Therefore, insofar as children
decide on the important aspects of an undertaking – e.g. the content and process of the moni
toring of and reporting on the CRC implementation – this undertaking should be regarded as
children led or independent, regardless of the support they get from adults. Since socio‑political
processes and conditions are dominated by adults as well as the cultural context in which
children live, their citizenry participation has to be supported by adults. For instance, in order
to take part in the CRC monitoring and reporting process, they have to be informed about
the CRC in general and its reporting procedures in particular. Also, they have to be trained
in research methods and techniques in order to be able to actively engage in that process.
On the other hand, taking part in socio‑political processes challenges their exclusion.
For example, children’s direct participation in the CRC monitoring and reporting process
calls into question their traditional image of irrelevant social and political actors. It offers
them an opportunity to influence the process of the CRC implementation and beyond. By
monitoring the implementation of the Convention, children can increase their knowledge
and gain the experience needed for social and political participation in general. They can
improve not only their understanding of their situation, but of human rights in general and
learn about political and social actors and processes in their countries. The results of a
children led monitoring can inform governmental or NGO reports. However, preparation of
their own report, based on their monitoring, offers them a unique opportunity to elaborate
their own position toward the situation of their rights and to formulate their priorities in
respect of the CRC implementation. By presenting their findings and putting forward their
recommendations directly to the Committee, children have more chances to influence the
Committee’s agenda and, indirectly, those of the Government and other political and social
actors. With the acknowledgement from the Committee children can increase their credibility
and influencing capacity (see Simeunovic Frick, 2011, 15‑44).
The aim of this article is to examine the Committee’s view on the children’s participation
in the CRC monitoring and reporting process. Since the Committee can be considered as
the most authoritative body monitoring the Convention, it’s view is of particular significance
(see Verheyde, Goedertier, 2006). The examination will be based on an analysis of relevant
parts of two General Comments: 1) the General Comment No. 5 on the General Measures
of Implementation of the CRC (hereafter GC5), issued by the Committee in 2003, and 2)
the General Comment No. 12 on The Right of the Child to be Heard (hereafter GC12) from
the year 2009.
The purpose of general comments coincides with the Committee’s raison d’être, being the
improvement of the implementation of the CRC’s provisions by guiding the governments on the
implementation of its norms. To this end, general comments attempt to enhance the understanding
of the rights enshrined in the Convention and draw attention to the insufficiencies disclosed by
a large number of reports; they illuminate the States Parties’ obligations, aim at stimulating
the implementation activities of the governments and relevant international bodies as well as try
to clarify the reporting requirements. (see Verheyde, Goedertier, 2006, 30)
The GC5 and the GC12 lend themselves to the analysis of the Committee’s perspective
on children’s participation in the CRC monitoring and reporting process because they deal
directly with the topic of the CRC monitoring and reporting process (GC5) and children’s
participation (GC12). After a brief introduction into the CRC monitoring and reporting
process in the first chapter of the article, the second and third chapters describe and discuss
the Committee’s understanding of children’s role in that process. The analysis of the Committee’s
perspective will take into account also other relevant documents issued by the Committee.
Besides conclusion, the final chapter will outline some points for further research.
The CRC monitoring process1

The implementation of the CRC is primarily, but not only, a matter of States Parties. Once
States Parties ratify the CRC, they assume the responsibility of adapting their respective
national laws in accordance with the Convention. They must adjust their national policies
and undertake all necessary measures for the translation of the CRC provisions into action.
Article 4 of the CRC defines the nature of the State Parties’ obligations.
¼...½ Article 4 cuts across all the rights in the CRC and it is vital that their implementation is
carried out in the light of Article 4. Adequate attention given to the implementation of Article 4
of the CRC would necessarily lead to advancing the implementation of obligations in relation
to other rights. The implementation of Article 4, which is at the heart of States Parties’
obligations, requires that detailed plans are made, and attention is given to evaluation of plans,
review of legislation, assessing ways of measuring progress, as well involving various sectors
in the planning and implementation process. ¼emphasis added½ (Rishmawi, 2006, 57)
Monitoring and evaluation are perceived as one of the crucial general measures of the
CRC implementation. The Committee therefore recommends that the State Parties establish
a mechanism for regular and inclusive monitoring process. Although it is the primary task
of governments, the Committee emphasises that the process should include independent
actors, e.g. Ombudsperson, NGOs, academic institutions as well as children. The Committee
commends governments which have introduced an annual report on the situation of children’s
rights and recommends that such reports should receive wide media coverage and broad
public discussion which involves typically excluded social groups – children and minority
groups (see Committee on the CRC, 2003, 11‑12).
Articles 43 to 45 of the Convention enunciate the requirements to be met for its
implementation on an international level. The monitoring procedures performed by the
Committee play an important role within this process. The main task of the Committee is
to assist and control the States Parties in their efforts to implement the Convention.
Examination of the progress made by States Parties can be considered as the Committee’s
core activity (see Doek, 2011)2. This is done through the CRC reporting process, which is
defined in Article 44 as well as in several sets of reporting guidelines adopted by the
Committee3. The first step is the submission of a state or governmental report. States Parties
must submit an initial report to the Committee two years after the ratification of the
Convention; subsequent reports must be submitted every five years. States Parties are also
required to make their reports publicly available. Following the experiences made with various
other UN treaties, the reporting obligations under the CRC are more comprehensive than
those under “older” treaties (see Verheyde, Goedertier 2006, 16‑17). Since the imple
mentation of human rights conventions goes beyond the mere adoption of legislative measures,
state reports must describe the enforcement and effects of the adopted measures and include
the wider context of the implementation. Supplied with such an extensive report, both the
Committee and State representatives are better prepared for a constructive dialogue, and the
monitoring is much more effective.
The state reports are discussed in three steps: at the pre‑sessional meeting, the sessional
meeting and finally during the preparation of the Concluding Observations.
The pre‑sessional meeting is not open to the public. Instead, a working group consisting
of the Committee, invited representatives of UN bodies and agencies (e.g. ILO, UNICEF,
WHO, World Bank) as well as NGOs meets to discuss the submitted state report. The
pre‑sessional meeting is also an opportunity for children’s representatives to join in upon
invitation (see Baro, 2003, 38‑39; Verheyde, Goedertier, 2006, 25; Doek, 2011)4. Its main
purpose is to review the state report and to specify the main issues that should be discussed
with the representatives of the reporting states. This “List of Issues” is sent to the government
in order to enable the state representatives to prepare themselves for a constructive discussion
with the Committee.
NGO participation in the reporting procedures is highly appreciated by the Committee.
NGOs are invited to submit a report – known as alternative or shadow report – in order to
supply the Committee with the NGO’s perspective on the CRC implementation. The invitation
to participate in the pre‑sessional meeting is based on this report (see Verheyde, Goedertier,
2006, 24‑25). The alternative report should include a review of the state report and provide
information on those aspects of the CRC implementation which are omitted by it (see NGO
Group for the CRC, 2006, 8‑10). Article 45 of the CRC refers to “other competent bodies”
which may be invited by the Committee to join the monitoring process and “provide advice” on
the CRC implementation. The reference includes NGOs, and testifies to the acknowledgement
given to their contribution to the implementation process (see Vučković Šahović, 2010, 14‑16).
State representatives and Committee members finally meet in the so‑called sessional
meeting, which is a plenary meeting open to the public. After an introductory presentation
by the state representatives, which should already take up topics from the “List of issues”,
a constructive dialogue should evolve with the Committee members around the achievements
and difficulties of the implementation.
As a result of the reporting process, the Committee prepares a document known as
“Concluding Observations”. This contains a general evaluation of the state report, the main
points of the discussions as well as general recommendations for the further implementation
of the CRC. The recommendations issued in the Concluding Observations are not binding.
However, they provide guidance on the further implementation of the Convention, since they
contain the view of the Committee, which can be considered as the most authoritative body
monitoring the Convention (see Verheyde, Goedertier, 2006, 30).
GC5: The CRC Monitoring Process and Children

Children’s participation in the CRC monitoring process is a recurrent topic in the GC5. In
the introduction into the general measures of the implementation, the Committee clearly
states that the effective translation of the CRC provisions into action requires that all measures
adopted by the State Parties should be based on the CRC, particularly on the CRC articles
identified as the general principles. Article 12 of the CRC is explicitly linked to the CRC
monitoring process as one of the general measures of the CRC implementation:
Article 12: the child’s right to express his or her views freely in “all matters affecting the
child”, those views being given due weight. This principle, which highlights the role of the
child as an active participant in the promotion, protection and monitoring of his or her rights,
applies equally to all measures adopted by States to implement the Convention. ¼emphasis added½
(Committee on the CRC, 2003, 3)
Governments are obliged to continuously review the existing legislation, perform a regular
impact assessment of policies or impact evaluation of budgetary allocations. The Committee
reiterates its call for an independent monitoring and evaluation mechanism to be established.
Besides national human rights institutions, NGOs and academics, children and young people
are typically mentioned as those who should be consulted and whose views should be taken into
consideration in the monitoring of the CRC (see Committee on the CRC, 2003, 6, 11).
The Committee emphasizes that, in many cases, only children themselves are in a position
to indicate whether their rights are being fully recognized and realized. Interviewing children
and using children as researchers (with appropriate safeguards) is likely to be an important
way of finding out, for example, to what extent their civil rights, including the crucial right
set out in article 12, to have their views heard and given due consideration, are respected
within the family, in schools and so on (Committee on the CRC, 2003, 12).
The Committee recognizes that children have a special position when it comes to the
assessment of the CRC implementation and the effects of adopted measures on their lives.
Since children are the best source of information on how the various laws, policies and
programmes affect their everyday lives, the Committee recommends that their views and
experiences should be examined and taken into account for a comprehensive and therefore
more effective monitoring. The Committee, furthermore, notes that children’s perspective
can be examined in two different ways – by children themselves or by an adult researcher –
without favouring any (see also NGO Group for the CRC, 2006, 9‑10). Children’s participation
can range from a rather passive consultations on certain topics chosen by adults to more
active doing of their own research on topics determined by themselves.
In addition, the Committee emphasises that a meaningful participation of children requires
establishment of consistent and persistent channels for communicating their perspectives. To
that respect, the governments should develop a direct relationship with children, not simply
one that is mediated through NGOs (Committee on the CRC, 2003, 4). Furthermore, a
“meaningful consultation with children requires special child‑sensitive materials and pro
cesses; it is not simply about extending to children access to adult processes” (ibidem, 8).
The process of children’s participation should be inclusive in two ways. First, the environment,
working methods and language should be adapted to children’s evolving capacities (e.g. state
reports and Concluding Observations should be translated into the language they understand;
see ibidem, 17). Second, recognising that children are not a homogeneous social group, the
Committee stresses that the right to non‑discrimination requires a process which allows
participation of diverse, i.e. also marginalized groups of children (see especially ibidem, 8).
Finally, the Committee reminds that according to the CRC Article 12, listening to children
means giving due weight to their opinions which includes also that children are informed
how their opinions have influenced relevant decisions (see ibidem, e.g. 4).
The Committee’s position in favour of children’s participation in the CRC monitoring
process is supported by the revised guidelines for state reporting from 2005:
States Parties should provide information on cooperation with civil society organizations,
including non‑governmental organizations and children’s and youth groups, with regard to
implementation of all aspects of the Convention. In addition, please describe the manner in
which the present report was prepared and the extent to which non‑governmental organizations
(NGOs), youth groups and others were consulted. (Committee on the CRC, 2005, 4)5
GC12: Children’s Right to be Heard

and the CRC Monitoring and Reporting Process
Children’s participation in the CRC monitoring and reporting process is also a topic of the
General Comment No.12. This document provides guidance on the implementation of the
CRC Article 12: children’s right to express an opinion and to have that opinion taken into
account in any matter affecting them. The Article 12 is understood as the core of the concept
of children’s participation rights6. The Committee’s legal analysis of this article comprises
an elaboration of the implications of specific wordings of this article7, an explanation of the
five steps for its effective implementation and a clarification of the State Parties’ obligations
to that respect.
Discussing the implementation of Article 12 in various settings and situations, the
Committee gives particular attention to children’s participation at national and international
level. It welcomes various opportunities for children’s participation at local, district and
national level of government. Besides local youth or children’s parliaments, it is recommended
that other organisational structures should also receive governmental support and social
acknowledgement. The establishment of children led organisations and initiatives is explicitly
encouraged (see Committee on the CRC, 2009, 28‑29).
Children’s participation in the monitoring process is not widely discussed in the CG12.
Nevertheless, it adds to the Committee’s recommendations from GC5:
The Committee welcomes written reports and additional oral information submitted by child
organizations and children’s representatives in the monitoring process of child rights imple
mentation by States parties, and encourages States parties and NGOs to support children to
present their views to the Committee. (Committee the CRC, 2009, 29)
The GC5 calls for children’s participation in the CRC monitoring process in general.
The GC12 particularly encourages children’s direct participation in that process: in order
to submit a report to the Committee, children have to monitor the CRC implementation
process. The GC12 adds also to the conditions of children’s meaningful participation
mentioned in the GC5. These are now systematized under the title “Basic requirements for
the implementation of the right of the child to be heard”.
The Committee urges States parties to avoid tokenistic approaches, which limit children’s
expression of views, or which allow children to be heard, but fail to give their views due weight.
It emphasizes that adult manipulation of children, placing children in situations where they are
told what they can say, or exposing children to risk of harm through participation are not ethical
practices and cannot be understood as implementing article 12. ¼...½
All processes in which a child or children are heard and participate, must be:
a) Transparent and informative ¼...½
b) Voluntary ¼...½
c) Respectful ¼...½
d) Relevant ¼...½
e) Child‑friendly ¼...½
f) Inclusive ¼...½
g) Supported by training ¼both for adults and children½
h) Safe and sensitive to risk ¼...½
i) Accountable ¼…½ (Committee on the CRC, 2009, 29).
GC12 is based on the Committee’s Recommendations resulting from the Day of General
Discussion on the Right of the Child to be Heard (hereafter the Recommendations). Those
Recommendations give some more detail with regard to children’s role in the CRC monitoring
process8:
The Committee encourages the direct involvement of children in monitoring the implementation
of all rights enshrined in the Convention. The Committee recommends that States parties actively
involve children in the periodic review process of the Convention. It also urges children to play
an active role in identifying human rights aspects in need of further attention and monitoring
the implementation of concluding observations at the national level. In particular, the Committee
calls on children to actively engage in local policy issues which relate to budget allocations for
example in the areas of education, health, working conditions for youth and violence prevention.
(Committee on the CRC, 2006, 5, 9)
Furthermore, the Committee’s intention to explore means of enhancing children’s parti

cipation in its own work, particularly in the pre‑session country briefings, is introduced in
the Recommendations (see ibidem, 9).
As part of an initiative of the NGO Group for the CRC, a group of children has met with
the Committee in order to discuss possible changes in the official monitoring procedures,
so that children can participate more easily and fully (see Dimmock, 2009, 12‑14 and 22‑24)9.
The children’s recommendations focused on the meeting with the Committee: language,
room/sitting arrangements and time (see ibidem, 12‑13). Since children and young people
highly appreciate the opportunity of meeting the Committee, it is important for them to have
sufficient time to explain and discuss their situation and priorities. They suggested that
meetings with Committee members or country rapporteurs in their countries should become
a formal part of the evidence‑gathering process. Such meetings would have the advantage of
involving more children and being considerably less expensive for (children) participants.
Last but not least, the Committee members would have the possibility to learn more about
the children’s actual situations (see ibidem, 22‑23).
Jaap E. Doek, former member and chairperson of the Committee, puts forward a similar
suggestion. He proposes two meetings between children and the Committee member who is
the country rapporteur. The first meeting should take place immediately after the Committee
has received the state report. A group of children would be given the chance to inform the
Committee member about concerns and priorities of the children living in that country. The
second meeting between the same participants should take place within 6 to 12 months after
the Committee has sent its Concluding Observations to the Government. The country
rapporteur would inform the children about the decision making process and the content of
the Committee’s recommendations, and in particular, how the children’s opinions have been
taken into account by the Committee. The second meeting would also be a good opportunity
to discuss and plan the implementation of the Concluding Observations as well as the
children’s role in that process (see Doek, 2011).
Conclusions
While the CRC does not itself contain a clear reference to the role of children in the
monitoring and reporting process, more recent documents issued by the Committee do express
unambiguous acknowledgement of children’s participation, showing that the understanding
of the role of children has evolved throughout the implementation process. Children have
certainly contributed to this change by submitting their own reports or contributing to the
state or NGO monitoring and reporting.
Looking at documents explaining the Committee’s understanding of the CRC monitoring
process on one hand, and children’s participation on the other, it could be concluded that the
Committee takes a clear position in favour of children’s (direct) participation, which is, furthermore,
undoubtedly based on children’s participation rights (see Liebel, 2009, 128‑129). In both
documents the Committee refers to Article 12 arguing that children are entitled to participate
in the CRC monitoring and reporting process. The Committee is also aware of the instrumental
value of children’s involvement for a more effective monitoring (see Liebel, 2009, 127‑128).
Both the representatives of the Government as well as NGOs are encouraged to involve
children in their monitoring or to facilitate and support children’s own monitoring. The
Committee welcomes both passive and active (i.e. direct) forms of children’s participation.
By explicitly encouraging children to submit their own reports in the GC12, it might seem
that the Committee favours children’s direct participation. On the other hand, the special
attention given to children’s reporting could also be explained as a reaction to this new
development in the CRC monitoring and reporting process. Although children’s reports were
submitted to the Committee at the time of drafting of the GC5, it was too early to understand
and recognise the practice of children’s reporting. This could be the reason why children’s
reports are not explicitly mentioned in the GC5 but only in the GC12. The new form of
children’s participation is acknowledged and equally valued as the others. This is in line
with the Committee’s emphasis on the standards or basic requirements for children’s
participation. Aware of the fact that socio‑economic, political and cultural context affects
not only attitudes towards children’s participation but also resource availability (see Collins,
2006; Shier, 2010), the Committee doesn’t favour any particular type of children’s involvement
in the CRC monitoring process as long as the basic requirements are met.
Given the Committee’s general encouragement of children’s reports, it’s respond to
individual children’s reports would be worth further examination. In a study comparing the
recommendations presented by children in their reports with the respective Concluding
Observations, Heesterman (2005) gives evidence of the influence of the reports on the
document issued by the Committee. The study also shows that the Committee’s approach to
children’s reports is not easy to understand from the outside (Simeunovic Frick, 2011, 15‑44).
The majority of children and young people who have participated in the programme initiated
by the NGO Group for the CRC felt that “the issues they had raised with the Committee
were reflected in the Concluding Observations” (Dimmock, 2009, 16). However, since not
all children who have submitted reports to the Committee have also participated in the
initiative of the NGO Group, and since children’s reports have continued to be been submitted
to the Committee after Heesterman’s study, the topic of the influence of children’s reports on
the Concluding Observations should be further examined. Besides a parallel analysis of children’s
reports and Concluding Observations, an examination of the Committee’s decision‑making
processes could also shed light on how the Committee deals with the complexity of navigating
through differing expectations of the actors involved in the process.
Note
1. In this chapter the autor draws extensively on her introduction into the book: Children’s Rights:
Experienced and Claimed (see Simeunovic Frick, 2011, 15‑44 ).
2. See Doek (2011) for other forms of the Committee’s assistance in the CRC implementation.
3. See Verheyde and Goedertier (2006, 17‑23) for more detailed information about the form and
content of the reports and the monitoring process in general.
4. The creation of an additional “children‑only” meeting has been suggested, for children to meet
and discuss the state of the CRC implementation process with the Committee (see Dimmock,
2009, 11).
5. The previously existing guidelines had no explicit reference to children’s or young people’s
participation in the CRC monitoring process (see Committee on the CRC, 1996). Now, however,
States Parties are requested to cooperate with children within both the CRC implementation and
monitoring processes. The request is repeated in the newest guidelines for state reporting (see
Committee on the CRC, 2010, 5).
6. Although no CRC provision specifically grants children the “right to participation”, it is possible
to conceptualise the latter as a “cluster of rights” (see Hanson, Vandaele, 2003, 84‑85) based
on the particular rights enunciated in different articles. Besides Article 12, these are: the right
to freedom of expression, the right to declare and publish their beliefs, opinions and perspectives
without fear of persecution (Article 13) and freedom of association and peaceful assembly
(Article 15) and access to information (Article 17). The GC12 explains the linkages between
the Article 12 and these articles.
7. Some of these are, more specifically: “capable of forming his or her own views”, “in all matters
affecting the child” and “being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of
the child” (see Committee on the CRC, 2009, 8‑12).
8. “The discussions during the Day of General Discussion result in Recommendations approved
by the CRC Committee. These Recommendations are meant to guide States parties, NGOs, UN
agencies and others with the implementation of the CRC. But they are also used as an input
and basis for the production of General Comments. This was the case for example with the
General Comments on Early Childhood, on Indigenous Children and on Article 12.
In addition, Days of General Discussion were the starting point for two important UN Studies
recommended by the CRC Committee: the UN Study on Children and Armed Conflict and the
UN study on Violence against Children.” (Doek, 2011)
9. This NGO Group initiative gives children an opportunity to influence the conditions of their
participation both regarding their cooperation with NGOs and the official reporting procedures.
The Peruvian working children’s organisation MNNATSOP regards the initiative as a historical
event (see MNNATSOP, 2011). Not only do the Committee and NGO community recognise
children as participants, but their invitation to influence the procedures can potentially make
the CRC monitoring process itself less adult dominated (see Shier, 2010, 29).
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The Implementation of the UN

Convention on the Rights
of the Child in Greece
Paroula Naskou‑Perraki*
Abstract. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter CRC)
was adopted unanimously on November 20th, 1989 by the General Assembly on the UN1,
and came into force on September 2nd, 19922. Greece ratified the Convention with the
Law N. 2101 on December 3rd, 19923 without any reservations with regard to its content.
Since then the Convention has been incorporated into the Greek legal system, and
according to the Greek Constitution4, its provisions prevail in case they contradict national
law. The CRC is characterized as the most complete Convention in the field of human
rights, incorporating civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, previous
declarations, international regulations targets to protect the children, almost half of the
population of the earth5. It is also considered as a very important act, legally binding,
according to international law, on all states that have ratified it, 194 member states of
the UN6.On May 25th, 2000 the General Assembly of the UN adopted two Optional
Protocols the first on the involvement of children in armed conflict7 and the second on
the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography8 trying to ameliorate
categories of vulnerable children in difficult situations. On December 19th, 2011 a third
Optional Protocol was adopted by the Human Rights Council9 and the 3rd Committee of
the General Assembly10, ready to be signed by the member states of the UN. This new
Protocol allows individual children to submit complaints regarding specific violations of
their rights under the Convention and its two Optional Protocols11.
Keywords: CRC, vulnerable children, Greece
The incorporation of the CRC into the Greek legal system

Although the CRC is not referred to in the Greek Constitution, the latter encompasses solemn
proclamations in two articles which apply to the protection of children’s rights. Article 21
of the Greek Constitution provides that:
1. The family, being the cornerstone of the preservation and the advancement of the Nation, as
well as marriage, motherhood and childhood, shall be under the protection of the State.
2. Families with many children, disabled war and peace‑time veterans, war victims, widows
and orphans, as well as persons suffering from incurable bodily or mental ailments are
entitled to the special care of the State.
* International Law at the Department of International and European Studies, University of

Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece.
40 P. Naskou‑Perraki / The Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
in Greece
3. The State shall care for the health of citizens and shall adopt special measures for the
protection of youth, old age, disability, and for the relief of the needy.
4. The acquisition of a home by the homeless or those inadequately sheltered shall constitute
an object of special State care.
Even though the Constitution does not elaborate further on children’s rights, Greece has
adopted various laws and shaped policies which include measures, programs and services
that aim in protecting, promoting and advancing the children’s rights. The CRC (Law
2101/1992) has been referred to in three other laws; it has been also referred to in the
Explanatory Reports which are presented at the Greek Parliament in order to introduce
legislation that should be adopted. The CRC has been referred to in Article 12 of the
Presidential Decree 150/200612 which incorporates Article 11 of the European Directive
2003/109 concerning the status of third‑country nationals who are long‑term residents into
the Greek legal order.
Article 12 provides that
Long‑term residents shall enjoy equal treatment with nationals as regards:

(d) social security, social assistance and social protection as defined by Law 4051/1960 “Support
of unprotected children”; Legislative Decree 510/1973 “Social protection measures for the
poor”; Law 1302/1982 “Ratification of the International Labour Organisation Convention
No. 103/1952”; Law 2101/1992 “Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child”,
Law 3454/2006 “Support of the family and other provisions”.
Article 4 § 1 of Law 2909/2001 contains the mandate of the Observatory for the Rights
of the Child and it reads as follows: “The mandate of the Observatory is the monitoring
and promotion of the implementation of CRC which was ratified by virtue of Law 2101/1992”.
Furthermore, Article 1 of Law 3625/2006 which ratifies the Optional Protocol on the
sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography also makes a reference to CRC.
Reference to CRC has been made in the Explanatory Reports for the adoption of the
following laws:
• Law 2909/2001 “Introduction to Higher Education”13. The Explanatory Report refers to
article 4 to the CRC and the need for the establishment of a National Observatory for
the Rights of the Child in order to complete the policies and measures that are already
adopted in the field of children’s rights. The report makes reference also to Article 3 of
the CRC and points out that the systematic collection of evidence and data with regard to the
status of the child in the Greek society shall assist in the creation of a national plan of
action for children’s rights. The National Observatory shall further assist in raising
awareness about children’s rights and will cooperate with NGOs towards this direction;
• Law 3189/2003 “The reform of juvenile penal legislation”14. The report includes a
thorough analysis of the then existing legislation on juvenile delinquency and amendments
that should be made in order to tackle successfully issues that concern the prevention of
juvenile delinquency and the social rehabilitation and inclusion of minors. There is a
reference to CRC in connection with the definition of the “juvenile offender” who was
set to be between 8 and 18 years old in the amendment of Article 121 of the Penal
Procedures Code. Special reference is made to the authoritative book The UN Convention
on the rights of the Child and its implementation in the national legal order. Article by
article interpretation15. Moreover, Article 133 (4) of the Penal Procedure Code was
amended in order to be harmonized with Article 40 of CRC;
• Law 3305/2005 “Medically Assisted Human Reproduction”16. It is pointed out in the

report that the assessment of the best interests of the child that shall be born is of special
importance as it reflects the constitutional principle of the protection of children’s rights
which is encompassed in article 3 of the CRC and Article 24 of the EU Charter of
Fundamental Rights. This principle permeates the law of children and minors in the
domestic legal order. Therefore, the aforementioned principle sets the ethical threshold
for the medically assisted human reproduction to go through;
• Law 3454/2006 “Family support and other relevant provisions”17. The report refers to
article 6, § 1 which recognises the inherent right of the child to life and which in effect
obliges the national legislator to shape policies and measures which secure the development
of all children. Further reference is made to Article 27 of the CRC according to which
the standard of living for the child should include his or her physical, mental, spiritual,
moral and social development. It only follows that it is the obligation of Greece vis‑à‑vis
the international community to recognise and secure the exercise of these rights by taking
measures within its discretionary power in accordance with the spirit of the international
human rights instruments.
Greek Case Law

National Courts. Due to the fact that there is a rich legislative framework which protects
the rights of children in many areas (i.e. custody proceedings, domestic abuse, child work etc.),
the Greek Courts have not invoked frequently CRC provisions in the case law. Most of the
CRC provisions are encompassed in various legislative acts which regulate specific areas
such as family law, migrants’ rights, the rights of Roma etc. The case law indicates that the
CRC provisions have been invoked in limited areas of interest such as cases where the best
interests of the child had to be determined. For example, in a recent custody proceedings case
that was heard before the High Court, the applicant applied for the sole custody of her child and
the disruption of communication between the father and the child on reasons of sexual harassment.
The High Court awarded the applicant with the sole custody of her child based on Articles
1520 and 1532 of the Greek Civil Code and Articles 3(1) and 9(3) of Law 2101/1992 which
ratifies the CRC18. The High Court found that due to the sexual harassment that the child
suffered by his father, any future communication between the father and the child would
induce psychological harm to the child which would be against the best interest of the child.
In another case that was heard before the Administrative Court of Appeal the appellant
was a child who was deported illegally by the Greek government19. Although the appellant
presented to the competent national authority all the necessary legal documents to be allowed
to stay in the country he was deported even though his family resided in Greece. The decision
of the Court was based on Article 3(1) of Law 2101/1992 which provided that “in all actions
concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions,
courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child
shall be a primary consideration”.
In 2006 the Court of First Instance of Katerini had to determine the best interests of the
child in a case of surrogate adoption20. According to article 1, § 1 and 2 of Law 3305/2005
“the methods of medically assisted reproduction must be applied in a manner that ensures
respect for the person’s freedom and her personality and further satisfied the desired number
of offspring according to the medical and biological data and the principle of bioethics. When
applying these methods the best interests of the child that shall be born must be considered
first and above all”. These provisions are in line with article 3 of Law 2101/1992. The Court
in Greece
stressed out that article 1 of Law 3305/2005 underlines the importance that should be attached
to the assessment of what is the best interest of the child that shall be born in the cases of
medically assisted reproduction. The Court found that this is a fundamental principle that
permeates the children’s rights law in the Greek legal order. Accordingly, the Court in order
to determine the best interests of the child to be born and, thus, grant the permission for
the surrogate adoption to go through, it held that the following should be considered: a) the
existence of a stable and supportive environment for the child to be born after application
of a method of medically assisted reproduction, and b) information regarding prospective
future parents such as age, medical history, heredity to certain diseases and the ability to
meet the needs of the child.
In 2001 the Court of Appeal issued a judgment on the suitability of television advertising
directed to children21. According to Greek and European legislation, any product can be
classified as a toy based on whether the nature and the use of this product indicates that the
product is designed for children who are of 14 years of age or younger. It follows from the
Court’s judgement that television advertising shall be considered of moral or physical harm
to children if it directly encourages them to buy a product or service by exploiting their
inexperience or credulity or if it directly encourages them to persuade their parents or others
to buy advertised products or services. Furthermore, TV advertising must not put children
in the position of exploiting the special trust they place in parents, teachers or other persons
and, must not show children in dangerous situations. The Court found that Article 14, § 8
Law 2251/1994, which prohibits advertising of children’s toys between 7am and 10 pm, is
in fact protecting children from the harmful and unethical TV advertising and is totally
aligned with Article 17 of Law 2101/1992.
In 2002 the Council of State had to consider whether the mother of a child who was a
foreign national and her Green Card was not valid should be deported while her child remained
in Greece22. According to Greek laws deportation can be allowed when the person in question
does not hold a Green card or constitutes a danger to public health and order, or has been
convicted to imprisonment. The mother, a working prostitute, was convicted to imprisonment
and had refused medical attention as it is required by Greek law. Based on these grounds
the competent national authorities decided on her deportation. However, the Council of State
decided against the deportation of the mother by taking into consideration the child’s welfare
which would be endangered if the mother was deported. The mother had the sole custody
of the child and the later was enrolled in Greek school and happily settled in Greece.
In another case, the Council of State had to consider whether the deportation of a minor
asylum seeker would be in his best interests23. The minor asylum seeker had fled from
Bangladesh following his father death because he had received death threats from his family
members. His mother remained in Bangladesh. The minor came to Greece and started
working. The competent national authorities decided on his deportation despite the claims
of the minor that the refoulment to his country of origin would endanger his life and this
would not be in his best interests. The Council of State considered whether the principle of
family reunification, in this case with his mother in Bangladesh, outweighed the principle
of best interests of the child. The Council of State decided in favour of his deportation.
Independent Authorities
Apart from the national courts in Greece which have used CRC provisions in the case law,
there are independent authorities which are out‑of‑court dispute settlement bodies and which
have based their decisions on CRC provisions as well.
The Consumer Ombudsman is an independent authority sanctioned under the provisions

of Law 3297/2004 and has issued reports which touch on the issue of the protection of the
rights of child. On 25 April 2007 the Consumer Ombudsman issued a report on the
pornographic content of DVDs that were supplied as a gift when certain Greek newspapers
were purchased at newsagents24. Given the fact that children and minors have free access to
purchase any newspapers in Greece, the report outlines that the exposure of children to
pornographic DVDs, even by way of gift when purchasing a newspaper, amounts to sexual
abuse that is prohibited by the provisions of the CRC. Specifically, based on articles 17, 19,
27 and 36 of Law 2101/1992 and other legislative provisions, the Ombudsman for the
Consumer found that the publishers of newspapers were trying to lure customers to purchase
newspapers by supplying the consumers, including minors, with pornographic DVDs and
other harmful content. This practice constitutes “unfair business practice”. Minors, because
of their age, lack the cognitive, social or aesthetic criteria to judge the appropriateness of
the content of the DVDs and therefore they are exposed to the harmful content of the DVDs
that are supplied as a gift when purchasing newspapers.
The Greek Ombudsman is a constitutionally sanctioned Independent Authority. It was
founded in October 1998 and operates under the provisions of Law 3094/2003. The Greek
Ombudsman investigates individual administrative actions or omissions or material actions
taken by government departments or public services that infringe upon the personal rights
or violate the legal interests of individuals or legal entities. The Greek Ombudsman defends
and promotes children’s rights, promotes equal treatment and fights discrimination in the
public sector based on sex, race or ethnicity, religious or other conviction, disability, age
or sexual orientation. In addition, there is an appointed Deputy Ombudsman for Children’s
Rights. Following a number of complaints regarding the children migrants’ rights to education
in Greece, in 2005 the Greek Ombudsman issued a report under the title “All the children
migrants have the right to education”25. Therein the Greek Ombudsman clarified that the
migrant children’s right to have access to the Greek educational system is not a matter of
migration policy but an established right as it arises out of articles 2(2) and 28 of Law
2101/1992. Therefore, all children who reside in Greece enjoy their right to education without
being subjected to limitations that may arise with regard to their citizenship status or their
parents’ residence status. Any child who will turn 18 during the school year, will not be
prohibited from having access to education. The Greek Ombudsman has issued a Decision
on the prohibition of corporal punishment based on the relevant provisions of Law 2101/199226.
In 2006 the Greek Ombudsman, following complaints regarding the treatment of unaccom
panied minors in the refugee detention centre in Pagani at the island of Mytilene, examined
whether the conditions in which the unaccompanied minors live in this particular centre
comply with the provisions of Law 2101/1992. The Greek Ombudsman held that children’s
upbringing and development depends heavily on their education, and that education is
essential in order to achieve their social inclusion. Therefore, in the light of Law 2101/1992
it is the Greek government’s obligation to provide the migrant children with education while
their cultural identity, religion, language, and the values of the country they come from and
they reside in are dutifully respected27.
As it has been outlined above the Greek Ombudsman’s mandate is to promote and protect
human rights and children’s rights. Within this context the Greek Ombudsman visited a child
care institution in Crete in order to verify whether the facilities, the personnel and the existing
educational and vocational programmes comply with CRC provisions28. Following the visit
the Greek Ombudsman filed a report and found that the child care institution in question
and the services offered therein did not meet the needs of children and therefore was in
violation of fundamental CRC provisions due to a) insufficient stuff, i.e. there was no
in Greece
psychologist, social worker, nurses or even cleaning personnel appointed, b) lack in frequent
supervision of the facilities, c) inefficient funding in order to secure the welfare and the best
interest of the children.
The Hellenic Data Protection Authority (hereinafter “DPA”) has also issued decisions
that concerned the protection of children’s rights. In the case Appl. No 39/2007 the issue
that was examined was whether the taking pictures of a child by paparazzi photographers
and the processing and publication of these pictures in a tabloid newspaper amounted to
arbitrary or unlawful interference with the child and the family’s privacy. The DPA held that
there was a violation of article 16 of Law 2101/1992, that the child had the right to the protection
of law against such interference and that no pictures of the child could be taken without the
prior consent of the parents. In the case Appl No. 4/2008 the applicants claimed that a photo
of their child was processed and published by a newspaper in a disrespectful manner with
regard to the personality and reputation of their child. The DPA upheld the claim of the
applicants based on Article 16 of Law 2101/1992. In a most recent case the DPA considered
the legality of CCTV surveillance in playgrounds29. Due to vandalisms that occurred on a
frequent basis in child‑parks which are property of the Municipality of Athens, the Municipality
decided on the installment of CCTV surveillance in playgrounds. The Municipality alleged
that its decision was based on pure consideration of the exercise of the right of children as
it is enshrined in Article 31 of Law 2101/1992. The particular article provides that “States
Parties shall recognized the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and
recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural
life and the arts”, and that “States Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child
to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate
and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity”. The Municipality
further asserted that children belong to a sensitive social group, and, based on article 3, § 2
and 3, it is up to the state agencies to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary
for his or her well‑being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents,
legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end,
shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures. The DPA held that the
operation of the CCTV surveillance during the hours that the playgrounds were open to the
public (children) was illegal. The DPA felt obliged to further investigate whether the
instalment of CCTV surveillance system would infringe the development of children. The
reason for this was that the CCTV surveillance system, even when it would be off, it would
lead children to believe from an early age that it is only natural to be supervised and monitored
through the CCTV system. The DPA agreed with the Municipality’s argument that it is the
Municipality’s obligation to provide all the necessary means that will secure the welfare, the
protection and the care of the child. Indeed, the playgrounds are the means towards this
direction. Therefore, the DPA decided that the Municipality of Athens could go ahead with
the instalment of CCTV surveillance system in 10 playgrounds on a trial period of 1 year
which would operate only when the playgrounds would be closed to the public.
Childcare and Especially Vulnerable Children

Greece had a rich legislative framework regarding children’s rights even before the adoption
of CRC. However, it is noteworthy that there was a mass production and adoption of more
legislative instruments on the protection of rights of children who belong to vulnerable groups
(Roma, migrants, asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors, trafficked children, children with
disabilities etc.).
Roma Children
The Greek government has introduced educational programs especially for Roma children.
Social integration of Greek Roma children has been organized by an Integrated Action Plan
(IAP)30 from 2002 within the framework of National Action Plan for the social inclusion of
socially vulnerable groups of population. This program has been reviewed in order to adjust
to developing conditions and needs, in 2006 in conformity with General Comment 7 of the
Committee on ESCR, the Concluding Observations of the Committee of CCPR, and Rec
2005 (4) of the Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe on improving the housing
conditions of Roma and Travellers in Europe in order to set standards for the social inclusion
of Roma and develop integrated and appropriate housing policies targeting Roma.
The majority of Roma children usually stop attending school classes at the age of 12
years old in order to work and help their family31. The above educational programs do not
take into consideration the fact that for the majority of Roma students the Greek language
is not their mother tongue; as a result the methods and the educational materials which are
used they do not produce the expected results. The frequency of attending schools by Roma
students differentiates at a regional level. For example, in Central Macedonia the percentage
of Roma children attending schools is higher that in other regions of Greece.
Another interesting issue is that of integration and inclusion of Roma in the Greek society.
The fact that Roma are socially excluded regardless of their level of education32 leads Roma
children not to attend the school. This fact in combination with the inadequate education
Roma receive further eliminates their potentials in employment33. It is observed that a huge
effort should be put forward by the Greek government to provide Roma with permanent
accommodation so that they can settle down34 (despite the adoption of relevant legislation
which established the construction of integrated settlements of Roma families in accordance
with international conventions35) and an even greater effort should be made to change the
social stereotypes of the Greek community towards the Roma population.
It should be mentioned though that Greece’s commitment to the social inclusion of Roma
people is evident in its co‑organizing with the Council of Europe and NGOs and hosting in
Athens the 2nd International Romani Women’s Conference on 11‑12 January 2010.
Children with disabilities

From 1990s and onwards Greece has embarked on the adoption of laws and shaping policies
for the inclusion of children with disabilities. Law 3500/2006 regarding domestic violence and
other provision protects also children, and especially children with disabilities. Furthermore
a number of Presidential Decrees have been amended by replacing previous Presidential
Decrees in order to facilitate the protection of the rights of people with disabilities36. A
number of institutions were created in order to enable the social integration of children with
disabilities by virtue of the Presidential Decree 22/200337:
1) The Centre of disabled people in the Municipality of Aharnes in Attica;
2) The Centre of day‑care of disabled people38;
3) The Foundation of social care in Papagou in Attica39;
4) Organisation and function of summer camps40;
5) National Foundation for people with disabilities41;
6) Endowment of George and Eleni Gyra, a charity foundation for people with disabilities42;
7) Foundation for the Child and Family43;
8) Foundation of care in Thesprotia44.
in Greece
In 1999 and 2001 the P.I. established an Office of Educational and Vocational Orientation
for People with Disabilities and Socially Excluded Individuals, including children of migrants,
repatriated Greeks, people released from prisons, people who belong to the Muslim minority.
The Office comprises of 70 regional centers and 200 offices at local schools throughout the
country.
As mentioned above Special Education School Units45 have been recently set up with
specially trained staff, including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and psycho‑therapists,
as well as teachers with experience and expertise in special education. Moreover, major
changes have occurred in the infrastructure of the country so that access of children with
disabilities to public buildings is enabled.
Unaccompanied Minors
Following the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict Greece has further adopted legislative
acts on the treatment of unaccompanied minors – see article 19 of the Presidential Decree
220/2007; article 12 of Presidential Decree 90/2008 and article 30 of Presidential Decree
96/2008. Although Greece is putting an effort towards protecting the unaccompanied minors,
i.e. they are informed of their rights, such as the right to accommodation in special centers,
access to education etc. In all instances, their cases are examined as a matter of priority with
the assistance of an interpreter, in a language they understand and confidentially. However,
it has been observed that there is no recorded improvement of the status, the treatment of
and the conditions that unaccompanied minors live in Greece, namely in the Refugee Centre
in Pagani, in the island of Mytilene46.
Juvenile Offenders
Following the ratification of CRC the age of criminal liability was raised from 17 to 18 years
(article 121, Penal Code), and article 130 of the Penal Code has also been amended. Law
3189/0347 “on the reform of juvenile penal legislation” was adopted with the effect of
reforming the penal treatment of minor offenders.
Trafficking of Children
Law 3064/15‑2‑2002 introduced article 323A in the Greek Penal Code, which punishes with
incarceration of at least 10 years and a fine of 50,000 € to 100,000 € anyone who is involved
in the trafficking of children. Furthermore, Greece was the first State to ratify the Council
of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual
Abuse by virtue of Law 3727/200848.
Other legislative developments regarding the protection

of children who belong to vulnerable groups
Law 3386/200549 grants residence permit on humanitarian groups to foreign nationals,
including minors, hosted in charity institutions and organizations. Deportation of children
whose parents or guardians reside lawfully in Greece is prohibited.
Also, Law 3500/200650 on domestic violence and other provisions provides for the
protection of children and especially children with disabilities.
Impact on Civil Society

The CRC inspired the creation and the growth of NGOs working with children. A couple
of years following the signing of CRC by Greece, in 1991, we observe that a number of
NGOs dealing with young people in general or children belonging to different categories
were set up. An NGO network was created in 2009 following the initiative of the Ombudsman
of Children’s Rights in October 200951. The founding Assembly of the NGO network for
the monitoring of the implementation of the CRC took place at the premises of the Ombudsman
for Children’s Rights in Athens on 4 November 2009. The network comprises of 47 NGOs
dealing with children’s rights, most of which are active in the fields of social inclusion of
children, health and education52.
The first action of the Network was the preparation of the shadow report on the CRC in
Greece after the submission of the 2nd and 3rd Periodic Report from Greece. The mandate
of the Network is to monitor the implementation of the Convention and the national legislation
with regard to children’s rights; to put pressure on the Government in order to achieve the
total implementation of the CRC; to promote actions that shall galvanise the society in
favour of the protection of children’s rights; and to support NGOs working with children.
The founding Assembly of the NGO Network elected 9 members for the Coordinating
Committee which is comprises of representatives from: Doctors of the Work, Network of
Children’s Rights, ARSIS, Greek Council of Refugees, Centre for the Care of Family and
Child, and Schedia – Centre for Educational and Art Culture.
The position of children in the Greek society has been ameliorated since the ratification
of the CRC. This includes the following improvements:
1) Legislation has been amended in conformity with the notion of the rights of the child;
2) Jurisprudence takes under consideration the “best interests” of the child;
3) NGOs were set up to protect children of all categories;
4) The national health system is accessible to children belonging to any groups;
5) Ministries cooperate with NGO’s raising social awareness;
6) The training of and spread of information to professionals has been the initiative of the
Pedagogical Institute (see below);
7) National Human Rights Committees have been created focusing on the rights of the
children;
8) Special attention has been given to Roma children and children belonging to minority
groups in schools where particular programmes have been implemented, mostly by
universities (University of Ioannina and Thessaly);
9) Parents receive information about Roma, minority and immigrant children through EU
programmes, or national programmes run by Greek universities;
10) Professionals in the fields of health, education and welfare are trained for the care of
children as well as the information of population and sensitive groups;
11) Sensitivity and raising awareness campaigns were organised regarding the most significant
problems that concern youth, and especially children with disabilities;
12) Special education centres were created to provide children with disabilities or special
educational needs with education;
13) Effort was put forwards in reviewing and improving action plans and services of the
police for the protection of children.
in Greece
Conclusion
As a result of the legislative changes, the position of children has improved when compared
to their position before the ratification. Nonetheless, the new multinational and multicultural
society that emerges in Greece brings up new problems and issues that the Government has
yet to confront.
The ratification of CRC empowered to a great extent NGOs in promoting social changes
in the status of children. Many NGOs have been set up and work towards the promotion of
social changes, i.e. inclusion of immigrant and Roma children, provision of food and
socio‑economic support to children of asylum‑seekers in Aspropyrgos, provision of pharma
ceutical, medical, social and psychological support, learning of the Greek language53, legal
assistance54, accommodation55, protection of socially excluded, neglected or abused children56,
protection of Roma street children57, psychological support to immigrant children58.
The Committee on CRC observed factors and difficulties impeding the implementation
of the CRC in Greece, due to the growth of a multicultural society, including different
languages and various ethnic and religious backgrounds59. The Committee also observed that
there was a lack of harmonization of legislation60, lack of establishing a co‑coordinating
body whose mandate would be the monitoring of the implementation of the CRC throughout
the country61 – giving particular attention to rural areas and small islands62 and promptly
implementing the laws on decentralization of health and social services.
Most of the above observations have been taken into consideration by the Greek government
in the two periodic reports, which were submitted in 2009. The shadow report points out
concrete changes in the legislation, and proposes administrative measures, coordinating
committees, multidisciplinary collaboration of professionals, a data center, projects and
research studies. It also shows that the work of the NGOs is concrete, serious and effective,
taking into consideration that many of the comments of their Report have been received
positively by the Greek government, as it appears in the second and third periodic report.
In conclusion, the Greek government should provide concrete data on all children, with
emphasis on vulnerable groups63, work closely with NGOs involved in the rights of children64
and provide training for professionals in the field of education, health, psychological care,
local government officials65. Greece should protect children in the family environment66,
from any form of violence67, abuse or neglect68 especially children with disabilities69, Roma
children70, street children71, refugee children72 and other categories.
Notes
1. GA Res.44/25, UN.Doc.A./44/736.1989. The text was published at the International Legal
Materials, vol. XXVIII, No. 6, Nov. 1989.
2. According to Article 49 of the CRC.
3. Published at the Official Gazette A’, 192.
4. Article 28 of the Greek Constitution clearly declares that after ratification international treaties
prevail over the national law.
5. For the CRC, among the others see S. Detrit (eds.), A commentary on the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child, The Hague, Boston, London 1999.
6. Except USA and Somalia.
7. UN.Doc.A/RES/54/263 (25.5.2000), Law 3080/2002 Official Gazette A’, 312/10.12.2002.
8. UN.Doc.A/RES/54/263 (25.5.2000), Law 3627/2007 Official Gazette A’, 290/24.12.2007.
9. See A/HRC/17/36.
10. See A/RES/66/138.
11. See generally, P. Naskou‑Perraki, “The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child”, 17
International Law Papers, Athens‑Komotini, Ant. N. Sakkoulas, 1990; P. Naskou‑Perraki,
Mechanisms Protecting Human Rights, International Acts, Cases and Practice, Publication of
UNESCO Chair in Intercultural Policy of University of Macedonia 3, Ant. N. Sakkoulas,
Athens‑Komotini, 2008 (in greek); P. Naskou‑Perraki, International Mechanisms Protecting
Human Rights, Texts, Comments and Case Law, Publication of UNESCO Chair in Intercultural
Policy of University of Macedonia 4, Ant. N. Sakkoulas/Bruylant, Athens‑Komotini/Brussels,
2010.
12. Official Gazette A’,160/31.07.2006 .
13. Official Gazette A’, 90/02.05.2001.
15. P. Naskou‑Perraki, K. Chisogonos, Ch. Anthopoulos (eds.) The UN Convention on the rights
of the Child and its implementation in the national legal order. Article by article interpretation,
Athens‑Komotini, Ant. N. Sakkoulas, 2002 (in greek).
18. Judgment of the High Court 896/2007, Athens (Greece).
19. Decision of the Administrative Court of Appeal 268/2009, Athens (Greece).
20. Judgment 408/2006, Katerini (Greece). See also Court of First Instance Judgment 40820/2008,
Thessaloniki (Greece).
21. Decision 5760/2001 of the Court of Appeal.
22. Council of State Decision 756/2001.
23. Council of State Decision 24/2009.
24. Ombudsman for the Consumer Decision 926/2007.
25. Greek Ombudsman Decision 14350/2005.
29. DPA decision 77/2009.
30. Law 2946/2001, Joint Ministerial Decision 18830/02.05.2002.
31. See National Commission for Human Rights, Report and recommendations on issues concerning
the status and the rights of Roma in Greece, ¼in Greek½, 2009, http://www.nchr.gr/media/
gnwmateuseis_eeda/roma/Apofasi_EEDA_Tsigganoi_2009_FINAL.doc, last visit on 10 February
2010; Human Rights First, 2008 Hate Crime Survey: Violence against Roma (2008).
32. ERRC and Greek Helsinki Monitor, Cleaning Operations: Excluding Roma in Greece (Country
Report Series, No 12, April 2003).
33. See Report, Recent Situation of Roma in Greece: Plan Action for the 4th scheduled period,
funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Eurocounsellors and IKOKINONIA (2009), http://
www.oikokoinonia.gr/, last visit on 10 February 2010.
34. Minority Rights Group International, Roma Poverty and the Roma National Strategies: the
Cases of Albania, Greece and Serbia (September 2005); Greek Helsinki Monitor, Centre on
Housing Rights and Evictions et al., Greece: Continuing Widespread Violation of Roma Housing
Rights (October 2006); OMCT and GHM, Torture and Other Forms of Ill‑treatment in Greece
in 2003: The Situation of Women, Roma and Aliens (Hearing of the EU Network of Independent
Experts in Fundamental Rights, 16 October 2003); K. Kozaitis, “Foreigners Among Foreigners:
Social Organization Among the Roma of Athens”. Urban Anthropology, 26 (1997), 165.
35. Law 3448/2006; Law 2790/2000; Ministerial Decision 21261/2004.
36. Presidential Decree 365/1996 (Previous Presidential Decree 150/88), Official Gazette A’,
235/1996; Presidential Decree 259/1996 (Previous Presidential Decree 280/84), Official Gazette
A’, 190/1996; Presidential Decree 258/1996 (Previous Presidential Decree 440/80), Official
Gazette A’, 190/1996; Presidential Decree 257/1996 (Previous Presidential Decree 311/85),
Official Gazette A’, 190/1996; Presidential Decree 256/1996 (Previous Presidential Decree
in Greece
376/90), Official Gazette A’, 190/1996; Presidential Decree 255/1996 (Previous Presidential
Decree 364/89), Official Gazette A’, 190/1996; Presidential Decree 254/1996 (Previous Presi
dential Decree 951/80, 14/86), Official Gazette A’, 190/1996; Presidential Decree 354/1996
Official Gazette A’, 190/1994
37. Official Gazette A’, 25/06.02.2003
38. Established by virtue of P.D. 383/2002, Official Gazette A’, 332/30.10.2002.
41. Amendment of the Royal Decree 564/1961.
42. Established by virtue of P.D. 15/1999, Official Gazette A’, 1998/16.06.1999
43. Established by virtue of P.D. 25/1997, Official Gazette A’, 522/25.06.1997
44. Established by virtue of P.D. 22/1994, Official Gazette A’, 954/1994.
45. Law 2817/2000.
46. Observations of the National Commission on Human Rights with regard to the Explanatory
Report for the Ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
on the involvement of children in armed conflict prepared by Associate Professor A. Sicilianos
and Ms. C. Papadopoulou, 2009, ¼in Greek½, http://www.nchr.gr/media/gnwmateuseis_eeda/
paidia/CRC_protocol_final.doc, last visit on 10 February 2010; Human Rights Watch, Left to
Survive: Systematic Failure to Protect Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Greece (New York,
2008), http://www.hrw.org/en/node/81343/section/4, last visit on 10 February 2010; UN High
Commissioner for Refugees in Greece, Study on the treatment of foreigner unaccompanied
minors asylum seekers in Greece (April 2008), http://www.mfhr.gr/categories.asp?ln=0 and
id=46, last visit on 10 February 2010; Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment
No. 6 (2005): Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children outside their Country of
Origin, CRC/GC/2005/6 (01.09.2005).
47. See above section 2.4.
48. Official Gazette A’, 257/18.12.2008. See more at A. Grammatikaki‑Alexiou, The international
kidnapping of children according to the Hague Convention, Thessaloniki, Sakkoulas, 1996 (in
greek)
49. Article 44, § 1, c) and d).
51. http://www.ddp.org.gr/, last visit on 10 February 2010.
52. http://ngonetcrc.wordpress.com/, last visit on 10 February 2010.
53. Greek Institute of Welfare and Cooperation.
54. Greek Council of Refugees.
55. Institute for Social Work.
56. The Child’s Smile.
57. Save the Children.
58. PRAXIS.
59. Ibidem, § 9.
60. Ibidem, § 12.
61. Ibidem, § 14.
62. Ibidem, § 16 (6).
63. Ibidem, § 24.
64. Ibidem, § 26.
65. Ibidem, § 28.
66. Ibidem, § 49.
67. Ibidem, § 43.
68. Ibidem, § 51.
69. Ibidem, § 59.
70. Ibidem, § 65 and 67.
71. Ibidem, § 73.
72. Ibidem, § 69.
The Balkan Epidemiological Study

on Child Abuse and Neglect (BECAN)
in Romania
Imola Antal*, Maria Roth**, Elemér Mezei***
Agnes Dávid‑Kacsó****, Corina Voicu*****, Rozália Szász******
Abstract. BECAN (Balkan Epidemiological Study on Child Abuse and Neglect)i is an

epidemiological study aiming at mapping child abuse and neglect (CAN) in the general
population of 11‑13‑16‑year old children that attend school and those that have dropped
out of school in 9 Balkan countries. Mapping of CAN was achieved by applying two of
the I‑CAST questionnaires (ICAST‑CH for children and ICAST‑P for parents, created by
ISPCAN with the support of UNICEF) to matched pairs of children and parents. In
Romania, 5.955 children 4.236 parents completed the questionnaire and the sample was
representative of the population of the 5th, 7th and 10th grade students (ages 10‑17, most
of them 11, 13 and 16 years old) from Romania. Regarding the results, according to both
children and parents, psychological abuse is the most prevalent CAN form (65,8% of
children and 62,6% of parents reported it). Physical abuse has a high frequency as well,
both according to children (44,8%) and parents (46,8%). Neglect was minimized by
parents (6,8%), while according to children, the percentage of neglect was 19,4%. Sexual
abuse was minimized by parents as well (5,1% of children vs. 2,7% of parents), especially
in the case of boys (5,5% of boys vs. 2,1% of parents). Sexual contact abuse is less
* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130

21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: imolaan@yahoo.com.
** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: mroth@socasis.ubbcluj.ro.
21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: elemermezei@gmail.com.
**** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail, kacso_agnes@yahoo.com.
***** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: corinaiuliav@gmail.com.
****** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: szasz_rozaly16@yahoo.com.
i. Results are from the Balkan Epidemiological Study of Child Abuse and Neglect project
(BECAN) #223478, financed by European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme for
Research and Technological Development. Coordinator: George Nikolaidis, Institute of
Public Health‑Department of Mental Health and Social Welfare; Project managers for
Romania: Maria Roth, Imola Antal, “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Department
of Social Work.
52 I. Antal, M. Roth, E. Mezei, A. Dávid‑Kacsó, C. Voicu, R. Szász / The Balkan
Epidemiological Study on Child Abuse and Neglect (BECAN) in Romania
known to parents, compared with non‑contact sexual forms. Generally, parents reported
less abuse against girls than the girls themselves. Regarding boys, parents reported more
physical and psychological abuse than the boys themselves.
Keywords: child abuse and neglect, epidemiological study, prevalence
Introduction
There has been in the last few decades substantial debate regarding the number of abused
and neglected children. Researchers all over the world have difficulties in establishing the
number of children who are abused and neglected.
Efforts were made to document child abuse and neglect by making incidence reports of
child protection services, social services, hospitals or police. These incidence studies estimate
the number of new cases occurring in a given period of time (Goldman, Padayachi, 2000).
Another category of prevalence data is provided by the population‑based studies. Although
nationally representative studies have begun to document the prevalence of child maltreatment
within community samples, most of these studies have relied on retrospective reports provided
by adults and students (Sledjeski et al., 2009).
There have been fewer studies measuring the occurrence of child maltreatment that were
made on the basis of representative surveys of children or adolescents, due mainly to the
consent issues associated with directly asking children about victimization history (Zolotor,
et al., 2009). One of these studies is the Developmental Victimization Survey (DVS) that
measured the occurrence of physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect among 2‑17 year old
children living in the US (Finkelhor, Ormrod, Turner, Hamby, 2005). The one‑year incidence
estimates obtained in this study were 3,7% for physical abuse, 1,4% for neglect and 0,006%
for sexual abuse by a known adult.
Another study which measured the occurence of CAN in a probability sample of children
specifically designed for the validation of ICAST‑CH was described by Zolotor et al. in
2009. The pilot study was implemented in four countries: Columbia, Iceland, India, and
Russia. According to Zolotor (2009), two thirds of children reported one or more types of
psychological victimization (range 48‑81%). Over half of children (55%) reported being a
victim of physical violence in the past year (range 27‑70%). A total of 18% of children
reported one or more types of sexual victimization in the past year (range 8‑34%).
If limited data are available in industrialized countries, even less is known about child
abuse and neglect in non‑European and/or European countries with relatively lower standards
of socioeconomic development, such as Romania or the majority of Balkan countries. Even
if data exist, it is difficult to compare the outcomes of the prevalence studies, due to the
different methodologies, tools, samples and definitions that are used (Perreda et al., 2009).
In order to obtain comparable data in the Balkan countries and bridge the huge gap in
the epidemiology of child abuse and neglect in this area of the world, the BECAN study was
developed and carried out by 9 countries1.
In order to solve the comparability related problems, all partners agreed on the concepts
and definitions that they would use, followed the same methodology and applied the same
instruments (subject to cultural validation) to data collection, considered the relevant law in
force in each country, evaluated the data that had been collected before data analysis in order
to identify any discrepancies that could influence data compatibility. Particularly, ICAST
instruments (created by ISPCAN/UNICEF and recommended by WHO) were used for data
collection in all participating Balkan countries. The existence of ethnic minorities in the
Balkan countries was taken into account when developing the methodology of the study.
When we set out on this project, we started from the assumption that there was a need
to raise the level of awareness of the real incidence of child abuse and neglect, as well as to
increase the level of understanding of risk and protective factors by drawing comparisons
between coutries, and, last but not least, there was a need to assess the changes that had
been brought by the latest prevention efforts. In this study, we will describe the main findings
of the BECAN survey in Romania.
Prevalence data in Romania

In Romania, relatively few empirical child abuse and neglect studies have been carried out
and most of these have been local studies, which only offered a limited view of the prevalence
and characteristics of the phenomenon.
The first epidemiological study on child abuse and neglect was a survey sponsored and
organized by World Vision International/Romania and a group of researchers from “Babeş‑Bolyai”
University in 1996 (Rotariu et al., 1996). The sample of 796 schoolchildren, aged 11‑16,
and the sample of 488 parents were representative of the population of Cluj County, in terms
of ethnicity, gender, social class, urban/rural proportions and educational background.
According to the results of this study, the children related a higher percentage of physical
punishments (28,4%) and neglect (11,1%) than the parents (25,8%, and 9,4%). The authors
of the survey mentioned that 27% of children were exposed to inappropriate treatments by
their parents, which included serious forms of neglect as well as severe forms of physical
punishments. This research also showed that sexual abuse was a complete taboo subject for
the whole sample of parents, with no awareness at all concerning sexual abuse of their
children. In contrast, 4,6% of children acknowledged that they had been subject to sexual
harassment or sexual abuse (Rotariu et al., 1996). The results of the survey also show a
significant relationship between the socioeconomic status of the family and the children’s
maltreatment. The study also showed a connection between the number of children in a
family and the occurrence of child maltreatment.
Another survey was conducted in 1999, also in Cluj county, sponsored by the SOROS
Foundation, with the participation of the Artemis centre, the Family Planning Centre (SECS)
and the Social Work Department of the “Babeş‑Bolyai” University (Bodrogi, Diaconescu,
David‑Kacso, 2000). This was a larger study aiming to gather information on the sexuality
of youngsters, including sexual abuse. 1.279 high‑school students (851 girls and 416 boys)
aged between 14 and 19 completed the questionnaires in 24 schools and 69 classes. The
distribution of victims of sexual abuse by gender shows higher rates for girls (18,8%) than
for boys (4%). The range of abuse varied from forced touching of intimate areas to rape.
The first survey representative of Romania regarding the prevalence of child abuse was
initiated by the National Agency for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption in 2000,
financed by the World Bank and done with the support of the WHO. The survey was conducted
by Browne, Cârţână, Momeu, Păunescu and Tokay and published in 2001. The sample
included 1.556 parents and 1.295 children aged 13‑14 (seventh grade).
According to the results of this study, we can observe significant differences in the
prevalence of CAN forms reported by parents and those reported by children. The rate of
physical abuse declared by parents was 18,4%, whereas the rate of physical abuse reported
by children was 24,4%. 25,6% of parents admitted that they used different forms of
psychological abuse against their children, 21,2% of children reported that they suffered
psychological abuse. According to children’s statements, the rate of sexual abuse was 9,1%,
whereas, according to their parents, it was 0,1% (Browne et al., 2001). Physical neglect was
the most prevalent form of CAN, according to both children (43,8%) and their parents
(67,8%). All types of abuse and neglect were more frequent in rural residential areas, except
for educational neglect, which was more frequent in urban areas.
In 2000, by creating the first reliable database in residential state institutions, a national
study was conducted that aimed to evaluate the dimensions and forms of abuse on institutio
nalized children (CERAB research – Stativa, 2002). It was based on data collected from
3.164 children aged 2‑18 living in institutions, representing 7,8% of all the 37,000 children
in residential homes, and 3.455 children in hospital‑homes for severely disabled children.
Data was collected through interviews with younger children, and questionnaires were applied
to children older than 7. The research aimed to evaluate the dimensions and forms of abuse
and neglect in residential care institutions (CERAB research – Stativa, 2002). The sample
that was used ensured adequate representation of regions, types of institution, children’s
gender and age groups.
According to the author (Stativa, 2002), 48% of children aged 7‑18 years admitted that
in their institution children were beaten. 56% of children in traditional residential care, 46% of
children in family type institutions were punished by beating. Regarding the types and prevalence
of punishment used by staff, light physical punishment had the highest prevalence at 77,7%,
followed by severe beating at 39,6%. Humiliation (14%), threat (13,4%), isolation (7%),
suppression of meals (18,2%), interdiction on recreational activities (21,7%), on leaves (13,5%)
and family visits (5,7%) were also included in the range of punishments. The punishments
were inflicted mainly by the educational staff (76,7%) and night attendants (8,7%). 8,6%
of children didn’t reveal the person who had inflicted the punishments. Regarding sexual
abuse, data revealed that 36,1% of the sample had previous information about children who
had been forced into sexual practices. The percentage of children who admitted that they
knew about the existence of such practices in their institution was 19,6%. This smaller rate
might be due to the inhibition of children to speak out, as confessions regarding this sensitive
issue involve their friends and care‑taking staff more directly. The percentage of children
who confessed to being victims of sexual abuse was 4,3%. As related to age groups, the
rate did not differ much, though, it was the highest in minors aged 15‑18.
In a study carried out by Save the Children (Păunescu, Alexandrescu, 2000), on a sample
of 223 including 11 to 13‑year old children living in institutions or in foster homes, 12% of
the children confessed that they had experienced someone touching their private parts against
their will.
The study “Do we know how to raise our children?” (“Ştim să ne creştem copiii?”)
conducted by Save the Children in 2003 (Alexandrescu, Munteanu, 2005) aimed to collect
data about child abuse from all the persons that were directly involved (children, parents,
teachers) using social inquiries and interviews. The sample consisted of 607 pupils and 263
parents from one of the sectors in Bucharest. Neglect was the most prevalent form of
maltreatment: nearly 40% of children reporting that they had been left alone at home for
several days, 10% of them reporting that they had often been left alone.
Mihai Iovu carried out a survey in the Vâlcea County in 2010 with the ICAST‑C. The
sample consisted of 1.142 students and it is representative of students from urban secondary
and post‑secondary schools in the Vâlcea County. According to his results, 56,83% of children
had experienced physical abuse during their life and 50,2% during the last year, 84,5%
experienced psychological abuse during their life and 83% during the last year (Iovu, 2011).
The methodological aspects

BECAN (Balkan Epidemiological Study on Child Abuse and Neglect) is an epidemiological
study aiming at mapping child abuse and neglect (CAN) in the general population of
11‑13‑16‑year old children that attend school and those that have dropped out of school in
9 Balkan countries.
Mapping of CAN was achieved by applying two of the I‑CAST questionnaires (ICAST‑CH
for children and ICAST‑P for parents, created by ISPCAN with the support of UNICEF) to
matched pairs of children and parents. I‑CAST questionnaires were modified by the con
sortium, were translated into the official languages of the participating countries and into a
few minorities languages (in Romania, they were translated into Romanian and Hungarian),
and culturally validated. ICAST‑P was designed to collect data on concrete parental behaviors
that can be subsumed under the categories of physical and psychological abuse, respectively
under forms of positive ways of disciplining children. The data obtained makes it possible
to correlate the incidence of certain parental behaviors with child age groups, and to calculate
the percentage of parents using forms of aggressive discipline. The ICAST‑CH questionnaire
is meant to be applied to children and teenagers ranging in age from 11 to 18 years, and
contains questions regarding their experience of physical, psychological and sexual violence
at home, of neglect and the frequency with which such situations occur. The questionnaire
allows us to identify the gender of the person adopting a certain behavior towards the child,
as well as to tell whether the person in question is an adult or a child/teenager. One will
therefore be able to identify not only the sources of violence, but also the sources of support
that can be found in contemporary Romanian families and in Balkan families, in general.
The sources of violence and support are highlighted from both children’s and parents’ points
of view. The multiple answers to the questions in the questionnaire mainly refer to the
frequency of a certain behavior in the past year (once or twice, several times a year, monthly,
once every two months, several times a month, once a week or more often than that), but
they also include an answer referring to the occurrence of such behavior in the past (“it did
not happen last year, but it had happened before”), thus allowing us to identify any occurrence
of such behavior over a longer period of time.
The prevalence of physical abuse over the past year refers to the fact that at least one
typical form of physical abuse was used by parents in the past year, while the prevalence
referring to the past implies that abusive parental behavior was used at least once while
raising the child for whom the respondent filled in the questionnaire. The same approach
was taken when dealing with psychological abuse, positive discipline and neglect. Regarding
sexual abuse, parents were asked if they had any information about their child’s experiences
of sexual abuse.
Both child and parent questionnaires include 15 items referring to psychological abuse,
18 items referring to physical abuse, 6 items referring to sexual abuse, out of which 2 refer
to sexual contact, and 7 items in the parent questionnaire and 4 items in the child questionnaire
referring to neglect issues. The 7 items related to positive discipline were added to the
questionnaire by the BECAN consortium.
For the purpose of this study, we have calculated the incidence of concrete behaviours
having occurred during the past year.
Considerations on ethical issues

An International Ethical Board and a National Ethical Board were created in order to establish
the ethical guidelines and to supervise the research. Permissions from the Ministry of
Education, County Directorates and Schools were requested. Passive parental consent was
required in the case of 5th and 7th grade children while no consent was required for the 10th
grade youngsters.
Sample description
The sample was representative of the population of the 5th, 7th and 10th grade students (ages
10‑17, most of them 11, 13 and 16 years old) from Romania. There were a total of 624,141
children aged 11‑13‑16 in Romania; 6,504 learning in special education, we proposed to
reach 1%: 6,180 children. The stratification of the sample was done according to cultural
and historical regions, rural‑urban distribution. For the high school population (age 16), the
sample was stratified by type of school (theoretical, vocational, service + other).
16 counties out of the total of 41 were selected for the field survey, Bucharest was treated
separately. 97 schools from both urban and rural areas belonging to the 16 counties that had
been selected and to Bucharest were involved in the study. Passive parental consent was
required in the case of 5th and 7th grade students. 8.023 students from 366 classrooms were
reached, out of which 5.955 (73,54%) completed the questionnaire and we obtained 4.236
(51,80%) parental questionnaires. Regarding the parental questionnaires, 3.747 were completed
adequately by parents, 379 were identified as being completed by children for unknown
reasons, 74 were incomplete, 33 were completed by children because their parents were
illiterate, but these questionnaires reflected parental answers, 3 were completed by older
children. Regarding children 96%, regarding parents 66,4% of the original sample was
reached, as follows (table 1):
Table 1. The real sample, according to historical regions, rural‑urban

distribution and grades
Grades
Region 5th 7th 10th Total
Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural
Banat 75 70 75 70 155 20 465
Bucharest 135 — 135 — 180 — 450
Dobrogea 65 50 65 50 75 10 315
Moldova 185 305 185 305 405 45 1430
Muntenia 270 380 270 380 530 60 1890
Transylvania 320 220 320 220 455 15 1550
Total 1050 1025 1050 1025 1800 150 6100
+ 50 attending special education schools
Results
The results of the child and parent questionnaires regarding the prevalence of different forms
of abuse as well as positive forms of discipline in the last year are synthesized in Tables 2‑4.
Boys experience more abuse and neglect than girls and they have fewer experiences of positive
discipline.
Table 2. Experiencing at least 1 form of child abuse and neglect
Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

Total CAN
Total valid Yes, % Sign (p) Total valid Yes, % Sign (p)
Total 5.901 73,8 3.766 73,6
Girls 3.300 72,7 2.227 70,5
Boys 2.601 75,2 1.539 78,0
Positive ways Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires
Total 5.905 93,4 3.781 98,0
Girls 3.301 93,7 2.233 98,4
Boys 2.604 93,1 1.548 97,5
Psychological abuse (table 3) is the most prevalent form of abuse according to both
children and parents.
Table 3. Psychological abuse
Psychological Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

abuse Total valid Yes, % Sign (p) Total valid Yes, % Sign (p)
Total 5.936 65,8 3.719 63,7
Girls 3.300 65,9 2.202 60,5
0,936 < 10–6
Boys 2.606 65,8 1.509 68,5
Urban 3.293 70,5 2.037 66,4
< 10–18 0,0001
Rural 2.592 59,8 1.647 60,2
5th grade 1.969 55,0 1.316 67,1
7th grade 1.845 64,9 < 10–46 1.214 62,9 0,004
10th grade 2.122 76,6 1.189 60,9
According to children, 10th grade students (76,6%) experience more psychological

violence than 7th grade students (64,9%), who, in their turn, experience more of it than 5th
graders (55%). The difference between children living in urban and rural areas is significant
(p < 0,001) There are no significant differences between boys (65,8%) and girls (65,9%).
According to parents, 10th grade students (60,8%) experience less psychological violence
than 7th grade students (62,8%), and the latter experience less than 5th graders (67,2%). The
difference between children living in urban and rural areas is significant (p<0,001) There
are no significant differences between boys (65,8%) and girls (65,9%). Parents from urban
areas use more psychological violence (66,4%) than parents from rural areas (60,2%).
According to parents, girls experience less abuse (60,5%) compared with boys (68,5%).
Physical abuse (table 4). According to both parents and children, 10th grade students
experience less physical violence (39,6% according to children and 37,4 % according to
parents) than 7th grade students (47,2% according to children, 50,1% according to parents),
while the latter experience less of it than 5th graders (47,2% according to children, 54,9%
according to parents). Children living in rural areas experience significantly more abuse
than children living in urban areas, according to both children and parents (p < 0,01,
respectively p < 0,05). There are significant differences between boys (48%) and girls
(42,3%), both according to children and parents’ statements (44,2% of girls, 52,8% of boys).
Table 4. Physical abuse
Physical abuse Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

Total 5.919 44,8 3.728 47,8
Girls 3.295 42,3 2.205 44,3
0,00001 < 10–6
Boys 2.594 48,0 1.515 52,9
Urban 3.288 43,3 2.034 46,2
0,010 0,040
Rural 2.580 46,7 1.659 49,6
5th grade 1.964 48,2 1.321 54,9
7th grade 1.832 47,2 < 10–8 1.217 50,2 < 10–17
10th grade 2.123 39,6 1.190 37,4
Sexual abuse (table 5) is more frequent in children’s responses than in parents’ answers.
According to children, 10th grade students (7,4%) experience more sexual abuse violence
than 7th grade students (4,2%), and the latter experience more sexual abuse than 5th graders
(3,5%) during the last year.
Table 5. Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

Total 5.873 5,1 3.772 3,0
Girls 3.271 4,8 2.227 3,3
0,218 0,189
Boys 2.572 5,5 1.537 2,5
Urban 3.264 5,2 2.048 2,4
0,590 0,195
Rural 2.558 4,9 1.686 3,1
5th grade 1.931 3,5 1.342 2,6
7th grade 1.825 4,2 < 10–7 1.234 3,6 0,256
10th grade 2.117 7,4 1.196 2,8
There are no significant differences between children living in urban and rural areas
(p < 0,001). There are no significant differences between boys (5,5%) and girls (4,8%).
According to parents, there are no significant differences between the experiences of 5th, 7th
and 10th grade students regarding sexual abuse (2,2%, 3,4%, 2,6%), and no differences
between children living in urban and rural areas (2,4%, 3,1%). According to parents, girls
suffer significantly more sexual abuse (3,1%) than boys (2,1%) (p < 0,05).
Regarding sexual contact abuse (table 6), according to the children’s responses, the
difference between girls (1,5%) and boys (3%) is significant (p < 001). According to parents,
there are no gender differences. According to children, 10th grade students (4,2%) experience
more sexual contact abuse than 7th grade students (1,4%), and the latter experience more
sexual contact abuse than 5th graders (0,7%).
Table 6. Sexual contact
Sexual contact Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

Total 5.865 2,2 3.751 0,6
Girls 3.269 1,5 2.215 0,5
0,0001 0,703
Boys 2.567 3,0 1.528 0,6
Urban 3.260 2,5 2.039 0,4
0,077 0,912
Rural 2.554 1,8 1.676 0,4
5th grade 1.928 0,7 1.332 0,5
7th grade 1.821 1,4 < 10–13 1.219 0,6 0,977
10th grade 2.116 4,2 1.195 0,6
According to parents, there are no significant differences between boys (0,5%) and girls
(0,4%), and no significant differences between children from rural and urban areas, neither
are there any significant differences between the different age groups (0,2%, 0,6%, 0,5%).
Neglect (table 7) is more frequent according to children than to parents.
Table 7. Neglect
Neglect Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

Total 5.918 19,4 3.786 7,0
Girls 3.298 20,7 2.236 5,8
0,003 0,0004
Boys 2.590 17,6 1.542 8,8
Urban 3.285 19,9 2.053 4,5
0,229 < 10–10
Rural 2.582 18,6 1.697 10,0
5th grade 1.964 14,9 1.345 7,7
7th grade 1.833 19,2 < 10–10 1.239 7,7 0,046
10th grade 2.121 23,6 1.202 5,5
According to children, 10th grade students (23,6%) experience more neglect than 7th grade
students (19,2%), and the latter experience more neglect than 5th graders (14,9%). There
are no significant differences between children living in urban and rural areas (p < 0,001)
Girls experience more neglect (20,7%) compared with boys (17,6%), the differences are
significant (p<0,01).
According to parents, 10th grade students (5,5%) experience less neglect than 7th grade
students (7,6%), this percentage being more or less similar to that of 5th graders (7,6%).
The difference between children living in urban and rural areas is significant (p < 0,001).
According to parents, boys experience significantly more neglect (8,7%) than girls (5,8%).
Discussions
Child abuse and neglect transcend national borders, affecting developing as well as developed
countries. However, data on violence against children are often scarce. The lack of data is
associated with the inconsistencies of classifications of child maltreatment and lack of
common research methodologies; consequently, little internationally and nationally compa
rable data are produced (WHO, 1999). The international BECAN study will be able to
overcome this limitation; it will provide comparable data between at least 9 Balkan countries
by using the same tools and research methodology. Moreover, by culturally validating the
ICAST questionnaires and research guide (some of the psychometrical characteristics of the
tool have been described in another study by Mezei et al., 2012) an internationally accepted
research tool is available in Romanian and Hungarian languages.
The ICAST‑CH questionnaire performed well on field testing. There were no reports by
field testers of apparent adverse traumatic responses from the nearly 6.000 children surveyed.
Similar experiences with the ICAST‑CH were described by other authors, too (Zolotor et al.,
2009).
Regarding ICAST‑P, there were a few adverse responses by parents: one parent sent
back the questionnaire in small pieces, two called to express their disagreement, one was
concerned that children were influenced negatively. Most of the parents were supportive.
Related to the information sheet and the consent form, there were more problems. A few
parents did not agree with the passive consent form and many parents found it too difficult
to understand what the research was about and what their consent meant. Parents are not
used to provide their consent for school related activities. According to field‑researchers,
because of the request for their consent, parents often interpreted that the research posed
some danger.
Providing consent was influenced by the following factors: region, rural‑urban distribution,
big cities, the field‑coordinators’ organizational abilities and involvement, the field‑researchers’
involvement, the educational level of the parent and the involvement of the principle of the
school.
Concerning ethical issues, data anonymity was maintained, but according to the ethical
guidelines of the consortium‑agreement, we had to report severe victimization cases to the
child protection services identifying the School and the grade of the victim.
Regarding the results, according to both children and parents, psychological abuse is the
most prevalent CAN form (65,8% of children and 62,6% of parents reported it). Physical
abuse has a high frequency as well, both according to children (44,8%) and parents (46,8%).
Neglect was minimized by parents (6,8%), while according to children, the percentage
of neglect was 19,4%, having been reported as being higher in the case of girls (5,7% of
parents vs. 20,7% of girls) and in the case of older children.
Sexual abuse was minimized as well (5,1% of children vs. 2,7% of parents), especially
in the case of boys (5,5% of boys vs. 2,1% of parents). Sexual contact abuse is less known
to parents, compared with non‑contact sexual forms. Generally, parents reported less abuse
against girls than the girls themselves. Regarding boys, parents reported more physical and
psychological abuse than the boys themselves. At this stage of the data analysis, it is difficult
to say what causes the differences between boys and girls; results might be due to the
gendered psychological differences in expressing needs, but it might also be the result of a
higher investment in boys usually more “noticeable” in traditional societies.
An interesting result of the study is the gender differences in the case of sexual contact
abuse. 3% of boys and 1,5% of the girls admitted that they had suffered sexual contact abuse
experiences. This finding contradicts international studies. For example, Perreda et al. (2009)
reviewed 38 child sexual abuse prevalence studies from 21 different countries and 5 continents.
She found that most of the studies reported higher prevalence rate among women, compared
with men. She also reviewed the explanations for the gender differences: it is unmanly to
seek help, men are less likely to label their childhood sexual activity as abusive, since their
role in the ideology of sexual abuse has been that of victimizers, the traditional social stigma
of homosexuality, and the different nature and characteristics of child sexual abuse experienced
by men and women. All these issues might affect the lower prevalence rates found in men.
However, these studies are retrospective studies and are based on general population or
student samples. It might be possible that in children samples, boys have a higher willingness
to speak about their sexual experiences than girls.
As mentioned before, BECAN is the largest epidemiological study on child abuse and
neglect that has ever been conducted in Romania. Few prevalence studies have been carried
out in Romania, most of them having been organised at regional level, the most important
of which was initiated by the National Agency for the Protection of Children’s Rights and
Adoption in 2000, realized by Browne, Cârţână, Momeu, Păunescu and Tokay (2002).
According to Perreda et al. (2009), the outcome of child abuse and neglect studies are
influenced by many factors, including the definition of the abuse, the characteristics of the
sample, and the methodology of the survey. The two studies (Becan and that realized by
Browne et al., 2002) are difficult to compare, because they used different tools, different
samples, and different time‑frames of the studied behaviors. However, it is obvious that
neglect was more prevalent in the previous study (in the sample of the children: 43,8% in
2000, compared with 19,4% in 2011; in the sample of parents 67,8% in 2000 compared
with 7% in 2011), which might mean that the ICAST tools are not sensitive enough to
determine the different forms of neglect.
Limitations
Several limitations need to be recognized while interpreting the results. In the case of 5th
grade and 7th grade students, our results might be biased by the fact that parental consent
was refused in 27,85% of the children. We do not know which category of children did not
get the parental consent, so it is questionable to what extent we can generalize our results
to the population of all Romanian children within the studied age categories.
In this study, we used a very broad definition of physical and emotional abuse (the
occurrence of every single act of physically or emotionally violent behavior). In analysis
that will be carried out in the future, physical discipline and severe forms of physical abuse,
as well as different types of emotional abuse should be treated and analyzed separately.
The time‑frame which we used for the analysis for this study was the past year. According
to Finkelhor et al. (2007), there is a tendency to forget some victimization and also to
“telescope” some other victimization forms from an earlier period to a given period.
Underreporting due to forgetting and embarrassment and over reporting due to telescoping
are frequent in population‑based studies, and probably in our study, too. In the case of
physical abuse and psychological abuse, children and parents answered more or less in the
same way. But in the case of sexual abuse and neglect, there were huge differences between
the two populations. In the future, we will need to analyze these differences.
Conclusions
The ICAST‑CH and ICAST‑P are multi‑national, multi‑cultural, and multi‑lingual child abuse
research tools, which are now available both in the Romanian and Hungarian languages. Field
research guides are also being translated and adapted to Romanian. The ICAST tools represent
a complete tool kit for researchers and policymakers seeking to better understand child
victimization in Romania and to obtain comparable data with other researches that have been
carried out with the same tools all over the world. Through the BECAN study, 9 countries
from the Balkan region will be able to compare child abuse and neglect prevalence data.
The BECAN study is the first survey in Romania that has been conducted on such a large
sample of children and parents (almost 5.955 children – representing approximately 1% of
the children’s population of the studied age‑group, and 4.236 parents). Besides delivering
prevalence data in Romania, the results of the study are also important for policy‑making
activities, future research and a better understanding of CAN features. The study has raised
important challenges for future researches: finding ways to increase the response rate and
the safety of the children.
Note
1. The study was initiated by the Institute of Child Health, Department of Mental Health and Social
Welfare, Centre for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect‑Greece and run under
the auspices of the European Commission and co‑funded by DG Research in the context of
FP7‑Cooperation, coordinator: George Nikolaidis. The participating countries are: Albania,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey
and altogether around 30.000 children and parents were surveyed. In Romania the study is
carried out by “Babeş‑Bolyai” University, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work. Coordinators:
Maria Roth and Imola Antal.
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Abuzul fizic, psihologic şi metodele

de disciplinare pozitivă în practica
parentală a părinţilor adolescenţilor
de 16 ani din România
¼Physical Abuse, Psychological Abuse
and Positive Disciplinating Methods
Employed by Parents of Romanian
16‑years Old Adolescents½
Ágnes Dávid‑Kacsó*, Imola Antal**,
***
Maria Roth , Elemér Mezei****, Szász Rozália*****
Abstract. The current study presents data from the BECAN i project. The use of physically
and emotionally abusive parental practices as well as of positive discipline methods are
influenced by the gender factor. The parental behaviors of mothers and fathers differ if
they are used toward girls or boys. The results of a survey realized on a sample of 1.198
Romanian parents of 16 years old adolescents show that both physically and psychologically
abusive parental practices are used more often by mothers than by fathers, and both
mothers and fathers use them more often toward boys than girls. The tendency is the same
* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130

21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: kacso_agnes@yahoo.com.
** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: imolaan@yahoo.com.
**** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: elemermezei@gmail.com.
*****“Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: szasz_rozaly16@yahoo.com.
Research and Technological Development. Coordinator: George Nikolaidis, Institute of
Public Health‑Department of Mental Health and Social Welfare; Project managers for
Romania: Maria Roth, Imola Antal, “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Department
of Social Work.
66 Á. Dávid‑Kacsó, I. Antal, M. Roth, E. Mezei, R. Szász / Abuzul fizic, psihologic şi metodele de
disciplinare pozitivă... [Physical Abuse, Psychological Abuse and Positive Disciplinating Methods...]
in the case of last year prevalence and life long prevalence. Positive discipline methods
are used more often toward girls both by mothers and fathers. The results need to be
interpreted taking account on the particularities of sharing the child care related tasks
between parents in Romanian families.
Keywords: physical abuse, psychological abuse, positive discipline, gender, parental

practices
Prezentarea cercetării
Studiul de faţă se bazează pe rezultatele cercetării internaţionale intitulate „Studiu epide
miologic asupra abuzului şi neglijării copiilor în Balcani” (BECAN), cofinanţată de Programul
Cadru 7 pentru Cercetare şi Dezvoltare Tehnologică al Comisiei Europene. La cercetare au
participat nouă ţări din regiunea balcanică, iar coordonatorul proiectului este Institutul de
Sănătate a Copilului din Grecia. Scopul cercetării era identificarea prevalenţei şi incidenţei
cazurilor de abuz şi neglijare la copii prin aplicarea unor chestionare atât copiilor, cât şi
părinţilor acestora. Astfel, se creează, respectiv actualizează bazele de date balcanice şi cele
româneşti privind relele tratamente la care sunt supuşi copiii, dar se şi identifică procedurile
de depistare a cazurilor de abuz şi neglijare în toate ţările balcanice participante, constituindu‑se
astfel un punct de pornire pentru îmbunătăţirea politicilor referitoare la acest domeniu.
În România a fost creat un eşantion reprezentativ prin selectarea şcolilor din 16 judeţe
(Argeş, Bacău, Călăraşi, Cluj, Constanţa, Covasna, Dolj, Galaţi, Giurgiu, Iaşi, Prahova,
Satu Mare, Timiş, Vaslui şi Vâlcea) şi municipiul Bucureşti, fiind reprezentate toate regiunile
de dezvoltare ale ţării. Obiectivul iniţial era atingerea unui procent de 1% din totalul elevilor
cu vârste de 11, 13 şi 16 ani din România, adică a unui număr de 6.180 de elevi. După
obţinerea acordului Ministerului Educaţiei, Cercetării, Tineretului şi Sporturilor, precum şi
al inspectoratelor şcolare din judeţele incluse în cercetare, au fost contactaţi directorii şcolilor
şi s‑a solicitat sprijinul lor pentru contactarea părinţilor elevilor în scopul informării acestora
despre cercetare şi al obţinerii consimţământului pentru participarea lor şi a copiilor la
cercetare. Părinţii elevilor de 16 ani (din clasa a X‑a) au fost informaţi despre cercetare fără
să li se ceară consimţământul pentru participarea copiilor. Chestionarele au fost aplicate în clasă
elevilor ai căror părinţi şi‑au dat consimţământul, după ce şi elevul însuşi a fost de acord
să completeze chestionarul. Elevilor, ai căror părinţi au consimţit să participe la cercetare
li s‑au înmânat chestionarele pentru părinţi, pe care le‑au adus completate a doua zi. În acest
fel, 5.955 de chestionare au fost completate de către elevi, iar 4.236 de către părinţi.
Instrumentele utilizate au fost variantele modificate în scopul acestei cercetări ale
chestionarelor ICAST‑CH şi ICAST‑P, care au fost dezvoltate de Societatea Internaţională
de Prevenire a abuzului şi neglijării copilului (ISPCAN) în colaborare cu Fondul Naţiunilor
Unite pentru Copii (UNICEF). Procesul de dezvoltare a instrumentelor ICAST a fost coordonat
de conducerea ISPCAN şi cercetători de la Universitatea de Tehnologie din Queensland,
Australia, şi de la Universitatea Chapel Hill din Carolina de Nord, SUA (ISPCAN, 2006a,
2006b). Instrumentele urmăresc să examineze tipurile de abuz asupra copiilor.
Instrumentul ICAST‑P este conceput pentru a colecta date despre comportamentele de
disciplinare ale părinţilor folosite pentru un anumit copil. Datele obţinute permit calcularea
ratelor diferitelor forme de disciplină în funcţie de vârsta copilului şi prezintă procentul
părinţilor care folosesc forme agresive de disciplinare. Chestionarul ICAST‑CH a fost dezvoltat
pentru a fi aplicat copiilor şi adolescenţilor cu vârste cuprinse între 11 şi 18 ani şi conţine
întrebări cu privire la experienţele copiilor în familie privind violenţa fizică, psihologică şi
sexuală şi la frecvenţa acestora. Chestionarul permite precizarea genului persoanei care
adoptă un anumit comportament faţă de copil, precum şi statutul acesteia – adult, respectiv
copil/adolescent. În acest fel pot fi identificate sursele de violenţă, dar şi de suport din
familiile contemporane româneşti şi din regiunea balcanică, în general.
Studiul de faţă prezintă practicile parentale ale adulţilor de diferite genuri din familiile
cu adolescenţi de 16 ani din România.
Cadrul teoretic
Potrivit opiniei lui England (1999), comportamentele parentale pot fi explicate prin perspectiva
sistemului de gen, având în vedere faptul că rolurile de gen includ norme sociale privind
comportamentele parentale adecvate. Normele sociale privind parentalitatea sunt mult mai
puternice pentru femei decât pentru bărbaţi; astfel, maternalitatea este o componentă mai
semnificativă a identităţii în cazul femeilor, decât paternalitatea în cazul bărbaţilor. Sistemul
de gen influenţează cogniţiile sociale, adică percepţiile, atitudinile, credinţele şi aşteptările
părinţilor privind strategiile parentale corespunzătoare, atribuţiile legate de comportamentele
copiilor, caracteristicile de dorit şi scopurile urmărite prin activităţile parentale (Okagaki,
Bingham, 2005). Aşadar, rolurile de gen determină atât aspectele specifice ale comporta
mentului parental al mamelor şi taţilor, cât şi scopurile urmărite şi aşteptările în cazul copiilor
de diferite genuri – deci comportamentele faţă de copii de diferite genuri (Crockett et al.,
2007). Cercetările privind comportamentele parentale din Vest, Mexic şi China arată că
genul şi vârsta copilului influenţează comportamentele parentale (Crockett et al., 2007;
Tang, 2006). De exemplu, în rândul părinţilor de origine chineză din Hong Kong, atât vârsta,
cât şi genul copilului au avut influenţă asupra utilizării pedepselor corporale: aceasta a fost
mai frecventă în cazul băieţilor decât în cel al fetelor în grupa de vârstă 5‑12 ani, însă nu
au fost diferenţe de gen în utilizarea pedepselor corporale în cazul copiilor sub 5 ani şi al
adolescenţilor (Tang, 2006).
În majoritatea cercetărilor cu privire la abuzul copilului, comportamentele parentale se
referă la comportamentul maternal. Cercetările despre mamele abuzive sau neglijente sunt
mai numeroase, fiind ignoraţi taţii care recurg la abuzuri fizice sau emoţionale, precum şi
cei care îşi neglijează copiii (Pittman, Buckley, 2006). Autorii amintiţi menţionează că din
12 studii descriptive referitoare la cei implicaţi în abuzuri nesexuale asupra copiilor, publicate
în revista Child Abuse and Neglect în perioada 1995‑2001, doar cinci au inclus taţi în
eşantionul studiat. Recent se observă o schimbare în direcţia recunoaşterii importanţei
implicării ambilor părinţi în activităţile legate de creşterea copiilor. La nivelul comportamen
telor părinteşti însă, schimbările nu sunt foarte spectaculoase, creşterea copiilor rămânând
în continuare o activitate puternic determinată de factorul de gen (Hawkins, Amato, King,
2006; Stănciulescu, 2002). Deşi bărbaţii se implică mult mai mult în creşterea copiilor
decât o făceau cu 20 de ani în urmă, în continuare „ajută” la îndeplinirea sarcinilor domestice,
iar femeile sunt cele care sunt responsabile pentru efectuarea acestora (Hărăguş, 2010). Şi
în Marea Britanie mamele petrec mai mult timp cu îngrijirea copiilor decât taţii: în medie
36, respectiv 13 minute pe zi. În cazurile în care copiii sunt încă la o vârstă la care sunt
dependenţi de părinţi, diferenţa se reduce, dar timpul petrecut de taţi cu îngrijirea copiilor
rămâne la jumătate din cel petrecut de mame cu această activitate. Hărăguş (2010) subliniază
că datele obţinute pe bază de autoraportare trebuie tratate cu precauţie, pentru că mamele
tind să subaprecieze, iar taţii să supraestimeze timpul petrecut cu îngrijirea copiilor. Un
studiu publicat în 1980 a arătat că taţii îşi estimau timpul petrecut cu îngrijirea copiilor la
11,3 ore pe săptămână, în timp ce jurnalele lor dovedeau o implicare estimată la 1,7 ore
(Hărăguş, 2010). Pleck şi Masciadrelli (2004) arată că două treimi dintre activităţile legate
de îngrijirea copiilor sunt făcute de mame. În ceea ce priveşte practicile parentale, cercetările
arată că taţii intervin de două ori mai rar decât mamele în reglarea comportamentului, iar
intervenţiile lor sunt preponderent normative, realizate prin interzicerea şi permiterea unor lucruri
şi explicarea normelor morale, implicându‑se într‑o măsură mult mai redusă în corectarea
comportamentelor (Stănciulescu, 2002). Astfel, frecvenţa recurgerii la diferite pedepse de
către părinţii de cele două genuri ar trebui raportată la timpul petrecut de părinţi cu copii şi la
timpul petrecut cu corectarea comportamentului copilului, pentru a obţine o imagine mai realistă
despre practicile parentale ale mamelor şi taţilor, aşa cum atrage atenţia Edleson (1999).
Relaţiile dintre adolescenţi şi părinţi sunt puternic influenţate de genul părinţilor şi de
cel al copiilor. Taţii tind să fie mai implicaţi în relaţia cu fiii lor decât cu fiicele (Hawkins,
Amato, King, 2006); de asemenea, atât taţii, cât şi mamele au mai frecvent reacţii negative
faţă de fete decât faţă de băieţi (Parke et al., 2005). Relaţiile cu părinţii de cele două genuri
au fost percepute diferit şi de adolescenţii înşişi într‑o cercetare efectuată în rândul adoles
cenţilor americani de origine mexicană. Atât fetele, cât şi băieţii au perceput relaţia cu mama
ca fiind mai strânsă decât cea cu tatăl, cu toate că fetele, comparativ cu băieţii, au considerat
că au relaţii mai strânse cu mama. Băieţii au avut, în general, mai multe activităţi în comun
cu taţii lor, decât fetele. Taţii erau percepuţi de adolescenţi ca furnizori ai suportului
instrumental în primul rând, iar mamele ca fiind principala sursă de suport emoţional
(Crockett et al., 2007), nefiind neglijabil nici volumul suportului instrumental asigurat de
mamă în procesul îngrijirii cotidiene a copiilor (Stănciulescu, 2002).
Familiile din România prezintă caracteristicile familiilor tradiţionale: femeile sunt
responsabile pentru îndeplinirea sarcinilor domestice, incluzând aici şi educaţia copiilor
(Robila, 2004). Rezultatele Anchetei Generaţii şi Gen (AGG), realizată în 2005 pe un eşantion
naţional reprezentativ de 11.986 de persoane de către Institutul Naţional de Statistică, privind
sarcinile de îngrijire a copilului arată diferenţe foarte mari între bărbaţi şi femei. De exemplu,
45% dintre mame declară că mama este cea care, de obicei, îl îmbracă pe copil; doar 2,1%
dintre bărbaţi declară acest lucru. Bărbaţii se implică mai mult în activităţile din timpul liber
al copilului. Chiar şi în cazul acelor aspecte ale îngrijirii copilului ce pot fi considerate
neutre din punct de vedere emoţional, cum ar fi transportul copilului, 32,8% dintre mame
declară că, de obicei, mama este cea care se ocupă de această sarcină; doar 6,1% dintre
bărbaţi declară că, de obicei, tatăl îl transportă pe copil (Hărăguş, 2010). Urmărind efectele
unor variabile de control asupra implicării bărbaţilor în îngrijirea copilului, rezultatele
autorului arată că bărbaţii din mediul urban sunt mai implicaţi decât cei din mediul rural,
însă vârsta bărbaţilor, statutul lor ocupaţional şi forma de coabitare nu au avut efecte
semnificative. Educaţia a avut efect asupra implicării doar în cazul bărbaţilor cu studii
postsecundare, care se implică mai mult în îngrijirea copilului mic. Rezultate asemănătoare
privind împărţirea sarcinilor legate de îngrijirea copiilor au fost găsite în cadrul unei cercetări
efectuate în 2006 pe un eşantion reprezentativ pentru familii cu copii în clasa a VII‑a de un
grup de cercetători coordonat de Mihaela Ionescu şi Elisabeta Negreanu. Rezultatele acestei
cercetări au arătat că, în 74% dintre familii, mama petrece cel mai mult timp cu copilul;
tatăl este persoana care petrece cel mai mult timp cu copilul doar în 7% din cazuri. Deciziile
privind educaţia copiilor sunt adoptate în 36,4% de mame şi în 15,6% de taţi; în 79,4%
din cazuri mama participă la şedinţele cu părinţii; supravegherea efectuării temelor este
făcută în 36% din cazuri de mamă şi în 12% de tată. Principala persoană care oferă suport
emoţional în familiile din România este mama: 65% dintre elevi afirmă că se destăinuie
mamei, în timp ce 14,3% se confesează tatălui. În cazul în care au probleme legate de
şcoală, 62,7% dintre elevi cer sfatul mamei, iar 11,9% se sfătuiesc cu tatăl. În ceea ce
priveşte autoritatea părinţilor, 42% dintre copii afirmă că îşi ascultă în mod egal ambii
părinţi; 27% dintre elevi afirmă că o ascultă în primul rând pe mama, iar 22,7% spun că îl
ascultă mai mult pe tata (Negreanu et al., 2006). Referitor la corectarea comportamentului,
se observă că atât sancţiunile, cât şi recompensele sunt date într‑un procent mai ridicat de
mame. 35,1% dintre elevi afirmă că cel mai des pedepsele le aplică mama, în timp ce 21,1%
consideră ca tatăl face acest lucru; 30% dintre elevi susţin că primesc recompense cel mai
des din partea mamei, iar 20,4%, din partea tatălui. Autorii cercetării concluzionează că
schimbarea faţă de modelul tradiţional constă în primul rând în lărgirea rolului maternal în
familiile româneşti contemporane, pe lângă funcţia afectiv‑expresivă tradiţională mamele
având acum autoritatea de control şi decizie (Negreanu et al., 2006), ceea ce dovedeşte
„declinul paternităţii” considerat caracteristic familiilor moderne (Stănciulescu, 2002).
Studiul nostru prezintă prevalenţa diferitelor comportamente parentale aşa cum sunt
reflectate datele obţinute din chestionarele completate de părinţi în cadrul cercetării BECAN.
Analiza va avea în vedere perspectiva de gen, analizând prevalenţa diferitelor forme de abuz
şi a disciplinării pozitive folosite de mame şi taţi, precum şi aspectele specifice ale utilizării
acestor comportamente în relaţie cu adolescenţii, băieţi şi fete.
Eşantionul
Studiul de faţă prezintă formele de abuz şi metodele de disciplinare utilizate de părinţii
adolescenţilor de 16 ani incluşi în cercetarea BECAN, folosind baza de date a cercetării.
Eşantionul studiat este compus din părinţii a 1.198 adolescenţi de clasa a X‑a şi a 2.185 de
adolescenţi de 16 ani. Chestionarul utilizat pentru că părinţi permite identificarea relaţiei
pe care adultul care completează chestionarul o are cu copilul pentru că participă la cercetare.
În eşantionul studiat, 78% dintre respondenţi erau mame, 18,1% erau taţi; 3% erau alte
persoane de gen feminin (mamă vitregă, asistent maternal, soră, bunică, mătuşă, verişoară)
şi 0,8% erau alţi bărbaţi (tată vitreg, frate, bunic, văr, unchi). Studiul include doar cazurile
în care persoana respondentă a fost mama sau tatăl, compoziţia eşantionului fiind prezentată
în tabelul de mai jos:
Tabelul 1. Relaţia adultului respondent cu adolescentul pentru care completează
Părintele care completează

Mama 972 (81,1%)
Tatăl 226 (18,9%)
Total 1.198(100%)
În ceea ce priveşte prezenţa altor adulţi cu rol de părinte pentru copii, în eşantionul
studiat 41,5% dintre mame şi 48% dintre taţi îşi îngrijesc singuri copiii.
Instrumentul şi metoda
Instrumentele folosite furnizează date de la adolescenţi (ICAST‑CH) şi de la părinţi (ICAST‑P),
conţinând aceleaşi întrebări referitoare la comportamentele parentale concrete ce vizează
abuzul fizic, psihologic sau forme ale disciplinării pozitive. Posibilităţile de răspuns ţin cont
de frecvenţa comportamentului respectiv în ultimul an (o dată, de două ori, de câteva ori
pe an, lunar sau la două luni, de câteva ori pe lună, o dată pe săptămână sau mai des), dar
chestionarul permite şi înregistrarea incidenţei comportamentului respectiv în trecut („nu în

ultimul an, dar s‑a întâmplat”).
Am luat în considerare atât prevalenţa comportamentelor concrete în cursul ultimului an,
cât şi prevalenţa pe întreaga perioadă a creşterii copilului respectiv. Atât chestionarul pentru
copii, cât şi cel pentru părinţi include 15 itemi care se referă la abuzul psihologic, 18 itemi
referitori la abuzul fizic şi şapte care descriu metode de disciplinare pozitivă.
Prevalenţa în ultimul an a abuzului fizic se referă la apariţia a cel puţin uneia dintre
practicile parentale de acest tip în ultimul an, iar prevalenţa pe viaţă se referă la adoptarea
comportamentului respectiv cel puţin o dată în cursul creşterii copilului pentru care res
pondentul a completat chestionarul. La fel s‑a procedat şi în cazul abuzului psihologic sau
al disciplinării pozitive.
Prezentarea rezultatelor
Abuzul psihologic
Tabelul de mai jos prezintă acele comportamente şi prevalenţa lor în eşantionul studiat care
intră în sfera abuzului psihologic:
Tabelul 2. Prevalenţa diferitelor forme de abuz psihologic în eşantion,

în ultimul an şi pe toată perioada creşterii copilului
Comportamentul parental Prevalenţa în ultimul Prevalenţa pe viaţă

an (N = 1.198) (N = 1.198)
L‑aţi ameninţat că o să‑l abandonaţi? 34 (2,8%) 59 (4,9%)
Aţi ţipat (strigat) la el foarte tare şi agresiv? 368 (30,7%) 606 (50,6%)
L‑aţi ameninţat cu bau‑bau, spirite rele, 27 (2,3%) 176 (14,6%)
oameni răi?
I‑aţi citit jurnalul, sms‑urile sau e‑mailurile 209 (17,4%) 319 (26,6%)
fără permisiunea lui?
I‑aţi umblat în geantă, sertar, buzunar etc. 400 (33,4%) 541 (45,2)
fără permisiunea lui?
L‑aţi înjurat? 136 (11,4%) 218 (18,2%)
L‑aţi ameninţat că îl veţi da afară din casă? 40 (3,3%) 88 (7,3%)
L‑aţi dat afară din casă? 18 (1,5%) 34 (2,8%)
L‑aţi insultat prin adresare de cuvinte urâte, 300 (25%) 444 (37,1%)
porecle?
Aţi refuzat să‑i vorbiţi? L‑aţi ignorat? 220 (18,4%) 362 (30,2%)
L‑aţi blamat pentru proasta dispoziţie? 137 (11,4%) 197 (16,4%)
I‑aţi spus că v‑aţi fi dorit ca el/ea să fie 11 (0,9%) 22 (1,8%)
mort sau să nu se fi născut niciodată?
L‑aţi ameninţat că‑l veţi răni sau chiar ucide? 13 (1,1%) 20 (1,7%)
L‑aţi comparat cu alţi copii într‑un mod 88 (7,3%) 161 (13,4%)
umilitor?
L‑aţi făcut de ruşine sau să fie stânjenit, în 63 (5,3%) 128 (10,7%)
mod intenţionat, în faţa altora?
Aşa cum reiese din tabelul nr. 2, formele cele mai frecvente ale abuzului psihologic
practicate de părinţi faţă de adolescenţii de 16 ani sunt: verificarea genţii, buzunarului,
sertarului acestuia fără permisiunea lui (33,4%), tonul ridicat, agresiv (30,7%), adresarea
de cuvinte urâte sau porecle (25%), ignorarea, refuzul de a vorbi (18,4%), citirea jurnalului,
a e‑mailurilor etc. (17,4%), înjurarea (11,4%) şi blamarea adolescentului pentru proasta
dispoziţie a părintelui (11,4%). Dacă analizăm prevalenţa pe viaţă a comportamentelor
abuzive psihologic, observăm că formele cele mai frecvente rămân aceleaşi ca în cazul celor
utilizate în ultimul an (cu excepţia verificării genţii, care este forma cea mai frecventă în
ultimul an, dar tonul agresiv având prevalenţă mai mare pe viaţă), remarcându‑se faptul că
frecvenţa raportării comportamentelor abuzive psihologic este mai mare în cazul fiecărui
comportament dacă perioada de referinţă este toată perioada creşterii copilului.
Prevalenţa în ultimul an şi prevalenţa pe viaţă a abuzului psihologic în funcţie de genul
părintelui respondent sunt prezentate în tabelul următor:
Tabelul 3. Prevalenţa abuzului psihologic în raport cu genul părinţilor în ultimul

an şi pe toată perioada creşterii copilului
Respondentul Prevalenţa în ultimul an Prevalenţa pe viaţă a abuzului psihic

a abuzului psihic
Nici o formă Cel puţin o formă Nici o formă Cel puţin o formă
Mama 403 (41,5%) 569 (58,5%) 236 (24,3%) 736 (75,7%)
Tatăl 102 (45,1%) 124 (54,9%) 59 (26,1%) 167 (73,9%)
Total 505 (42,2%) 693 (57,8%) 295 (24,6%) 903 (75,4%)
Conform datelor din tabelul nr. 3, 57,8% dintre părinţii respondenţi au declarat că, în
ultimul an, au avut cel puţin unul dintre comportamentele cuprinse în tabelul nr. 1; 75,4%
au declarat că, deşi nu le‑au avut în ultimul an, le‑au avut cândva în trecut. Se observă, că
procentul mamelor care au avut cel puţin unul dintre comportamentele enumerate în ultimul
an este mai mare decât cel al taţilor, fără însă ca diferenţa să fie semnificativă (chi² = 1,01,
p = 0,31), iar diferenţa între mame şi taţi în ceea ce priveşte comportamentele abuz psihic
scade dacă analizăm prevalenţa pe viaţă a acestor comportamente.
Dacă luăm în considerare şi genul copiilor, obţinem următoarele rezultate:
Tabelul 4. Abuzul psihologic la care recurg mamele şi taţii faţă

de adolescenţi de diferite genuri
Respondentul Prevalenţa în ultimul an Prevalenţa pe viaţă

a abuzului psihic a abuzului psihic
Băieţi Fete Băieţi Fete Băieţi Fete Băieţi Fete
Mama 124 278 192 376 71 164 245 490
(39,2%) (42,5%) (60,8%) (57,5%) (22,5%) (25,1%) (77,5%) (74,9%)
Tatăl 48 54 56 68 27 32 77 90
(46,2%) (44,3%) (53,8%) (55,7%) (26,0%) (26,2%) (74%) (73,8%)
Total 172 332 248 444 98 196 322 580
(41%) (42,8%) (59%) (57,2%) (23,3%) (25,3%) (76,7%) (74,7%)
Datele din tabelul nr. 4 arată că cel mai frecvent mamele recurg la abuzul psihologic faţă
de băieţii lor, atât în cazul prevalenţei în ultimul an, cât şi în cel al prevalenţei pe viaţă.
Dacă analizăm prevalenţa în ultimul an, taţii raportează mai rar comportamente de abuz
psihic faţă de băieţi decât faţă de fete, însă dacă analizăm prevalenţa pe viaţă, aceasta este
aproape egală în cazul fetelor şi băieţilor.
În general, conform datelor eşantionului nostru, comportamentele care intră în sfera
abuzului psihologic sunt mai frecvent utilizate de mame decât de taţi, cel mai frecvent fiind
caracteristice relaţiilor dintre mame şi băieţii lor, atât în ultimul an, cât şi dacă ne gândim
la toată perioada creşterii copilului.
Abuzul fizic
Comportamentele considerate abuzive din punct de vedere fizic, precum şi prevalenţa acestora
în ultimul an şi pe toată perioada creşterii copilului sunt prezentate în tabelul următor:
Tabelul 5. Frecvenţele diferitelor forme de abuz fizic în eşantion
Prevalenţa în ultimul Prevalenţa pe viaţă

Comportamentul parental
an (N = 1.198) N = 1.198)
L‑aţi prins de haine sau de anumite părţi ale 262 (21,9%) 525 (43,8%)
corpului şi l‑aţi scuturat?
L‑aţi lovit peste fund cu un băţ, mătură, nuia sau 95 (7,9%) 373 (31,1%)
cureaua?
L‑aţi lovit altundeva (nu peste fund) cu un obiect 55 (4,6%) 177 (14,8%)
ca un băţ, mătură etc.?
L‑aţi tras de urechi? 97 (8,1%) 270 (22,5%)
L‑aţi lovit peste cap cu pumnul sau dosul palmei? 55 (4,6%) 112 (9,3%)
L‑aţi tras de păr? 136 (11,4%) 375 (31,3%)
L‑aţi împins, l‑aţi lovit cu piciorul? 23 (1,9%) 55 (4,6%)
I‑aţi pus piper, boia de ardei iute pe limbă pentru 8 (0,7%) 15 (1,3%)
a‑i provoca durere?
L‑aţi forţat să stea într‑o poziţie chinuitoare sau 16 (1,3%) 48 (4%)
umilitoare pentru a‑l pedepsi?
L‑aţi lovit cu palma peste fund? 135 (11,3%) 538 (44,9%)
L‑aţi sufocat sau l‑aţi strâns de gât? 7 (0,6%) 12 (1%)
L‑aţi ciupit tare? 52 (4,3%) 94 (7,8%)
L‑aţi plesnit? 161 (13,4%) 432 (36,1%)
L‑aţi ars sau opărit în mod intenţionat? 3 (0,3%) 8 (0,7%)
L‑aţi lovit în mod repetat cu mâna, pumnul sau 27 (2,3%) 65 (5,4%)
cu un obiect?
L‑aţi ameninţat cu un cuţit sau o armă? 6 (0,5%) 9 (0,8%)
L‑aţi închis într‑o cameră întunecată sau spaţiu 4 (0,3%) 7 (0,6%)
întunecat?
L‑aţi legat de ceva cu sfoară sau lanţuri? 6 (0,5%) 9 (0,8%)
Conform tabelului nr. 5, comportamentele parentale abuzive fizic utilizate cel mai frecvent
în ultimul an de părinţii adolescenţilor sunt scuturarea adolescentului (raportată în 21,9%
din cazuri), plesnirea (13,4% ), trasul de păr (11,4%) şi lovirea cu palma peste fund (11,4%).
În ceea ce priveşte prevalenţa pe viaţă a acestor comportamente, procentul cel mai ridicat
apare în cazul lovirii copilului cu palma peste fund (44,9%), urmând scuturatul (43,8%),
plesnirea (36,1%), lovirea peste fund cu băţul sau nuia (31,1%), trasul de păr (31,3%) şi
urecheala (22,5%). Ca şi în cazul abuzului psihologic, avem diferenţe mari între prevalenţa
în ultimul an şi prevalenţa pe toată durata creşterii copilului a comportamentelor de abuz
fizic, fiind mai mare prevalenţa pe viaţă a comportamentului. Prevalenţa abuzului fizic în
ultimul an şi pe toată durata creşterii copilului în funcţie de genul părintelui respondent este
prezentată în tabelul următor:
Tabelul 6. Prevalenţa abuzului fizic în raport cu genul părinţilor
Respondentul Prevalenţa în ultimul an a abuzului Prevalenţa pe viaţă a abuzului fizic

fizic
Mama 609 (62,7%) 363 (37,3%) 297 (30,6%) 675 (69,4%)
Tatăl 152 (67,3%) 74 (32,7%) 83 (36,7%) 143 (63,3%)
Total 761 (63,5%) 437 (36,5%) 380 (31,7%) 818 (68,3%)
Din tabelul nr. 6 reiese că mamele raportează mai frecvent comportamente care intră în
sfera abuzului fizic decât taţii, atât în ultimul an (37,3%, faţă de 32,7% raportat de taţi,
diferenţa frecvenţelor rămânând nesemnificativă: chi² = 1,67, p = 0,19), cât şi pe toată
durata creşterii copilului (69,4% faţă de 63,3%). Se remarcă faptul că prevalenţa pe viaţă
a abuzului fizic raportat aproape că se dublează comparativ cu prevalenţa acestuia în ultimul
an, atât în cazul mamelor, cât şi în cel al taţilor. Dacă 68,3% dintre respondenţi recunosc
faptul că au utilizat comportamente parentale de tipul abuzului fizic cândva pe parcursul
creşterii copilului, doar 36,5% dintre părinţi relatează că au recurs la astfel de practici
parentale în ultimul an. Astfel, se pare că odată cu avansarea copiilor în vârstă, părinţii
recurg mai rar la pedepse fizice.
Tabelul 7 prezintă comportamentele de tipul abuzului fizic faţă de adolescenţii de cele
două genuri, aşa cum au fost ele raportate de către părinţii din eşantionul reprezentativ din
cercetarea BECAN:
Tabel 7. Abuzul fizic la care recurg mamele şi taţii faţă de adolescenţi de diferite genuri

a abuzului fizic a abuzului fizic
Mama 195 413 121 241 87 209 229 445
(61,7%) (63,1%) (38,3%) (36,9%) (27,5%) (32%) (72,5%) (68%)
Tatăl 67 85 37 37 33 50 71 72
(64,4%) (69,7%) (35,6%) (30,3%) (31,7%) (41%) (68,3%) (59%)
Total 262 498 158 278 120 259 300 517
(62,4%) (64,2%) (37,6%) (35,8%) (28,6%) (33,4%) (71,4%) (66,6%)
Conform datelor din tabelul nr. 7, mamele raportează într‑un procent mai mare de
comportamente de abuz fizic decât taţii, atât faţă de fete, cât şi faţă de băieţi. Cel puţin un
comportament de abuz fizic în ultimul an a fost raportat în procentul cel mai ridicat de mame
cu băieţi adolescenţi (38,3%), fiind urmat de comportamentele de abuz fizic îndreptate de
mame spre fetele adolescente (36,9%). În cazul taţilor, cel puţin un comportament de abuz
fizic în ultimul an a fost raportat mai frecvent dacă taţii au completat chestionarul pentru
un băiat (35,6%) decât dacă era vorbă de fată (30,3%). În ceea ce priveşte prevalenţa pe
viaţă a abuzului fizic utilizat faţă de copii de diferite genuri, tendinţa rămâne aceeaşi ca şi
în cazul prevalenţei în ultimul an: comportamentele de abuz fizic au fost utilizate mai
frecvent de mame în relaţia cu băieţii lor, şi mai rar de taţi în relaţia cu fetele.
Disciplinarea pozitivă
Tabel 8. Prevalenţa formelor de disciplinare pozitivă
Comportamentul parental Prevalenţa în ultimul Prevalenţa pe viaţă

an (N = 1.198) (N = 1.198)
I‑aţi explicat ceea ce este greşit? 1.112 (92,8%) 1.148 (95,8%)
I‑aţi acordat recompensă pentru 968 (80,8%) 1.038 (86,6%)
comportamentul bun?
I‑aţi spus să înceapă sau să înceteze să facă 916 (76,5%) 1.000 (83,5%)
ceva?
I‑aţi dat altceva de făcut pentru a‑i distrage 745 (62,2%) 902 (75,3%)
atenţia?
I‑aţi reţinut banii de buzunar sau i‑aţi deprivat 158 (13,2%) 247 (21,5%)
de privilegii?
I‑aţi interzis ceva ce‑i place? 355 (29,6%) 523 (43,7%)
I‑aţi interzis să iasă afară? 282 (23,5%) 470 (39,2%)
Dintre formele de disciplinare pozitivă incluse în chestionar, explicaţiile privind greşelile

adolescentului sunt raportate cel mai frecvent: 92,2 % dintre părinţi declară că a utilizat
explicaţiile în ultimul an şi 95,8% a declarat că a utilizat acest comportament pe toată
perioada creşterii copilului. Se remarcă prevalenţa relativ scăzută a practicilor menite să
sancţioneze comportamentele nedorite atât dacă ne referim la ultimul an, cât şi dacă avem
în vedere toată perioada creşterii copilului.
Utilizarea a cel puţin uneia dintre formele de disciplinare pozitivă în ultimul an şi pe
toată perioada creşterii copilului a fost raportată de mame şi taţi în procentele prezentate în
tabelul nr. 9:
Tabelul 9. Prevalenţa disciplinării pozitive în raport cu genul părinţilor

a disciplinării pozitive a disciplinării pozitive
Mama 33 (3,4%) 939 (96,6%) 18 (1,9%) 954 (98,1%)
Tatăl 10 (4,4%) 216 (95,6%) 7 (3,1%) 219 (96,9%)
Total 43 (3,6%) 1.155 (96,4%) 25 (2,1%) 1.173 (97,9%)
Conform datelor din tabelul nr. 9, prevalenţa metodelor de disciplinare pozitivă este peste
95%, atât în cazul mamelor, cât şi în cel al taţilor, atât în ultimul an, cât şi pe toată perioada
creşterii copilului. Procentele utilizării a cel puţin uneia dintre formele de disciplinare
pozitivă de către mame şi taţi în creşterea fetelor şi băieţilor sunt prezentate în tabelul
următor:
Tabelul 10. Formele de disciplinare pozitivă la care recurg mamele

şi taţii faţă de adolescenţi de diferite genuri

a disciplinării pozitive a disciplinării pozitive
Mama 12 21 304 633 7 11 309 643
(3,8%) (3,2%) (96,2%) (96,8%) (2,2%) (1,7%) (97,8%) (98,3%)
Tatăl 6 4 98 118 5 2 99 120
(5,8%) (3,3%) (94,2%) (96,7%) (4,8%) (1,6%) (95,2%) (98,4%)
Total 18 25 402 751 12 13 408 763
(4,3%) (3,2%) (95,7%) (96,8%) (2,9%) (1,7%) (97,1%) (98,3%)
Se observă că cel puţin o metodă de disciplinare pozitivă a fost utilizată de peste 95%
dintre ambii părinţi, atât faţă de băieţi, cât şi faţă de fete, atât în ultimul an, cât şi pe toată
perioada creşterii copilului. Totuşi, din răspunsurile părinţilor reiese că metodele de disciplinare
pozitivă sunt folosite cel mai rar de către taţi faţă de băieţii lor, atât în ultimul an, cât şi pe
toată perioada creşterii copilului. În cazul mamelor, prevalenţa disciplinării pozitive este
apropiată în cazul fetelor şi băieţilor, atât dacă perioada de referinţă este ultimul an, cât şi
dacă avem în vedere toată perioada creşterii copilului.
În cele ce urmează prezentăm prevalenţa diferitelor tipuri de abuz aşa cum reiese din
chestionarele adolescenţilor:
Tabelul 11. Prevalenţa abuzului psihic, fizic şi a disciplinării pozitive din partea adulţilor,
bărbaţi şi femei, aşa cum reiese din răspunsurilor adolescenţilor:
Forma de abuz/ Din partea unei femei adulte Din partea unui bărbat adult
disciplinare (N = 2.185) (N = 2.185)
Abuz psihic 1.546 (70,8%) 1.443 (66%)
Abuz fizic 1.103 (50,5%) 813 (37,2%)
Disciplinare pozitivă 1.903 (87,1%) 1.565 (71,6%)
Comparând datele copiilor cu cele ale părinţilor privind prevalenţa diferitelor forme de
abuz, observăm diferenţe importante. 70,8% dintre adolescenţi raportează o anumită formă
de abuz psihic suferită din partea unei femei adulte, în timp ce 75,7% dintre mame au
raportat că au recurs la cel puţin un comportament de abuz psihic faţă de copii lor. 66%
dintre adolescenţi declară că au avut parte de cel puţin un comportament de abuz psihic din
partea taţilor, pe când 73,9% dintre taţi declară că au utilizat cel puţin un comportament de
abuz psihic în procesul creşterii copiilor. 50,5% dintre adolescenţi declară că au avut parte
de comportamente de abuz fizic din partea unei femei adulte, iar 69,4% dintre mame au
declarat că au utilizat cel puţin o practică parentală abuzivă fizic. În cazul bărbaţilor, diferenţa
dintre prevalenţa obţinută din răspunsurile copiilor şi cea obţinută din răspunsurile părinţilor
este şi mai mare: 63,3% dintre taţi declară că au utilizat cel puţin o practică parentală
abuzivă fizic faţă de copilul lor, dar doar 37,2% dintre adolescenţi declară că au experimentat
comportamente de abuz fizic din partea unui bărbat adult din familie.
În ceea ce priveşte disciplinarea pozitivă, tendinţa este asemănătoare: părinţii declară
cu o frecvenţă mult mai mare utilizarea a cel puţin unei forme de disciplinare pozitivă decât
prevalenţa reieşită din răspunsurile adolescenţilor. 98,1% dintre mame şi 96,9% dintre taţi
declară că au utilizat cel puţin una dintre metodele de disciplinare pozitivă; 87,1% dintre
adolescenţi declară că au experimentat cel puţin unul dintre comportamentele respective din
partea unei femei adulte şi doar 71,6% din partea unui bărbat adult.
În funcţie de genul adolescenţilor, se înregistrează următoarele prevalenţe ale diferitelor
comportamente trăite din partea adulţilor, femei şi bărbaţi din familie:
Tabelul 12. Prevalenţa diferitelor forme de abuz şi a disciplinării pozitive

la băieţi şi fete, în funcţie de genul adultului
Adultul Prevalenţa pe viaţă Prevalenţa pe viaţă Prevalenţa pe viaţă

a abuzului psihic a abuzului fizic a disciplinării pozitive
Băiat Fată Băiat Fată Băiat Fată
(N = 884) (N = 1.293) (N = 884) (N = 1.293) (N = 884) (N = 1.293)
Femeie 590 951 419 683 718 1178
(66,7%) (73,5%) (47,4%) (52,8%) (81,2%) (91,1%)
Bărbat 583 856 359 452 672 888
(66%) (66,2%) (40,6%) (35%) (76%) (68,7%)
Privind prevalenţele diferitelor forme de abuz în cazul fetelor şi al băieţilor, datele din
tabelul 12 arată că fetele declară procentul cel mai ridicat de experimentare a abuzului psihic
din partea unei femei adulte (73,5%), prevalenţa abuzului psihic suferit de fete adolescente
din partea femeilor adulte fiind aproape de prevalenţa abuzului psihologic declarat de mame
în relaţie cu fetele lor (74,9%). În ceea ce priveşte prevalenţa abuzului psihic experimentat
de băieţi din partea mamelor, prevalenţa (66,7%) este cu mult inferioară celei reieşite din
declaraţia mamelor (77,5%). La fel se întâmplă în cazul comportamentelor de abuz psihic
utilizate de taţi faţă de fete: adolescentele declară într‑un procent de 66,2% că au avut parte
de comportamente de abuz psihic din partea taţilor, în timp ce 73,8% dintre taţi susţin că
au folosit cel puţin o practică parentală de abuz psihic în relaţia lor cu fetele. Privind abuzul
fizic, din declaraţia adolescenţilor reiese că prevalenţa acestuia este mai scăzută în relaţia
dintre fete şi taţi, comportamentele de abuz fizic fiind utilizate cel mai frecvent de mame
faţă de fete. Prevalenţa reieşită din declaraţiile părinţilor arată că mamele utilizează mai
frecvent practici parentale abuzive fizic faţă de băieţii lor (72,5%, comparativ cu 68% în
cazul fetelor). Atât din declaraţiile taţilor, cât şi din cele ale adolescenţilor reiese faptul că
taţii folosesc mai frecvent comportamente abuzive fizic faţă de băieţi decât faţă de fete.
Analizând prevalenţa disciplinării pozitive, din datele părinţilor reiese că atât mamele,
cât şi taţii folosesc mai frecvent metode de disciplinare pozitivă în relaţia lor cu fiicele.
Datele adolescenţilor confirmă declaraţiile părinţilor în cazul mamelor – fetele declară că
au experimentat practici parentale de disciplinare pozitivă mai degrabă din partea femeilor
(91,1%) – nu şi în al taţilor: băieţii au declarat într‑un procent mai mare folosirea metodelor
de disciplinare pozitivă din partea bărbaţilor din familie (76%) decât fetele (68,7%).
Practicile parentale care, conform răspunsurilor copiilor, intră în sfera disciplinării pozitive,
au fost experimentate atât de fete, cât şi de băieţi, într‑un procent mai mare din partea
femeilor decât din partea bărbaţilor, comportamentele de disciplinare pozitivă fiind utilizate
cel mai rar de bărbaţi în relaţia lor cu fetele.
Discuţii
Cercetările efectuate în România cu privire la distribuirea sarcinilor legate de îngrijirea şi
educaţia familială a copiilor arată că acestea sunt bine ancorate în rolul maternal (Hărăguş, 2010;
Negreanu, Ionescu, 2006; Stănciulescu, 2002). Faptul că în cercetarea de faţă chestionarele
au fost completate într‑un procent de 81,1% de mame susţine această opinie: chestionarele
au fost aduse de copii de la şcoală, completarea lor intrând în sfera activităţilor legate de
viaţa şcolară a copilului. Conform datelor prezentate, toate formele de abuz sunt mai
frecvente în cazul mamelor decât în cel al taţilor, atât dacă perioada de referinţă este ultimul
an, cât şi dacă utilizarea diferitelor tipuri de comportament s‑a referit la toată perioada
creşterii copilului. Înainte de a trage concluzia că mamele sunt mai abuzive decât taţii,
trebuie să avem în vedere faptul că în familiile din România mamele petrec mult mai mult
timp cu copiii şi cu îngrijirea lor, având şi sarcina de corectare a comportamentului copilului.
Pentru o imagine realistă cu privire la caracterul abuziv al comportamentului maternal,
respectiv paternal, ar trebui să raportăm frecvenţa comportamentelor abuzive la timpul alocat
de fiecare părinte pentru îngrijirea copilului, aşa cum propune Eddleson (1999). Ipoteza
conform căreia frecvenţa comportamentelor abuzive este mai mare în cazul mamelor decât
în cel al taţilor, pentru că se implică mai mult în corectarea comportamentelor, este susţinută
şi de faptul că inclusiv frecvenţa utilizării disciplinării pozitive este mai ridicată în cazul
mamelor decât în cel al taţilor. Prevalenţa mai mare a modalităţilor de disciplinare pozitivă
în cazul mamelor corespunde rezultatelor obţinute de Negreanu şi Ionescu (2006), recom
pensele fiind acordate mai frecvent de mame decât de taţi.
Atât în cazul abuzului fizic, cât şi în cel al abuzului psihic există diferenţe mari între
prevalenţa în ultimul an şi cea pe toată durata creşterii copilului. Aceste date pot avea
explicaţii multiple. Pe de o parte, trecerea copiilor prin diferitele stadii de dezvoltare duce
la modificarea în timp a comportamentelor parentale. De exemplu, invocarea spiritelor rele
pentru a speria copilul şi a‑l face să se comporte într‑un anumit mod poate fi eficientă (în
ceea ce priveşte modificarea comportamentului) la copiii mici, dar este mai puţin utilă în ado
lescenţă. În ceea ce priveşte comportamentele care fac parte din sfera abuzului fizic, se pare
că ele au fost utilizate mai frecvent în trecut decât în ultimul an, ceea ce sugerează, şi în
cazul acestor comportamente, schimbarea practicilor parentale odată cu creşterea copiilor. În
cazul unor comportamente care apar rar în eşantionul studiat şi reprezintă forme grave de
abuz creşterea prevalenţei în cazul în care luăm în considerare toată durata creşterii copilului
sugerează faptul că acele comportamente desemnează nişte scăpări de control accidentale.
Datele obţinute în cursul acestei cercetări demonstrează că există diferenţe în practicile
parentale utilizate de părinţi faţă de copii, în funcţie de genul acestora. Atât în cazul abuzului
fizic, cât şi în cel al abuzului psihic prevalenţa – atât în ultimul an, cât şi pe toată perioada
disciplinării – este mai ridicată în cazul relaţiei mamă‑fiu, ceea ce este în contradicţie cu
rezulatele lui Parke et al. (2005) care au concluzionat că atât taţii, cât şi mamele au mai
multe reacţii negative faţă de fete. Fiecare formă de abuz şi disciplinarea pozitivă este mai
frecventă în relaţia tată‑fiu decât în cea tată‑fiică, fapt explicabil prin rezultatele lui Hawkins,
Amato şi King (2006), conform cărora băieţii adolescenţi relaţionează mai mult decât fetele
cu taţii. Atât băieţii, cât şi fetele raportează mai multe metode de disciplinare pozitivă din
partea mamelor.
Există diferenţe importante între datele obţinute de la părinţi şi adolescenţi în ceea ce
priveşte prevalenţa formelor de abuz şi a disciplinării pozitive. Prevalenţa pe viaţă a tuturor
formelor de abuz şi a comportamentelor de disciplinare pozitivă este mai mică dacă se
calculează pe baza răspunsurilor adolescenţilor decât a răspunsurilor părinţilor. O explicaţie
poate fi faptul că numeroase forme ale acestor comportamente, experimentate numai în

copilăria mică, nu sunt reţinute de copii. În cazul disciplinării pozitive, părinţii, fiind
influenţaţi de cogniţiile sociale privind formele dezirabile social ale comportamentelor
parentale, pot supraestima frecvenţa utilizării acestor metode. Pe de altă parte, utilizarea
incorectă a formelor de disciplinare pozitivă (de exemplu, a laudelor şi recompenselor) poate
crea un decalaj între intenţia părintelui şi percepţia mesajului de către adolescent. De
exemplu, laudele combinate cu reproşuri pot fi percepute de părinţi ca laude, în timp ce
adolescenţii pot recepţiona reproşul fără să fie conştienţi de componenta pozitivă a mesajului.
Limitele studiului
Abordarea de faţă are câteva limite pe care trebuie să le avem în vedere la interpretarea
rezultatelor. Chestionarele părinţilor au fost completate doar în proporţie de 18,9% de către
taţi, adică de 226 de persoane. Astfel, rezultatele obţinute nu pot fi generalizate pentru
România. Dintre taţii care au completat chestionarul, 48% îşi cresc copiii singuri; astfel,
probabil, se implică în corectarea comportamentului copiilor într‑o măsură mai mare decât
taţii în general, comportamentul lor parental fiind astfel condiţionat. Următorul aspect care
merită atenţie în interpretarea rezultatelor este raportarea comportamentelor parentale la
timpul petrecut de părinţi cu copii: părinţii care petrec mai mult timp cu disciplinarea
copiilor au şanse mai mari să recurgă şi la metode abuzive.
În acest studiu a fost considerat abuz chiar şi o singură incidenţă a unui anumit tip de
comportament abuziv. Tratarea diferenţiată a formelor mai uşoare şi mai grave de abuz ar
aduce un plus de înţelegere în studiul comportamentelor parentale. Gravitatea unei anumite
forme de abuz reprezentate printr‑un anumit comportament ar putea fi apreciată şi în funcţie
de frecvenţa cu care a fost utilizat. Unele comportamente pot reprezenta o formă gravă de
abuz şi pot avea consecinţe severe asupra dezvoltării copilului, chiar dacă au fost utilizate
o singură dată, dar există şi forme relativ uşoare de abuz care devin traumatice prin caracterul
lor repetitiv. Factorul de gen ar putea influenţa gravitatea comportamentelor abuzive utilizate,
în ceea ce priveşte atât părintele, cât şi copilul faţă de care comportamentul respectiv a fost
utilizat.
Concluzii
Datele arată că părinţii îşi apreciază comportamentul în mod realist, fapt reflectat prin
prevalenţa mai mare a fiecărui tip de abuz în răspunsurile părinţilor decât în cele ale
adolescenţilor. Pornind de la răspunsurile părinţilor, putem afirma că în familiile din România
cu copii de 15 ani, abuzul fizic, psihic şi disciplinarea pozitivă sunt utilizate mai frecvent
de mame decât de taţi, însă o imagine mai realistă asupra comportamentelor părinteşti ar
presupune raportarea comportamentelor la timpul petrecut de părinţii de ambele genuri cu
copiii lor. Practicile parentale utilizate diferă atât în funcţie de genul copiilor, cât şi în funcţie
de genul părinţilor. Se remarcă, în acelaşi timp, anumite atitudini legate de normele de gen
reflectate în rezultatele obţinute de la adolescenţi: deşi mamele raportează mai multe
comportamente de abuz fizic faţă de băieţi decât faţă de fete, băieţii raportează mai puţine
comportamente de abuz fizic din partea femeilor decât fetele, ceea ce sugerează o toleranţă
mai mare a băieţilor faţă de violenţa fizică, normă înrădăcinată în rolul de gen al bărbaţilor.
Părinţii de ambele genuri utilizează mai frecvent disciplinarea pozitivă în relaţia lor cu fetele.
Putem afirma aşadar că practicile parentale sunt puternic influenţate de sistemul de gen,
fapt evident atât în diferenţa dintre practicile utilizate de mame şi de taţi, cât şi în diferenţa
dintre practicile utilizate în relaţia cu copiii de genuri diferite.
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Abusive Parents from Rural

and Urban Areas
Cristina Baciu*, Corina Voicu**, Imola Antal***
Elemér Mezei****, Maria Roth*****
Abstract. For the sake of further planning preventive actions in child‑welfare, our data
contextualize the idea of “families at risk for child abuse and neglect”. The aim of the
study is to reveal the differences in the phenomenon of child maltreatment between urban
and rural areas from Romania. The presented study is part of the BECAN projecti. Our
findings show that children in urban areas are more vulnerable to emotional abuse, while
those from rural areas to physical abuse. Other types of maltreatment such as sexual
abuse and neglect do not differ significantly according to children’s residence. Statistically
significant differences were also registered in the analysis of positive disciplines, in favor
of parents from urban areas.
Keywords: child abuse and neglect, abusive mothers and fathers in rural and urban areas
Introduction
Child maltreatment can be differentially defined in different, legal, medical, child protection
literature but regardless of those variations, definitions almost always refer to an identifiable
harm cause to a child by an adult, either by commission or omission (Finkelhor, Korbin,
1988; Korbin, 1994).
The socio‑cultural context must be taken into account when defining maltreatment. Korbin
(1994, 184) argued that
* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130

21 decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: cribac70@yahoo.com.
** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: corinavoicu@yahoo.com.
*** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: imolaan@yahoo.com.
**** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
21 decembrie 1989 Blvd., 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, e‑mail: elemermezei@gmail.com.
***** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130
Research and Technological Development. Coordinator: George Nikolaidis, Institute of Public
Health‑Department of Mental Health and Social Welfare; Project managers for Romania:
Maria Roth, Imola Antal, “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Department of Social Work.
82 C. Baciu, C. Voicu, I. Antal, E. Mezei, M. Roth / Abusive Parents from Rural and Urban Areas
neither parental action nor physical injury is adequate in itself as a critical defining element of
child maltreatment across cultures… The process of defining child maltreatment and developing
(often coercive) services related to child protection is complex because the same parental
behavior may have different meaning and interpretations in different cultural contexts.
Substantial research documents cultural and social class variation in parents’ social
cognitions. Across these broad social contexts, differences have been reported in (a) parents’
beliefs about childrearing, (b) attitudes about parental control and discipline, (c) perceptions
of their own efficacy as parents and of their children, (d) attributions and (e) expectations
for children’s behavior (Okagaki, Bingham, 2005).
Florian (2010) considers obvious that parents are the main actors in child maltreatment.
They often live in precarious conditions, have low incomes or no financial means, some of
them are alcohol or drugs addicted and, as a consequence, have poor social relations. They
also can have a history of child abuse in their own childhood, personality disorders (immaturity,
instability etc.). The worse situation is, as the same author stated, when one of the parents
(usually the mother), although is aware of the abusive behavior of the other parent, the father,
doesn’t do a thing to prevent or stop the ongoing abuse, more than that, some time she is
the facilitator of the father’s violent behavior. We can talk here about “risk factors” and the
profile of the “risk families”.
As defined by Fraser, by risk factors we mean those influences that increase the probability
of onset, maintenance or the aggravation of a problem (Fraser, 1997). Whether is an isolate
incident or it often happens in families, child maltreatment has usually multiple causes, is
multi‑determined (Thomlison, 1997). This perspective of risk/protective factors is very well
underlined by the ecological perspective, which focuses on both individual and context features/
elements. Children’s development is a consequence of their confrontation with a multitude
of situations and conditions, characterized by stressors and protective factors in the context of
their relations with family, school, peer‑group, neighborhood, and community (Fraser, 1997).
Gender, certainly affects risk chains (Fraser, 1997) including here also unreasonable, stereotype
expectances for boys and girls from their parents or other significant adults. So, gender
differences may reflect both fundamental biological differences between boys and girls, and
changing beliefs, values, and norms.
Cozărescu (2010) underlined the idea that children’s early gender socialization is full of
stereotypes, even prejudices, frequent in parental education and the relationships with
significant adults.
Table 1. Children’s expected qualities from parents’ perspective
Urban Rural
First choice First choice
well‑behaved 53,4% well‑behaved 50%
hardworking 14,3% hardworking 23,2%
responsible 9,1% responsible 6,6%
Second choice Second choice
hardworking 23,2% hardworking 30,2%
responsible 18,4% responsible 13,6%
Third choice Third choice
determined 15,3% obedient 17,3%
moderate 13,3% moderate 15,7%
religios 13,8%
Source: GGS, 2005.
As Hărăguş (2007) observed, parenting values and perspectives regarding children’s sociali
zation are correlated with the aims of parents regarding their children’s qualities. We can observe
from table 1 an orientation towards traditional values as well‑behaved children, hardworking,
moderate. Parents from urban and rural areas agreed on the first two choices, although we can
see that parents from urban area consider that children have to be well‑behaved in a bigger
percentage (53,4%) than those from rural area (50%). 23,2% (on the first choice) respective
30,2% (on the second choice) parents from rural residence consider hardworking important
but just 14,3% (on the first choice) and 23,2% (on second choice) from urban residence.
Concerning the third choice, here we can see obvious differences, parents from urban
areas considering determination and moderation as the most important values, features, while
parents from rural areas have besides moderation different expectations from their children
such as obedience and religiousness. Researchers have examined parents’ attitudes toward
the child obedience and the use of corporal punishment stressing upon the direct relation
between those two aspects (Okagaki, Bingham, 2005).
Based on these data, we assume that parents’ expectations towards their children, partly
different in rural and urban areas, will result in different ways of parenting and relating with
children, with statistically different positive and abusive behavior.
Research design
This research result are part of the international Balkan Epidemiological Study of Child
Abuse and Neglect which aims to identify the extent of child abuse and neglect form children
and parents perspective1. At the end of the research the main goal is to up to date the database
of Balkan maltreatment extent of the phenomenon.
Sample
The sample consists on 5.955 students from 5th grade, 7th and 10th grade, and 4.236 parents
from 16 counties (Argeş, Bacău, Călăraşi, Cluj, Constanţa, Covasna, Dolj, Galaţi, Giurgiu,
Iaşi, Prahova, Satu Mare, Timiş, Vaslui şi Vâlcea) and Bucharest. 61,4% of children were
from urban areas and 38,6% from rural areas, as we can see in table 2.
Table 2. Distribution of children according to their residence
Residence Number of persons %

Urban 2.339 61,4
Rural 1.470 38,6
Total 3.809 100%
Instruments
The instruments used on the research were modified questionnaires ICAST‑CH (for children)
and ICAST‑P (for parents), developed by the International Society for Prevention of Child
Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) in cooperation with United Nations Children Funds (UNICEF).
Results
For this research our interest was to detect differences between rural and urban areas for child
maltreatment, as children reported it. Research data from table 3 underline the fact that there
are significant differences for children leaving in rural and urban residence concerning emotional
(p = 0,000) and physical abuse (p = 0,010) and also for positive discipline (p = 0,000).
Children from urban areas tend to be more frecquently emotionaly abused than those from
rural areas, but the last ones are more often physicaly abused. There are no relevant
differences between rural and urban areas related to sexual abuse, sexual contact and neglect.
Data from parents’ reports are generally consistent to children’s reports on maltreatment,
emotional abuse being more frecvently reported by parents from urban areas (66,4%) then from
rural ones (60,2%), and physical abuse less frecvent in urban areas (46,2%) than in rural ones
(49,6%). Positive discipline is reported also more frecvent by parent from urban areas than
parents from rural areas data being in the same direction as data from children perspective.
Table 3. Types of abusive parenting acoording to children’s residence
Area Emotional Physical Sexual Sexual Neglect Positive

abuse abuse Abuse contact discipline
Urban N = 3.293, N = 3.288, N = 3.264, N1 = 3.260, N = 3.285, N = 3.294,
N = 3.302 P = 70,5% P = 43,3% P = 5,2% P1 = 2,5% P = 19,9% P = 95,6%
Rural N = 2.592, N = 2.580, N = 2.558, N1 = 2.554, N = 2.582, N = 2.588,
N = 2.602 P = 59,8% P = 46,7% P = 4,9% P1 = 1,8% P = 18,6% P = 90,6%
Chi‑Square
Tests
0,000 0,010 0,631 0,086 0,231 0,000
Exact Sig.
(2‑sided)
Data from our research follows the patterns of the data anualy reported by the National
Agency of Children Rights Protection (ANPDC) in Romania. Table 4 and 5 illustrate that
physical abuse has a higher rate in rural areas than in urban ones, while emotional abuse is
better represented in urban areas for both 2010 and 2011. This tendence of higher rates of
physical abuse in rural areas can be explained, among other explanatory causes, by lower
incomes or, in other words, by a higher poverty rate in this areas. As Killen (1998) underlined,
poverty can determine a higher rate of physical abuse but not necessary, as well as welness
can be a protective factor but that doesn’t happen in all cases.
Table 4. Incidence of child abuse and neglect
Child abuse and neglect (from 1st of January 2010 to 31 December 2010)
Type of maltreatment Total Urban Rural
a) Physical abuse 1.254 525 729
b) Emotional abuse 1.218 665 553
c) Sexual abuse 623 188 435
d) Neglect 7.642 3.333 4.309
e) Sexual exploitation 59 37 22
The data from the ministry of Work, Family and Social Protection, 2010. Source: www.copii.ro/
alte_categorii.html.
Table 5. Incidence of child abuse and neglect
Child abuse and neglect (from 1st of January 2011 to 30 September 2011)
Type of maltreatment Total Urban Rural
a) Physical abuse 829 374 455
b) Emotional abuse 953 606 347
c) Sexual abuse 388 148 240
d) Neglect 5.912 2.661 3.251
e) Sexual exploitation 38 17 21
The data from the ministry of Work, Family and Social Protection, on 30.09.2011. Source: www.
copii.ro/alte_categorii.html.
Neglect is more often a problem that came into ANPDC attention among last years, but
not only, in rural areas (see tables 4 and 5), but we can see from table 3 that is less reported
by children with rural residence than that ones leaving in towns, although the difference has
no statistical significance. This discrepancy, can be explained if we suppose that children
from urban areas are more informed and more aware of what neglect can mean so they can
identify and report neglect in a more accurate way that those from rural areas. There can
be also cultural differences between town and country side that can lead to a different
perspective of what neglect means for them.
There are no big discrepancies between children’s and parents’ report on maltreatment,
except for sexual contact and neglect, reported more often by children (see table 6).
Table 6. Children/parents perspective on child maltreatment
Children perspective Type of experience N, P

Total Psychological abuse N = 5.936, P = 65,8%
(children of both sexes) Physical abuse N = 5.919, P = 44,8%
N = 5.955 Sexual abuse N = 5.873, P = 5,1%
Sexual contact N = 5.865, P= 2,5%
Neglect N = 5.918, P = 19,4%
Positive discipline N = 5.933, P = 93,1%
Parents perspective Type of experience N, P
Total Psychological abuse N = 3719, P = 63,8%
(children of both sexes) Physical abuse N = 3728, P = 47,8%
N = 3.846 Sexual abuse N = 3771, P = 3,0%
Sexual contact N = 3750, P = 0,6%
Neglect N = 3786, P = 7,0%
Positive discipline N = 3753, P = 98,0%
As shown in table 7, the results in BECAN research, reveal the same direction of
differences as in the incidence data reported to the Romanian Ministry of Work, Family and
Social Protection: parents from rural areas use more often physical abuse to punish their
children, and boys are more at risk to physical abuse then girls.
There are also significant differences between boys and girls concerning neglect in urban
areas, girls tend to be more neglected than boys, but there are no significant gender
differences in rural areas.
Table 7. Physical abuse and neglect
Physical abuse
Chi‑Square Tests
Area Gender Percent
Exact Sig. (2‑sided)
girls 40,6%
Urban 0,000
boys 46,9%
girls 44,4%
Rural 0,010
boys 49,5%
Neglect
Chi‑Square Tests
Area Gender Percent
girls 22,0%
Urban 0,000
boys 17,0%
girls 18,9%
Rural 0,683
boys 18,2%
Table 8. Emotional abuse
Area Grade Percent Chi‑Square Tests

a V‑a 58,8%
Urban
a VII‑a 70,7% 0,000
a X‑a 77,6%
a V‑a 51,9%
Rural a VII‑a 58,5% 0,000
a X‑a 74,5%
Emotional abuse results show that both children from rural and urban areas are more
susceptible to this type of maltreatment as they grow up (see table 8).
Physical abuse vary with age differently that emotional abuse, that means that older they
are less are they physicaly abused (table 9), and more emotionaly abused. The tendency of
droping rate of physical abuse with the age is similar in rural and urban areas.
Table 9. Physical abuse
Chi‑Square Tests
Area Grade Percent Asymp. Sig. (2‑sided) Pearson
Chi‑Square
a V‑a 47,4%
Urban
a VII‑a 49,0% 0,000
a X‑a 37,1%
a V‑a 49,2%
Rural a VII‑a 45,2% 0,099
a X‑a 44,5%
Table 10. Sexual abuse and sexual contact
Area Grade Sexual abuse Sexual contact

Percent Chi‑Square Tests Percent Chi‑Square Tests
Exact Sig. (2‑sided) Exact Sig. (2‑sided)
a V‑a 2,5% 0,2%
Urban a VII‑a 4,6% 0,000 1,6% 0,000
a X‑a 7,3% 4,4%
Rural a V‑a 4,3% 1,2%
a VII‑a 3,8% 0,003 1,2% 0,000
a X‑a 7,4% 3,6%
As mentioned by the analysis of emotional abuse, sexual abuse is also higher in older
ages, both in rural and urban areas.
Table 11. Neglect

Urban a V‑a 14,4%
a VII‑a 20,1% 0,000
a X‑a 23,1%
Rural a V‑a 15,3%
a VII‑a 18,2% 0,000
a X‑a 24,7%
As children grow up, they register a higher grade of neglect, that can be explained that
parents consider them more capable of doing things on their onw. Data show the same
tendency for both rural and urban areas. In our opinion, using the same items to define
neglect for children aged 11 as for those aged 16 doesn’t give us the posibility to have an
accurate image of neglectful parental behavior.
Table 12. Positive discipline

Urban a V‑a 93,4%
0,001
a VII‑a 96,5%
a X‑a 96,4%
Rural a V‑a 88,5%
0,008
a VII‑a 91,5%
a X‑a 92,8%
Positive discipline is more often used at all ages in urban areas than in rural ones. We
don’t have enough data to provide an elaborate explanatory model but we can propose an
explanation related to a better information of parents in urban areas about positive discipline
methods that can came from their overal superior school preparation and from more sources
of information including mass‑media, school activities regarding the subject etc.
As Păuş (2009) observed, although people from rural areas tend to consume the same
sources of media as those from urban areas there are still notable differences in their need
for information that media providers don’t take into concern. Another important difference
related to rural areas information sources, that concern also informations about how to be
a better parent, is the internet, significant less accesible to persons leaving in rural areas.
We agreed with the idea that, for the time being, “written and audio‑visual media should
pay more attention to the specific needs of the rural population, in an intercultural approach,
in which the village should no longer be discriminated in terms of the quantity and quality
of the media offer that is addressed to it” (Păuş, 2009, 9).
Limitations
The research doesn’t take into consideration cultural differences that can came from children
residence (rural‑urban) or because they belong to an ethnic minority (for example, roma).
There are also missing informations about a number of risk factors like: parents substance
abuse history, life style etc. which can contribute to a better understanding of the studied
phenomenon. Socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and culture may influence parents’ values and
childrearing beliefs as Luster and Okagaki (2005) stated.
Another limitation comes from the fact that the instrument was not adapted to children’s
age. Neglect, for instance, has in reality a slightly other content for children in primary
school than for adolescents.
Conclusions
Child maltreatment is, unfortunately, a fenomenon existent in both rural and urban areas.
Parents from rural areas tend to be, more than those from towns, physicaly abusive. That
can come from the traditional believe that parents “have the right” to take any measures,
even to beat the child, to educate them, and, as we know, Romanian traditional culture and
civilisation is better maintained in rural areas (Zamfir, Tolstobrach, 1997). We can also
incriminate here as a risk factor, the poverty of many rural families that can lead to high
stress of parents or other significant adults that live with the children.
Research results concerning positive discipline showed us that in rural areas parents use
it less than those from urban areas. Eventuall, here we can blame the poorer information of
rural parents, and we can learn about the necessity of delivering more acurate and usefull
information on positive parenting for rural areas. Informing parents from rural areas could
lead not only to a more frecvent use of positive discipline, but also contribute to the prevention
of phisycal punishments and other forms of child maltreatment.
At the end, we consider that in both rural and urban Romanian families, there still is a
need of modelling parental behavior, but taking into account it’s main determinants. Looking
to our results through the lens of the influential model of Jay Belsky (2005), for whom
preventive actions of child abuse have to be oriented to (a) the personality and personal
resources of the parent; (b) the characteristics of the child; and (c) the contextual sources
of stress, we have to emphasize the need of parental support and information on positive
parenting especially for families living in rural areas.
Note
1. Balkan Epidemiological Study of Child Abuse and Neglect is a co‑funded project by European
Commission’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. Detailed
information about the Study are presented in Imola Antal et al., Social Work Reiew, 2.
References
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Peters (eds.), Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development. Montreal, Quebec: Centre of
Excellence for Early Childhood Development; 1‑6. Available at: http://www.child‑encyclo
pedia.com/documents/BelskyANGxp‑Parenting.pdf ¼accessed 2.04.2012½.
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approach½. In D. Buzducea (ed.), Asistenţa socială a grupurilor de risc. Iaşi: Editura Polirom.
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criminality prevention½. In Sociologie Românească, 8, 3, 147‑155.
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Naţional de Statistică, 179‑188.
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Protecting children from abuse and neglect: Foundations for a new national strategy, New
York: Guilford Press, 182‑223.
Luster, T., Okagaki, L. (2005) Introduction. In T. Luster, L. Okagaki (eds.), Parenting. An
Ecological Perspective. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Okagaki, L., Bingham, G.E. (2005) Parents’ Social Cognition and Their Parenting Behavior. In
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Providing Services to Maltreated

Children and Their Families.
Some Findings of Romanian Case Based
Surveillance Study
Gabriella Tonk *, Júlia Adorjáni**, Éva László***
Abstract. Reliable national child maltreatment data is needed for the development and
improvement of policies aimed at preventing child maltreatment and supporting recovery
of child victims of abuse and neglect. The article reviews the importance of child abuse and
neglect data especially of surveillance systems. The paper presents findings of the Romanian
case‑based surveillance study (part of the BECAN i project, with special focus on information
regarding elements of case management in terms of involved agencies and services
provided for children victims of abuse and neglect and for their families. The results of
this study are based on the document analysis of 288 case‑files collected from 16 Romanian
counties. The study shows the absence of standard tools for risk and needs assessment,
as well as the absence of clear thresholds or reference points in decision making and
intervention planning. Case management often relies on uncompleted assessment, lacking
essential information to orient intervention planning. The results of the study show a
great need for evidence based instruments to be used in all phases of case management.
Keywords: child abuse, neglect, surveillance
Introduction
Children suffer from abuse and neglect all over the world, in developed and developing countries
as well. The official statistics regarding the number of children who suffered from abuse and
neglect represents only the top of the iceberg, which often contains the most severe cases
* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Cluj‑Napoca,

Romania, 0745831415, e‑mail: gszabo2002@yahoo.com.
** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Cluj‑Napoca,
Romania, 0745003316, e‑mail: juliaszigeti@yahoo.com.
*** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Cluj‑Napoca,
Romania, 0745631907, e‑mail: laszlo_bodrogi_eva@yahoo.com.
Research and Technological Development. Coordinator: George Nikolaidis, Institute of Public
Health‑Department of Mental Health and Social Welfare; Project managers for Romania:
Maria Roth, Imola Antal, “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, Department of Social Work.
92 G. Tonk, J. Adorjáni, É. László / Providing Services to Maltreated Children and Their Families.
Some Findings of Romanian Case Based Surveillance Study
registered by responsible institutions. During the last 2 decades attention has been increased
towards the research of child abuse and neglect due to some motives, as follows: firstly, studies
show that child abuse is not only harmful for the current life of the child but that it also has
detrimental effects on her/his later development (Geeraert et al., 2004; Mikton, et al.,
2011). The lifelong consequences of child maltreatment for the structure and functioning of
the brain, mental and physical health, and social functioning are now better understood, as are
their implications for human capital formation, social and economic development. Secondly,
research also show that the intervention, treatment of abusive parents is not always successful,
in other words, child abuse is a fixed abusive pattern thus contributing to the persistence of the
phenomenon. Finally, child abuse continues to be a very challenging and expensive problem
for the community, because of the need of provision of emergency and long term intervention
programs and monitoring. Both responding to and trying to remedy the effects of child maltreatment
after it occurs are less effective and more costly than preventing it in the first place. For this
reason, the adequate and evidence based case detection, assessment, as well as proper intervention
planning and implementation is crucial for the child, family and community alike.
On the other hand, reliable national data is needed for policy development which address
child abuse and neglect, and also monitor the progress made in the area of CAN (Tonmyr
et al., 2004; Hart, Lee, Wernham, 2011; Boothby, Stark, 2011). Despite the importance of
the problem, accurate estimates of its extent and characteristics in the general population
are difficult to achieve mainly due to two reasons: a. the silence that surrounds maltreatment
cases because of shame, social stigma and the consequent criminal liability which lead to
CAN underreporting and b. the lack of coordinated national CAN monitoring system. This
is the reason why the majority of the world countries have no valid and reliable data on
magnitude of CAN (Wolfe, Yuan, 2001).
In the following we will present preliminary analyses of the surveillance study of child
abuse and neglect from BECAN project, which can contribute to the development of efficient
services and prevention (WHO, 1999), informs responsible institutions at all level of possible
risks and trends that affect health and safety. It also has the role to provide bases to policy
and program development.
Conceptual framework. Definitions of child maltreatment

In spite of a relatively long history of studying child maltreatment professionals are still
arguing on definition and classification of the phenomenon. Defining child maltreatment is
not a simple task, considering the variations of the abuse and neglect definitions that are used
by different sectors related to the issue. At the same time, the problem of conceptualization
arises, because abuse and neglect have different aspects such as clinical, legal, social and
administrative (Tonk, Szigeti, 2011).
Wolfe and Yuan (2001) mentions that legislation based definitions focus on evidentiary
criteria in an effort to prove or disprove an act of abuse. According to the same authors
caseworkers, who are mandatory to investigate accusations of maltreatment may weight other
discretionary, clinically‑based criteria more heavily in determining the course of action, like
parent’s remorse, family resources, child’s safety. At the same time arises the problem of
operationalization, namely which actions are considered to be abusive. Legal definitions
emphasize parental deviance and wrongdoing, thereby directing the focus on the implicit
intent to inflict harm, or the incapability of the parent to protect the child from harm.
On other hand, social science definitions put a greater emphasize on individual, family,
relationship and social context. In this context, child abuse and neglect is often overlapped
by other family problems (parental substance abuse, financial problems, and domestic violence)
which all contribute to developmental problems. This perspectives place primary importance
on the relationship context. In this way, social science perspective is built on legal definitions
but places maltreatment in a larger, developmental and ecological context (Wolfe, Yuan, 2001).
Due to the complexity of the phenomenon studies show that it is difficult for states to
integrate data resulting from the justice and social system, without common definitions and
integrating mechanisms. Social and health services are considered to be the most important
interfaces to identify and reveal abuse, if screening methods are used, due to the fact that
these institutions have contact with a large number of families, looking for services for other
needs than violence. Data resultant from social services helps a lot in estimation of the
phenomenon and identifying its characteristics (Tonk, Szigeti, 2011).
Child maltreatment is more commonly considered to be a public health issue with
devastating effects on individuals, families and communities. It is a well known fact that
child maltreatment is broadly related to a range of health outcomes. For example, recent studies
of adverse childhood experiences suggest that exposure to various forms of maltreatment during
childhood can increase risk factors for many of the leading causes of death among adults.
For example, people subjected to four or more adverse childhood experiences were between
4 and 12 times more likely to experience alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, and suicide
attempts. There was a dose‑response relationship between exposure to child maltreatment
and the presence of adult diseases including heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease,
skeletal fractures, and liver disease (Anda et al., 1999; Felitti et al., 1998).
According to W. Rodney Hammond (2003) four distinct steps make up the public health
approach: assessment of the scope of the problem using public health surveillance and
epidemiology; identifying the causes of violence, including looking for risk and protective
factors that can be modified with prevention programs and public policies; evaluating targeted
interventions and policies to determine which approaches are working and finally, encouraging
widespread adoption of programs and policies based on scientific evidence of effectiveness.
Thus, researching child abuse and neglect using the public health approach usually covers
the topic of surveillance, identifying and diagnosing cases, investment in early prevention,
cost‑efficiency, access to support and recovery services.
The child protection approach analyzes the issue of child maltreatment from the perspective
of the taken professional and legal actions.
Although maltreatment is more rarely considered to be a human rights issue, the children’s
right approach is necessary to be used, defining child maltreatment as a human right violation
involving the responsibility of the state to act, in accordance to widely accepted international
treaties (Reading et al., 2009). The great advantage of children’s right approach, based on
the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child is the assurance of legal instrument for
implementation of policies, responsibilities and social justice. Child maltreatment must be
considered a public health issue, as well as a human right one (Tonk, Szigeti, 2011).
For the needs of BECAN CBSS, the program Consortium agreed to adopt the conceptual
definition of child maltreatment and its forms (namely, physical‑, sexual‑, psychological‑abuse
and neglect) as provided by WHO and ISPCAN (2006): Child maltreatment is defined as
all forms of physical and/or emotional ill‑treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent
treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the
child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility,
trust or power.
The World Report on Violence and Health (WHO, 1999) and Consultation on Child
Abuse Prevention distinguish four types of child maltreatment: physical abuse, sexual abuse,
psychological abuse and neglect. The present study is using the definitions adopted by the
WHO, briefly presented below:
Physical abuse: Physical abuse of a child is defined as the intentional use of physical
force against a child that results in – or has a high likelihood of resulting in – harm for the
child’s health, survival, development or dignity. This includes hitting, beating, kicking,
shaking, biting, strangling, scalding, burning, poisoning and suffocating. Much physical
violence against children in the home is inflicted with the object of punishing.
Sexual abuse: The involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully
comprehend is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is not developmentally
prepared, or else that violates the laws or social taboos of society. Children can be sexually
abused by both adults and other children who are – by virtue of their age or stage of
development – in a position of responsibility, trust or power over the victim.
Psychological abuse: Emotional and psychological abuse involves both isolated incidents,
as well as a pattern of failure over time on the part of a parent or a caregiver to provide a
developmentally appropriate and supportive environment. Abuse of this type includes: the
restriction of movement; pattern of belittling, blaming, threatening, frightening, discriminating
against or ridiculing; and other nonphysical forms of rejection or hostile treatment.
Neglect: Neglect includes both isolated incidents, as well as a pattern of failure over
time on the part of a parent or other family member to provide for the development and
well‑being of the child – where the parent is in a position to do so – in one or more of the
following areas: health, education, emotional development, nutrition, shelter and safe living
conditions. The parents of neglected children are not necessarily poor. They may equally be
financially well‑off.
The BECAN Project

Recognizing the need for reliable, comparable epidemiological and incidence data on child
abuse and neglect, the Balkan Epidemiological Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (BECAN)
project (http://www.becan.eu) was set up in 2009, by the Institute of Child Health Department
of Mental Health and Social Welfare (Greece), with partners from other 8 Balkan countries1.
The BECAN Project was initiated with the aim to contribute to overcome the alarming
data‑related gap in the Balkan area, by implementing a large‑sample epidemiological survey
on CAN in nine Balkan countries. Data derived from the Balkan Epidemiological survey on
CAN (BECAN) are expected to provide a quantitative definition of the problem that could
be used in order to enable early identification of CAN emerging trends, to provide an overview
of the geographical distribution of cases at a national and Balkan level, so a series of policy
recommendations could be formulated concerning CAN prevention and priorities addressing
the associated risk factors that will help to plan future child support and protection services.
A case‑based surveillance study has been conducted in the nine Balkan countries in the
context of the BECAN Project in conjunction with the epidemiological survey in the same
geographical areas and for the same time period.
The present article will focus on the case‑based surveillance study and presents some of
the preliminary findings of the Romanian case‑based surveillance study, with special focus
on information regarding elements of case management in terms of involved agencies and
services provided for children victims of abuse and neglect and their families. We we’ll try
to find some answers, how the child protection system effectively respond to child maltreatment
cases, focusing on data regarding legal actions taken and service provision for children and
families.
Methodology
National sample
The original national sample was compound of general directorates for social assistance and
child protection from 16 counties and 1 sector of Bucharest. These institutions were the only
type which entered in the study, because according to law, all professionals and institutions
have the duty to report abuse cases to these institutions (established in every county of
Romania and every sector of Bucharest).
An estimation of number of abuse and neglect cases was made based on the official
statistics of the first semester of 2010. Based on this data 4 counties were eliminated from
the sample because there were very few files registered in the first semester of 2010 in
comparison with the other counties (less then 20 cases).
One institution refused collaboration in terms of the methodology (namely to provide
access for field researchers to files), although request was sent by the Ministry of Labor,
Family and Social Protection which is a national partner of the project. Instead they offered
to fill in the Information Extraction Form and send to the University, but we’ve got only
two files from that county.
A total number of 288 files were included in the research, of those children who have
born in 1995, 1993 and 2000, reported to be victims of abuse and neglect. Substantiated,
unsubstantiated and cases under investigation were taken in consideration. Table 1 shows
the discrepancies between estimated number and actually found number of registered cases
in participating counties.
Table 1. Number of estimated and found files
Counties Total estimated files Total files found Rate of found/estimated files
Bacău 41 24 58,54
Iaşi 131 34 25,95
Vaslui 104 35 33,65
Constanţa 134 10 7,46
Galaţi 76 6 7,89
Prahova 224 62 27,68
Timiş 106 39 36,79
Cluj 20 17 85,00
Satu Mare 74 22 29,73
Braşov 28 16 57,14
Bucureşti 5 3 60,00
Gorj 61 18 29,51
Total 1.004 286 28,49
Some possible explanations of the great discrepancy between estimated (reported) and
found files could be:
• In some counties the files of children are kept in the office they are benefiting service
from and the register of the abuse service is not complete
• In some of the counties following a report no investigations and no monitoring were
realized if the specialists were able to have a short discussion with the parents in which
they promised that they will not abuse or neglect their child any more. In these cases
files are compound only of one paper of report, with very few or no information about
the child, not including the age either. These “files” were not taken in consideration.
Research tools
Data collection tools and operational booklet was developed by the international teem,
coordinated by the Institute of Child Health Department of Mental Health and Social Welfare.
CBSS Extraction Form I and II were developed for data collection.
Data were collected in the period February 2011 and has been finished at the end of May
2011.
Problems that could bias results

In three counties, local social workers were involved in data collection, evoking confidentiality
and a good intention to help the field operators. Thus, in 46 cases data was not extracting
in full respect of research methodology.
Ethical consideration
Due to the very sensitive nature of information that has been collected, the study was
conducted with full consideration of principle of confidentiality. The data collection was
performed in an anonymous manner.
Results
In the following we will present data regarding the characteristics of maltreatment, (forms
of maltreatment, and nature of injuries), consequences of abuse (problems faced by the
children victims) and community/state response to abuse (sources of report, taken measures
and referral of children and their families to support services).
Characteristics of maltreatment
The form of maltreatment was specified in 99,7% of case files. The frequency of forms of
maltreatment is: 28,2% (81) physical abuse, 21,6% (62) sexual abuse, 20,6% (59) psycho
logical abuse, 56,4% (162) neglect and 1 case trafficking in person.
Identification of the form of abuse is essential in the assessment process and intervention
planning. More detailed information regarding specific forms of the four maltreatment types
are presented in case files in Table 2.
Table 2. Detailed presentation of the forms of abuse and neglect
Forms of abuse and neglect Percents

Physical Abuse Forms are specified 68,4%
Information following assessment regarding the degree of physical injury resulted 53,2%
Nature of injury sustained or suffered by the child 51,4%
Specification of forms of reported sexual abuse 96,6%
Specification of forms of reported psychological abuse 91,5%
Specification of forms of reported neglect 88,3%
Forms of maltreatment are specified in a high percent, as well as the severity and nature
of injury in physical abuse cases.
Regarding the scene of maltreatment this information is specified in 87,5% of cases, but
the date when the maltreatment occurred and duration of the abuse is mentioned only in
36,9% of cases.
Consequences of abuse
Concerning the problems children are facing at school and at home, at behavioral and health
level, data is missing in a great extent from the examined files. Thus, in 35,1% of cases
information regarding behavioral problems are not specified in files, educational problems,
their eventual involvement in child labor are also recorded in low percentages; child’s health
condition is recorded in 70% of cases.
In 41,4% of cases there are registered behavioral problems, as follows: problems in
school (26,3%), problems in home (29,7%), violent behavior (14,4%), bullying (9,3%),
self‑harming behavior (4,2%), running away (50,0%), negative peer involvement (24,6%),
inappropriate sexual behavior (7,6%), criminal involvement (21,2%) and other (8,5%).
In 31,5% of cases there is information that children have educational problems and in 44,1%
there is no information in the file regarding educational difficulties the child might face.
The registered educational problems are: learning disability (35,2%), irregular school
attendance (43,2%) and other (28,4%), such as missing school‑related interest, lack of
stimulation, fatigue, adaptation difficulties.
In 12 cases (4,3%) there is a substance abuse problem registered, but in 177 cases (63,9%)
information is missing from the file.
In case where substance abuse is registered, 2 cases are drug abuse, 3 alcohol abuse and
8 other (medical drug, smoking).
Community/state response to abuse

Table 3 shows the community and institutional involvement in detection of abuse.
Table 3. Sources of referral
Source Percents
Police 30,2%
Social Services 24,0%
Medical/Health personnel 6,6%
Mental Health Professionals/Services 0,3%
Legal personnel 3,1%
Community agency 9,7%
School personnel 5,2%
Child‑Alleged victim 3,1%
Parent /foster parent/care provider 15%
Relative 9,7%
Friend/Neighbor 3,8%
Anonymous reporter 2,8%
Other like priest, press etc. 2,8%
Data regarding source of referral (reporting) show us that the police and social services
are the most active institutions involved in the detection of maltreatment cases (30,2%, respec
tively 24%), followed by parent/caregiver with a far lower percent (15%). Other institutions
which are usually also coming into contact with the child victim are much less active in
detection and reporting the abuse (school and health personnel, community agencies). We
can notice a very low involvement of other community members as well and the child victim
her/himself.
Regarding the list of institutions which participate to the assessment of the allegation and
provide information/evidence are led by the social services (93,4%) as the following table
shows (Table 4).
Table 4. Institutions involved in assessment of abuse allegation
Type of institution involved in assessment of allegation Number of cases Percent

Social services 267 93,4
Police services 105 36,7
Medical/Health services 55 19,2
Legal/Judicial services 31 10,8
Education services 20 7,0
Mental Health services 2 0,7
Information regarding the institution which are involved in assessment of abuse allegation
is specified in 99,3%.
Recorded confirmation that maltreatment has occurred is explicitly specified in 92% of cases.
Table 5. Confirmation of abuse as recorded by institutions
Maltreatment confirmation by institutions Number of cases Percent

(Recorded confirmation that maltreatment has occurred)
Social services 240 88,9
Police services 61 22,6
Medical/Health services 54 20
Legal/Judicial services 29 10,7
Education services 11 4,1
Mental Health services 4 1,5
Other (ongoing investigation) 4 1,4
In the following we present data regarding the measures taken by responsible authorities
following the instance of abuse. Table 6 presents the situation regarding the response or lack of
response, respectively the availability of data regarding measures following an abuse report.
Table 6. Measures taken following the instance of abuse
Legal action taken (following the recording of CAN) Number of cases Percent
None legal action taken 74 26,5
Specified 183 65,6
Unspecified 22 7,9
Table 7 presents the variety of legal actions in those situations in which it has been
actually occurred:
Table 7. The types of legal interventions recorded in case files
Legal action taken (following the recording of CAN) Number of cases Percent
Emergency protection procedures implemented 89 48,4
Social service/police measures 64 34,8
Police/Judicial action to prosecute abuser 30 16,3
Judicial action to protect victim by court order(s) 12 6,5
Judicial action to remove parent(s) rights 4 2,2
Other 5 2,7
It is important to confront this data with the one that is published by the Ministry of Labor,
Social Affairs and Family and the Prosecutor’s Office regarding the number of cases of prose
cution in trial phase. These latter indicate an extremely low percentage of cases that reach the
trial phase, namely 1,1% of total number of child maltreatment cases. The results of the CBSS
point to the fact that although in 16,3% of maltreatment cases judicial/police action is taken
to prosecute the abuser, the vast majority of these cases are “lost” in the judicial process.
On the other hand, in spite of the fact that many professionals complain about legal
difficulties of implementing emergency orders, this is the most frequently used legal action
what has been taken, as figures from Table 7 indicate.
The Table 8 presents the types of the care plan that is envisaged for the child victim.
Such a plan for the child is specified in 83,6% of the files.
Table 8. The types of the care plans for children
Type of the care plan for child Number of cases Percent

Child remains in family with planned intervention 97 41,3
Child removed from family home with court order (without 54 23,0
parental consent)
Child remains in family with no intervention 35 14,9
Child removed from family home with parental consent 36 15,3
Other 10 4,3
Here it is important to note, that the services provided for families by the local public
authorities are in many cases unsatisfactory as the low capacity of service provision of local
authorities is well known and recognized at official level (see National Strategy of Child
Protection, 2008‑2013).
The data regarding the forms of out of home placement is presented in Table 9. The
forms of placement are specified in only 98 cases (36,7%), 31 cases remaining unspecified.
In 135 cases (50,6%) no out of home placement was required.
The table above indicates that the most frequent form of out of home placement is still
the institution without individual care. This form of placement includes family type homes
also, but we did not get any data regarding the rate between large institution and family type
homes. Even if the latter is a more suitable form of care for a child, it still remain a fact
that there is a large percent of children in this age category (11, 13, and 16) who are
institutionalized whereupon endure maltreatment (43,1%).
Table 9. Out of home placement
Forms of out of home placement Number of cases Percent

Children’s home institution without individual care 50 43,1
Kinship care with relatives/extended family 20 17,2
Foster care with volunteer/paid caregivers 16 13,8
Other 12 10,4
Abuser leaves the family home 3 2,6
Mother/child shelter with parent and child together 2 1,7
Adoption with parents agreement or court order 0 0
At this age category mother shelters are not often used (this kind of facility is more likely
to be used by mothers with infants). Due to the fact that present legislation is not favorable
to remove the perpetrator2, in most cases children are removed from family home, alone.
In agreement with the legal requirement of including in the file an individualized case
management and treatment plan, our data show that families of abused children, and child
victims themselves are referred to mental health services in proportion of 76,6% (treatment
plans are in larger percentage present in case management files compared to the UBB research
realized in 2008, presented above). Services recommended for children and families are:
psychiatric services (55,1%), family counseling (27,8%), child counseling (25,1%), parent
support program (21,4%), medical/dental services (19,8%), social welfare assistance (17,1%),
shelter services (11,2%), psychological services (10,2%), victim support program (10,7%),
domestic violence counseling (9,1%), recreational program (7,0%), special education referral
(6,4%), access to food bank (4,8%), drug or alcohol counseling (3,2%).
The CBSS study did not aim to collect information about the participation of children
and their family members in the mentioned therapeutically or social services, the length of
followed treatments and therapies, and other benefits as a result of these services.
Discussion
There is an evidence that efforts are made by the child protection departments to improve
the condition of the child victim and her/his family, but there is no information regarding
the adequacy, outcome and eficciency of this endeavor.
These issues are needed to be address in further studies.
Regarding data presented above concerning characteristics of abuse, indicates that files
are missing important information in a great extent. Although it is a well known fact that
decision concerning the removal of child from family home is influenced by personal believes,
it is inconsistent and prone to error (Fitch, 2006), assessment instruments which enable
professionals to make better decisions are still missing in Romania.
The shortage of information concerning problems (behavioral, educational, substance
abuse) that children exposed to violence are usually facing indicates an inadequacy between
assessed needs and treatment plan which is developed for a child.
Data published by the General Department for Child Protection from the Ministry of
Labor, Family and Social Protection3 highlightes that in 2010 the total number of cases of
abuse, neglect and exploitation reported by the General Directorates for Social Assistance
and Child Protection was 11.232. Out of total number of cases 16,2% has remained in the
family and did not benefitted from any intervention and services. In 63% of cases children
remained at home and benefitted from some kind of services and in 20,8% of cases the child
was separated from family. According to the child protection departments’ reports the
following services have been provided for the child and family: psychological counselling (59%),
psychotherapy (3,60%), other therapies (4,16%), medical services – others than rehabilitation
(4,16%), educational services (3,40%), legal counseling and assistance (42,28%).
Both BECAN data and official statistics indicate that approximately two third of child
victims benefit from some kind of services, most frequently psychological counselling.
Psychotherapy is available in a very limited extent. The greatest discrepancy met between
BECAN and official data is recorded regarding the percentege of legal counselling and
medical services, especially psychiatric services. The file analysis evidence that a great
number of children psychiatric services are provided. On the other hand, providing psychiatric
services to maltreated children could be related to the persistency of the medical model
applied by professionals from child protection system in the detriment of the ecological
model. In the same time this could mean also a shortage of available specialized mental
hygiene services, which, in some cases, are replaced by psychiatric services. In any of these
situations the risk that maltreated children being labeled as “trouble children” is high and
secondary trauma could occur in these cases.
Conclusions
The case based surveillance study in Romania showed a large variety in complexity and the
absence of standard tools for risk and needs assessment, as well as the absence of clear
thresholds or reference points in decision making and intervention planning. Case management
often relies on uncompleted assessment, lacking essential information to orient intervention
planning. The results of the study show a great need for evidence based instruments to be
used in all phases of case management.
Referral to services is included in most cases, but there is often no information if children
really benefitted or not of these services. Further research is needed to analyze the efficiency
and adequacy of provided services. Available information shows that services available for
children in child welfare are often not specialized to treat maltreated children. It is also
important to note that there is a large percent of children victims of abuse, removed from
their own homes in out of home placement, without individual care‑plan and treatment.
The study also shows the fact that in almost half of the referred CAN cases children
remain at home, which results in the recognition of the urgent need for improvement of the
capacity of specialized service provisions for CAN reported families, in order to prevent the
reoccurrence of abuse.
Notes
1. Children’s Human Rights Centre of Albania, Dep. of Medical Social Sciences, South‑West
University “N.Rilski” from Bulgaria, Dep. of Social work, Faculty of Law, Univ. of Zagreb, Croatia,
University Clinic of Psychiatry, Medical School, Skopje University, Macedonia, Social Work
Department, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, “Babeş‑Bolyai” University, Romania, Faculty
for Special Education and Rehabilitation, University of Belgrade, Serbia, Association of Emergency
Ambulance Physicians, Turkey, Fakultet Politickih Nauka Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2. Legislation is under revision and protection order is proposed to be introduced in favor of victims
of violence in February 2012.
3. http://www.copii.ro/alte_categorii.html.
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Engaging Mothers in Romanian

Child Protection Services:
Caseworkers’ Perspectives
Salomea Popoviciu*, Ioan Popoviciu**, Daniel Bara***
Damaris Costea****, Emanuela Drăgan*****
Abstract. This paper presents the results of a study that explored mothers’ engagement
in Romanian child welfare services from the perspective of caseworkers. The impetus of
this research was given by the need to contribute to the knowledge in child and family
social work with information on the seldom addressed topic of how maternal engagement
unfolds in Romanian public welfare system. Maternal engagement is discussed in the
context of Romanian society and results suggest that – although caseworkers have factual
information on most mothers – they seldom engage them in case assessment, service
planning or service delivery and focus more on the mothers’ weaknesses than their strengths.
Keywords: Romanian child welfare system, child protection services, engaging the mother
Introduction
In the last twenty years, the Romanian child welfare system has undergone extensive change,
and, even if the system’s public image is still sometimes associated with the degrading state
owned orphanages that received special attention from the international media shortly after
the fall of Communism in 1989, there has been a gradual improvement in caring for orphaned,
abandoned or at risk children. For example, starting with 2005, new child protection legis
lation brought Romania closer to the practices of more developed countries (Rus et al., 2011).
Legislation such as Law no. 272/2004 (on the protection and promotion of child’s rights),
Law no. 273/2004 (on the legal status of adoption), Law no. 274/2004 (on the establishment,
organization, and function of the Romanian Office for Adoption) and Law no. 275/2004 (for
* Emanuel University of Oradea, Nufărului 87, 410597, Oradea, tel.: 0748129609, e‑mail:
meapopoviciu@yahoo.com.
** Emanuel University of Oradea, Nufărului 87, 410597, Oradea, tel.: 0748129608, e‑mail:
npopoviciu@gmail.com.
*** Child Protection Services, Feldioarei 13, 410475, Oradea, tel.: 0749048193, e‑mail: danbarab@
yahoo.com.
**** Emanuel University of Oradea, Nufărului 87, 410597, Oradea, tel.: 0752191130, e‑mail:
damaris.costea@yahoo.com.
***** Emanuel University of Oradea, Nufărului 87, 410597, Oradea, tel.: 0755652924, e‑mail:
emyllydragan@gmail.com.
104 S. Popoviciu, I. Popoviciu, D. Bara, D. Costea, E. Drăgan / Engaging Mothers in Romanian
Child Protection Services: Caseworkers’ Perspectives
modifying the Emergency Ordinance no. 12/2001 on the establishment of the National
Authority for Child Protection and Adoption) placed emphasis not only on the protection of
children at risk, but also on respecting and promoting the rights of all children and on the
important role of engaging parents and families in the care of their children (NAPCR, 2010).
Available data, with some inconsistencies, show that there is still a large number of Romanian
children that are neglected, abused or at risk of abuse and neglect. For example, in 2004, of
approximately 5.000.000 children, in Romania, under the age of eighteen, 32.679 were placed
in public or private child protection and 50.239 were living in foster care (NAPCR, 2009). In
the fall of 2006, 27.188 children were placed in public or private foster care and 48.980 lived
with families or persons (usually relatives up to the fourth degree) (NAPCR, 2006). In 2008,
over 100.000 children were beneficiaries of some protection measures, among whom about 37.000
children were in prevention services (UNICEF, 2008). By June 2010, the number of children
that received some kind of child protection services was 65.875 (GDSSCP, 2010). Also, reports
from the General Department for Social Security and Child Protection (GDSSCP) show that
5.377 children were abused, neglected or exploited between January 2010 and June 2010. Also,
in 2010 the number of children with at least one internationally migrant parent was 88.868, and
the number of children with both parents internationally migrant was 26.747 (GDSSCP, 2010).
Reasons Romanian children were abandoned include overlapping factors such as: the
family’s social‑economic situation, unwanted pregnancies, low birth‑weight, children’s health
or disability (UNICEF, 2006). A report published in 2005 shows that the majority of children
were abandoned by teenage, single or unemployed mothers (MLSSF, NACRP, UNICEF,
2005). These mothers usually came from low social and economic background, had unstable
incomes and low academic attainment.
In order to prevent the unnecessary placement of Romanian children in family‑type services
or residential care, and to meet the long‑term psychological and social needs of those who
must remain in care, social services workers must identify and develop all resources available
to them. One important resource is the child biological mother (Rus, et al., 2011; Cojocaru,
2009; Zamfir, Zamfir, 1996). Nevertheless, Romanian social work literature, in general,
has paid little attention to how mothers participate in social work interventions on behalf of
their children, and no published research considers how mothers in Romania have been
involved in services provided by child welfare agencies, the roles they have played in the
intervention process and the outcomes of this engagement. This lack of research prevents
the development of services aimed at promoting maternal involvement and leads to a gap in
the knowledge of whether social workers identify, engage and maximize the contributions
of those mothers that are able to become a positive force in their children’s lives.
The present study was undertaken in order to develop an understanding of the engagement
of mothers in Romanian child welfare services. Because caseworkers are responsible for case
planning and services delivered for children and families, they are the key actors in deciding
to engage mothers in child welfare services (O’Donnell, 1999; Yatchmenoff, 2005). The
purpose of this study is given by the impetus of exploring how Romanian practitioners engage
mothers when children are at risk.
Background
In recent years, social work literature from developed countries placed a growing emphasis
on the need to engage caregivers in order to ensure their children’s well‑being (Ackerman,
et al., 1991; Berg, Kelly, 2000; Brooks‑Gunn, Berlin, Fuligni, 2000; Burford, Pennell,
MacLeod, Campbell, 1996; McKay, Nudelman, 1996; Turnell, Edwards, 1999;
Yatchmenoff, 2005). In child protection and heath care, engagement is often understood as
an outcome, and used interchangeably with compliance (Atkinson, Butler, 1996) or adherence
to treatment (Swanson, Pantalon, Cohen, 1999). However, as Yatchmenoff (2005, 85‑87)
notes, engagement can also signify the client’s attitude and be conceptualized as: (positively):
(1) receptivity to the help offered; (2) expectancy of future benefit; (3) investment in the
helping process; (4) working relations with the caseworker; (and negatively) (5) mistrust
in the agency or the social workers motives.
Parental engagement can also be seen as a process that encourages parents to attain the
“ability to cope with environmental chaos” and to learn how to “trust others and to tolerate
dependency” (Greenstein, 1998, 16). From this perspective, it is the social worker who
creates an environment of warmth and empathy that “enables a client to enter into a helping
relationship and actively work toward change” (Altman, 2008, 555).
Due to research that shows the importance of primary care‑giving in early childhood for
stimulating proper development, in western countries, a growing number of programs have been
initiated in order to assist families in caring for their children (Brooks‑Gunn, 1998; Lyons‑Ruth,
Zeanah, 1993; Shonkoff, Phillips, 2000; Zeanah, 2000). Such programs, usually focus on the
parent, rather than the child, and are delivered by trained professionals that provide parents with
information and support about parenting skills and child development (Halpern, 2000;
Kendrick et al., 2000). The goals of those programs are to improve parent‑child relations, but
in order for these goals to materialize, the relations between practitioners and caregivers also
need to be positive. For example, parents can demonstrate a positive engagement in keeping
appointments, but not in carrying out recommended activities between visits. That’s why engage
ment is more than compliance or, in the conceptualization offered by Wagner et al. (2003, 173),
there can be: (1) “say yes” engagement; (2) “be there” engagement; (3) “be involved”
engagement; (4) “do the homework” engagement; and (5) “look for more” engagement.
To study parenting engagement is important especially because research shows that many
child and family support programs struggle to engage parents (Gomby et al., 1999; Shonkoff,
Phillips, 2000; Walker et al., 1995), who can be young, very poor or living with other
stressors that can put their children at a high risk for poor outcomes (Brooks‑Gunn, Duncan,
1997; Conger et al., 1984; Werner, 2000).
This study aims to explore maternal engagement in Romanian child welfare services from
the perspective of caseworkers. Specifically, this study was undertaken in order to contribute
to the growing body of research in child and family social work by bringing information on the
seldom addressed topic of how engagement unfolds in Romanian public child welfare sector.
Methodology
The data were collected during November‑December 2011, as part of a research concerning
children at risk in Romania. Data collection involved structured interviews with caseworkers
in one public child welfare agency and secondary analysis of data regarding case work practice
in placement. The child welfare agency selected for this study provided services to children
and their families since 2005.
The secondary analysis looked at child casework files regarding 101 children who have
been in placement to persons or families for at least one year in order to ensure a history
of services. The social workers interviewed had responsibilities for all service delivered to
the children, their parents and their current care givers. Regarding sampling, the authors
with the help of several case managers identified all children which had been in placement
for a year. A number of 130 children were then, randomly selected and data about those
children were collected in interviews with the assigned caseworkers. Interviews were completed
on 89% (116 children) of the 130 children. Case transfers, or closings and caseworker turnover
prevented the completion of the remaining 11%. These 116 children were approximately 9%
of all children who met the study selection criteria. A number of 15 children were excluded
from the study because the mother was not available to the social worker for reasons such
as: the mother was deceased, the mother’s parental rights had been legally terminated, or
the identity of the mother was unknown.
Instrument
The interviewed data were collected through 20 structured open and closed ended questions.
The questions collected: (1) factual data that could be obtained from case records and
(2) subjective caseworker’s perspectives regarding maternal strengths and weaknesses concerning
the positive involvement in their children’s lives. Content validity for the interview instrument
was addressed through reviews by professionals from public child welfare services and social
work faculty. Limited project resources disallowed inter rater reliability testing. However, the
research team reviewed each question, identified ambiguous wording and modified some questions
in order to ensure fidelity in answers and interpretation. During interviews, social workers
were encouraged to consult case records together with all relevant documentation necessary.
Sample
Characteristics of caseworkers
The 101 of children in this study were served by 15 social workers, of whom 14 were female
and 1 male. Regarding ethnicity, 11 were Romanian, 2 Hungarian and 2 did not mention their
ethnicity. Seven had only a bachelor’s degree, 7 had a master’s degree and 1 did not give any
information on academic attainment. The mean length of experience in child welfare services
was 8,28 years. Caseloads ranged from 41 to 142 families, with an average of 93 families.
Characteristics of children
The mean age of children was 10,5. The majority of children (44%) had been placed because
of abandonment. Other reasons for placement included: neglect (32%), poverty (12%),
parent’s request (6%), death of a parent (3%), disability or mental disease (2%), abuse (1%).
Most children (38%) had been placed for more than 8 years; 29% three to five years; 18% six
to eight years; and 15% had been in placement for only of one or two years. Most children,
(53%) were placed with foster parents, 25% were placed with family members (such as
aunts or grandparents) or other families (5%), and 17% were in private or public placement
centers. For only 27 children (27%), the caseworker has some information about the father.
Results
Caseworkers’ information about mothers of children in placement
Caseworkers had some demographic information about the majority of mothers. For example,
the age (95%), education (79%), housing (74%), ethnicity (58%), and sources of income
(55%) of most mothers were known by the case managers. Some information is essential to
assessing the ability of mothers in providing care and support to their children such as:
sources of income, housing, education and, to a certain degree, age. In this study, caseworkers
reported that 5% of mothers were fully employed, and 11% had occasional income as workday
laborers. Public assistance represented the only income for 37% of mothers, and 2% had
no income whatsoever. In the case of 45% of mothers, caseworkers had no information about
their income. Regarding housing, case managers knew that 40% of mothers owned or rented
a house or apartment. The rest either lived with family or friends (25%), abroad (4%), in
institutions (2%) or were homeless (3%). For the remaining 26%, caseworkers had no
information about their housing arrangements. In this study, practitioners, also, had no
information about 21% of the educational attainment of mothers. For the rest, caseworkers
reported that, in their knowledge, no mother had a higher than high school education (3%),
one mother had some sort of vocational training, 14% graduated secondary school, 24%
only finished primary school, and 37% had no education. No mother was younger than 18,
and most (45%) had between 31 and 40 years of age at the time of the study (see table 1).
Table 1. Characteristics of mothers of children in placement
Characteristics Responses
Age 19‑21 3%
22‑25 12%
26‑30 21%
31‑40 45%
> 41 14%
Caseworker did not know 5%
Ethnicity Romanian 12%
Hungarian 6%
Roma 40%
Education No education 37%
Primary school 24%
Secondary school 14%
High school 3%
Vocational training 1%
Housing Own apartment/house 30%
Rents an apartment/house 10%
Lives with family or friends 25%
Lives in institution 2%
Homeless 3%
Lives abroad 4%
Sources of income Employment 5%
Public assistance 37%
Workday laborers 11%
No income 2%
Caseworkers were also asked about communication with mothers in the last six months
proceeding data collection. Social workers reported no communication with the children’s
mothers in 57 out of the 101 cases. Regarding the rest of the mothers, caseworkers had 1 contact
with 32 mothers, 2‑3 contacts with 11 mothers, and only in one case the practitioner commu
nicated with the mother once each month.
Knowledge about strengths and weaknesses of mothers

The caseworkers also discussed the strengths and weaknesses of mothers regarding their role
in the children’s lives. Generally, practitioners knew more about the mothers’ weaknesses
than about their strengths. In 76 of 101 cases, caseworkers stated that they did not know, or
did not believe the mother had, any strength that could be used in order to positively engage
her in the life of her child. For the rest of the mothers (25 cases), caseworkers identified as
strengths: maintenance of some connection with the child through telephone calls or
infrequent visits (19); keeping appointments for counseling sessions (4); an active interest
in the child’s affairs (1); and a monthly income and stable housing (1).
As for weaknesses, the most frequently mentioned was a lack of interest in the child
(54 cases). Other weaknesses included: poverty (23); followed by working abroad (8); disability
or mental health issues (7); homeless of improvised shelter (5); domestic violence (2); alcohol
abuse (1); and incarceration (1). Interestingly, no caseworker reported on non‑cooperation
with the agency as a primary weakness of mother.
Engaging the mother in family assessments,

service planning, or service delivery
Activities used to measure mother’s engagement in service planning and delivery, in accordance
to O’Donnell’s (1999) study on father’s involvement in kinship foster care services, were:
(1) practitioner discussion with the mother of the reasons for the child’s placement; (2) discussion
of practitioner’s role; (3) the mother’s participation in the initial family assessment after the
case opening; (4) the mother participation in periodic assessments; (5) the mother’s involvement
in case intervention plan for the child; (6) the mother’s involvement in counseling or
parenting program at the advice of the case manager and (7) the mother’s involvement in
counseling or parenting sessions out of her own initiative.
Results show that 69% of the mothers were thoroughly informed about all reasons for
the child’s placement, and 30% learned a great deal about the practitioner’s role. Also, 53% of
mothers participated at least once to the initial evaluation after case assignment opening and
49% for at least once to subsequent assessment. Regarding the mother’s engagement in decisions
about child intervention strategies, practitioners noted that 41% of mothers were involved.
At the time of the data collection, 14% of mothers were referred by the practitioner to counseling
or parenting sessions and only 7% participated to these sessions by their own initiative.
Discussion
This study yields some knowledge about how maternal engagement unfolds in Romanian
child welfare services from the perspective of caseworkers. Results show that mothers were
seldom referred to counseling or parenting sessions and fewer still participated to such
sessions by their own initiative. Although, research indicates the multiple benefits of parental
skill development classes (Halpern, 2000; Kendrick et al., 2000), in Romania, there is a
need for policy makers to readdress the current lack of comprehensive services for parents.
Otherwise, even the most skilled caseworkers will find too many barriers in engaging mothers
for the benefit of their children. Furthermore, the source of income, which is essential to
assessing the ability of mothers in providing care and support to their children, remained
the demographic information least known by caseworkers.
Although most mothers were thoroughly informed about reasons for the child’s placement,
after the initial evaluations – where a majority participated – few were engaged for subsequent
assessments. Only a few were engaged in decisions about child intervention strategies and
caseworkers reported that they believed mothers seldom completely understood the social
worker’s role. This lack of engagement could be explained by large caseloads (an average
of 93 families per caseworker); thus the practitioner simply could not have had the time to
extensively involve all mothers in case assessment, service planning or service delivery. As
a result, communication was sparse and in the majority of cases practitioners stated that they
did not even have one contact with the mother in the last six months. The shortage of
caseworkers is a major problem that Romanian child welfare staff is well aware of, and
should, thus, be addressed by social work policy.
Practitioners’ perceptions and attitudes towards mothers may have also played a significant
role in the lack of engagement. For example, caseworkers generally reported significantly
more about the mothers’ weaknesses than about their strengths. Although, it is evident that
some mothers could not become a positive influence in their children’s lives – and others
may never show an interest in their child’s affairs – some did have a number of strengths
that could have been (and in some cases have been) positively used to benefit their children.
Any supportive role, even from a non‑custodial parent, is a positive alternative to roles these
mothers may have played earlier in their children’s lives, which is that of the invisible parent,
or a source of family conflict (Gleeson, Seryak, 2010). Except in those instances in which
a parent’s involvement could become harmful to the child, social work agencies can and
should reach out and identify what mothers can offer their children through an active
engagement (O’Donnell, 1999).
This study is not without limitations. Firstly, being based on data gathered from one
public child welfare agency, the findings cannot be generalized. Secondly, even though
caseworkers seemed confident about recalling data that took place six months preceding the
interview, their recall and documentation could not be verified. Thirdly, engagement was
investigated only through the perspectives of caseworkers, and thus, interviews with the
mothers could have given us different results. A final limitation was the fact that case records,
being the only source of historical case information, had to be used in spite of their potential
shortcomings. However, in spite of these limitations, this study is a step forward to a better
understanding of an important aspect in Romanian child protection services.
Conclusions
This study explored caseworkers’ perspectives on the engagement of mothers in Romanian
child welfare interventions, but the complex relationship between parents, children and agency
workers, is in need of much more research. The results of this study suggest that many of
the mothers who enter child welfare system may have limited capacity to engage in healthy
relationships with their children and with the agency. However, the importance of engaging
clients, even those which may at first seem hostile and indifferent, should not be minimized.
Maternal attitudes towards social work agencies should be seen as a dynamic relation between
the characteristics of the parent, caseworker, agency program, and neighborhood context.
Recognition of all of these factors should result in a call for more research and new efforts
in understanding the issues related to actively engaging parents in welfare services when
children are at risk.
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Detecting and Reporting Child

Abuse and Neglect. Dilemma and
Difficulties for the Medical Staffi
Adriana Fărcaş*, Maria Roth**
Abstract. Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) reporting is mandatory for medical staff in
many countries, including Romania. In this qualitative study we explore and compare the
attitudes of Romanian medical staff and medical students towards detecting and reporting
CAN. The results indicate that the medical staff appears to have a rich knowledge of
possible CAN signs; however, the lack of training is a relevant factor that hinders
recognition and reporting of CAN. Students report in high percentages that they have not
suspected CAN and admit they feel rather unsure about their abilities to detect CAN.
Although they feel certain about their ability to report CAN, qualified staff’s knowledge
proves to be rather poor when their answers are compared to the physical and behavioral
indicators of CAN presented in the reviewed literature. The results highlight that CAN may
mean different things to different respondents and that specific training in this area may help
medical staff to improve their ability to use procedures of CAN detection and reporting.
Keywords: child abuse and neglect (CAN) indicators, medical staff, reporting CAN,
detecting CAN
Introduction
As they share the responsibility to protect children, professionals working with children need
to have sound knowledge of CAN indicators and reporting procedures. Medical personnel,
who often assess CAN cases, have a major role in reporting CAN.
The concept of “non‑accidental injury” and the description of the “battered child syndrome”
were defined by the practitioner pediatrician Kempe in 1962, who noticed symptoms of fractures
and other signs of harm on very small children (Kempe, 1971, 28). Physical and behavioural
CAN indicators are under the scrutiny of the person responsible to medically investigate a
i. This paper was co‑funded by the European Social Found, Romanian Project POSDRU
88/1.5/S/56949.
* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, B‑dul 21 Dec.
1989 No. 128, Cluj‑Napoca 400604, tel: + 40‑264‑42.46.74, + 40‑264‑41.99.58, e‑mail:
adrianapodea@ymail.com.
** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, B‑dul 21 Dec.
1989 No. 128, Cluj‑Napoca 400604, tel: + 40‑264‑42.46.74, + 40‑264‑41.99.58, e‑mail:
mroth@socasis.ubbcluj.ro.
114 A. Fărcaş, M. Roth / Detecting and Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect. Dilemma
and Difficulties for the Medical Staff
case. It is interesting to note that in the sixties, pediatricians were accused of being “blind”
when a CAN case was presented to them and “punitive” with the parents, once they saw
CAN evidence (Gregg, 1968, 720). Therefore, Gregg (1968) developed a check list tool
useful to the medical staff in the CAN detecting process. This list is further completed by
other researchers (Cates, 1995; Hinson, Fossey, 2000; Lau et al., 2009).
Although the concept of child abuse and its detection has its roots in the medical practice,
up to now in Romania there has been little interest in evaluating the attitudes of medical
personnel to the reporting of CAN. The child’s body is the centre of all concerns (D’Cruz,
2004), therefore, the pediatricians’ knowledge and that of social workers combine in order
to assess CAN indicators. Interdisciplinary assessments however, only happen when CAN
is reported to child protection services. The responsibility to detect and report a CAN case
brings additional stress to the medical staff, impacting negatively upon their ability to respect
mandatory reporting procedures.
Child Abuse and Neglect Mandatory Reporting Dilemmas

Many countries, including Romania, adopted the mandatory reporting of CAN legislation.
Some states however feel that CAN reporting is not mandatory, but voluntary (Mathews,
Kenny, 2008). The first act that obliges professionals to report CAN, dated in 1963 in USA,
was necessary, considering that professionals, especially medics at that time, were thought
not to report CAN on a voluntary basis (Thompson‑Cooper, Fugere, Cormier, 1993, apud
Rodriguez, 2002). According to the Australian definition (2004) mandatory reporting is the
duty to report CAN applied to: physicians, police officers, school councilors, dentists,
nurses, preschool teachers (Goldman, 2010).
In Romania, the 272/2004 act highlights that CAN reporting is mandatory for “any person
who (...) is working directly with children and has suspicions that a child is abused or neglected”
(The Law for Protecting Children and Promoting their Rights, known as Child Law, 272/2004,
article 91¼1½). The same act specifies where reporting should be made – to the Public Social
Assistance Services (PSAS) or to the County Directorate for Child Protection and Social
Assistance (CDCPSA). The mandatory reporting was introduced in the child protection law
after critiques compared the Romanian law to other systems. In the English system, the legal
framework referring to mandatory reporting of CAN is completed by procedures that emphasize
on professionals’ duty to report CAN and to share information (Darlington et al., 2010).
The legal framework is clear about mandatory duties, however there are several difficulties
linked to the obligation to report CAN. Firstly, mandatory reporting may lead to over‑reporting
or, on the contrary, to under‑reporting CAN (Stadler, 1989). Dilemmas arise as professionals are
not always able to differentiate between culturally different, but non‑abusive parenting methods
and CAN (Terao, Borrego, Urquiza, 2001). Other factors also impact upon the reporting of CAN.
Factors influencing medical staff’s ability

to detect and report CAN
There are many discussions linked to CAN reporting, starting with: a) factors that impact upon
the reporting decision, b) factors that help to identify CAN, c) factors that help to decide if the
case is a CAN case or an example of a disagreed parenting method. When cultural differences
related to the professional that suspects CAN and characteristics linked to the victim and
the alleged offender meet, mandatory reporting gets even more difficult (Chen et al., 2010).
Thereview of studies conducted in 1998‑2011, on CAN reporting subjects, highlights the

following factors with impact upon detecting and reporting of CAN:
a) Training and professional experience in working with CAN. Reporting CAN is linked to
the “professional experience” rather than to a vast CAN knowledge (Terao et al., 2001,
160). Professionals’ access to child protection training impacts upon their CAN reporting
attitudes (Van Haeringen, Dadds, Armstrong, 1998; Paavilainen, et al., 2002). Medics
that recently trained in child protection feel more certain about their ability to recognize,
manage and report CAN (Flaherty et al., 2006). Not knowing the CAN reporting
procedures also impacts upon CAN reporting abilities (Gunn, Hickson, Cooper, 2005).
b) The pediatrician’s and other professionals’ attitude regarding the case (Terao et al., 2001).
Although CAN is suspected, some medics choose not to report (Van Haeringen et a1.,
998). One of the reasons for that is the fear of medical staff that reporting the case will
negatively impact upon their relationship with the child’s parents and also the fear of
attending court proceedings (Vulliamy, Sullivan, 2000). A very low percentage of the
midwives that identify CAN whilst assessing pregnancies, choose to report the case
(Lazenbatt, 2010). Due to perceiving social services as not responsive to child maltreatment,
the professionals may reach the decision not to report the suspected CAN case (Levi,
Crowel, 2011; Van Haeringen, 1998; Lagerberg, 2001; Flaherty et al., 2002; Gunn
et al., 2005, Vulliamy, Sullivan, 2000). Or, choosing not to report might be similar to
“ignoring”, factor identified as a cause that leads to failing to report CAN (McIntyre,
1990, apud Hinson, Fossey, 2000, 252). The perceived length of time needed to assess
CAN cases can also be a factor that influences reporting (Flaherty et al., 2004).
c) The certainty level of professionals while recognizing and reporting CAN. Medical staff admit
having difficulties in recognizing CAN indicators (Escobar, 1995; Tilden et al., 1994, apud
Terao et al., 2001; Paavilainen et al., 2002). Studies show that medical staff have limited
knowledge regarding sexual abuse (Ladson, Johnson, Doty, 1987; Lentsch, Johnson, 2000;
Socolar, 1996, apud Socolar, Reives, 2002) and that they are more likely to report physical
abuse than other forms of abuse (Saulsbury, Hayden, 1986, apud Socolar, Reives, 2002;
Paavilainen et al., 2002). To differentiate between accidental and non‑accidental injuries
is difficult, as non‑accidental injuries identified as accidental may pose further risks to
the children, even death, and accidental injuries assessed as non‑accidental may lead to
serious consequences in the family life (Flaherty et al., 2006, 362). Diagnosis uncertainty,
lack of forensic information is also impacting upon the decision to report CAN (Theodore,
Runyan 2006; Zellman, 1990, apud Socolar, Reives, 2002).
d) The alleged offender characteristics and case features (high profile cases, previous abuse
history, young age of suspected victim, significant harm potential) can also impact upon
the decision to report CAN (Terao et al., 2001).
To sum up, CAN reporting decisions are influenced by factors related to the case and
also to the professionals involved in the case. Therefore an analysis of the medical staff
knowledge and attitudes regarding CAN may help to identify appropriate strategies that lead
to a clearer detecting and reporting process that is in the children’s best interests.
Study Objectives
Starting from the importance of medical personnel reporting non‑accidental harm to children,
this work aims to explore Romanian medical staff’s knowledge of CAN indicators, their
attitudes to reporting CAN, their self‑confidence in recognizing CAN and the presence or
absence of specific training. Data will allow to compare the answers of qualified medical
staff and those of students preparing for a medical profession.
Sample and Methods

82 respondents gave consent to complete the surveys. The first group consists of 52 qualified
medical staff working in 4 hospitals from two main Romanian cities (17 nurses, 23 pediatricians
and other physicians, 2 psychologists, 6 other). The second group is formed by 30 students
enrolled in the last year of their nursing qualification programmes. They have had practice
placements in hospitals and contacts with child‑patients.
The questionnaire we used is formed by closed and open questions. Like other researches
aiming to explore professional attitude in this area, we chose to use a questionnaire, hoping
to encourage honest answers, as it remains anonymous. The questions were built and the
answers were analyzed according to the scheme of physical and behavioral characteristics –
Table 1. The questions regarding CAN indicators and reasons for not reporting CAN were
open questions and they enabled a qualitative analysis, according to the model used by
Goldman (2010) and Hinson, Fossey (2000). The CAN indicators highlighted in the sample
were grouped in the following categories 1) physical indicators only, 2) behavioural indicators
only, 3) both physical and behavioural indicators. The CAN indicators list obtained from
our sample was then compared to the model in Table 1. The questionnaire referred to: child
protection training, CAN indicators knowledge, professionals’ certainty regarding their ability
to recognize CAN indicators and CAN reporting.
Table 1. Child Abuse and Neglect Indicators according to Grigg, 1968;

Cates, 1995; Hinson, Fossey, 2000, Lau et al., 2009
Physical indicators Behavioural indicators

Emotional abuse and neglect
Weight and height below average Begging, stealing food
Inappropriately dressed for the weather /season Aggressive
Poor hygiene Missing from school
Unpleasant smell Chronic hunger
Unsupervised or abandoned child Running away from home
Lack of safe and clean shelter Child claims nobody cares or looks after him
Medical needs unmet Sudden change in behaviour: extreme
Developmental delays behaviour (depressed – hyperactive)
Unusual habits or change of habits Child is unusually distressed when other child
Unexplained injuries is upset
Lack of appropriate supervision Alcohol and drug use or abuse
Drug addiction at birth Overly‑dependent on adults
Undernourishment Passive or depressive behaviour
Bruising The child is involved in dangerous and
Constant and continuous fatigue unsupervised activities
Pale appearance The child’s development is not age
appropriate, the child is retarded
Evidence of inappropriate interactions between
child and parent
Physical abuse
Frequent injuries – cuts, bruising, burns Missing from school
Child wears long sleeves on hot weather Refusal to change for physical education classes
Pain despite visible injuries Child is afraid to go home
Unable to complete tasks that involve fine Afraid of adults
motor skills due to pain in fingers, hands Child frequently complains that parents are
Difficulties in walking or sitting treating him harshly
Unexplained injuries or fractures, burns of Child is unusually distressed when other child
different ages and shapes that appear mostly is upset
following the child missing from school Fear of parents
Bites Drug or/and alcohol use and abuse
Induced illness1 Delinquency
The injury is inconsistent with the explanation Although hurt the child pretends he feels no pain
given for it or with the development stage of The child does not want to talk about the injuries
the child Socially anxious
Injuries that are difficult to explain for babies Aggressive behaviour
Radiological exams that indicate previous Depression
fractures Suicidal thoughts
Skin aspect (injuries, burns, redness, poor Running away
hygiene, evidence of skin needs neglect, bites, Self‑blaming
bruising that indicates the child has been The child hides the injuries
grabbed, belt shape wounds, ecchymosis,
hematomas, abrasions, unspecific for child age)
Skeletal system – tenderness, swelling,
difficulty in walking or sitting, deformations of
bones, skull – indicators of head injuries
Eyes aspect – bruising, Ears aspect – ruptured
ear drums, Face aspect – injuries, bruising,
broken mandible, nasal bleeding, Mouth
aspect – injuries, missing teeth
Abdominal signs that indicate internal injuries
Chest aspect – signs of broken ribs
Signs of neuronal paralysis as a result of head
hitting
Sexual abuse
Urinary or fecal incontinence Excessively fearful or over‑dependent on persons
Blood stains on the underwear, dirty Cautious with adults
underwear Unusual, sophisticated, inappropriate
Sexually transmitted diseases knowledge of sexual behaviour, or unusual
Pain, bruising or itching in the anal and/or sexual behaviour
genital area Sudden changes in behaviour, or unusual
Genital bleeding or discharge behaviour
Walking or sitting difficulties Missing from school
Pregnant adolescent The child finds reasons to stay in school and
Complains of pain although no visible signs of not go home
pain Alcohol and drug abuse
Repeated urinary infections Delinquency
Oral injuries Withdrawn, behaving like a younger child
Refusal to change for physical education classes
Child confesses that he/she is being sexually
abused by people who look after him/her
Subtle withdrawal from school activities

Depression
Drawings, poetry, stories or other artistic
materials with unusual sexual content
Seductive behaviour
Explicit language and stories
Promiscuity, prostitution
The child does not want to be left alone with
certain people
Sleep problems
Child behaves like an adult
Results
More than 50% of the qualified staff have got significant work experience and most of the
students lack any work or professional experience. The students all stated that they have not
attended any CAN courses. 13% of medical staff attended training regarding CAN (13%).
Almost half of the qualified staff graduated a form of higher education.
60% of the qualified staff state they feel certain and very certain about their ability to
detect CAN, whereas 43% of the students are certain about their ability to detect CAN and
50% are uncertain. 85% of the qualified staff and only 10% of the students state they have
suspected CAN. 17% of the students admit that, although they suspected CAN, they chose
not to report it, the reasons for this being: “I refused to create problems in that family”,
“I don’t think my suspicions would have been taken seriously”, “The responsible persons
already knew about those cases”, “I was fearful of consequences in case the police would
not intervene”, “Feelings of uncertainty or fear”. The qualified staff’s reasons for not
reporting CAN are: “the child was admitted to hospital and had a responsible pediatrician, who
probably reported the case”, “it is not of my competence to report “ or “uncertainty” (4%).
The majority (85%) of the qualified staff state that they suspected CAN. Out of those
who have suspected CAN, more than 50% declare that they had reported the case to other
professionals working in the same hospital (“the supervising nurse, the responsible pediatri
cian, the unit social worker who reported the case further”). This is an indicator that some
of the professionals who suspect CAN do not consider that it is their responsibility to report
directly to the specialized services. Failing to report CAN to the authorized services may place
the children at even greater risk or cause delay in intervention, as Cates highlights in a hypo
thetical situation when a teacher (in our case a nurse) that suspects CAN reports this to the
school principle, it might very easily happen that the principle (in our case the pediatrician
or the chief nurse) fails to report the case to Child Protection Department (Cates, 1995).
Still, in our sample, 36% of those that suspected CAN state they have reported the case to
CDCPSA and PSSA. There is one isolated answer that says “it is not within my attributions
to refer CAN” and 2 non‑answers. On the other hand, only 10% of the students declare that
they suspected CAN; one of those does not indicate where he/she reported the case, another
one states he/she did not report and one states that the referral was made to Child Protection.
The Respondents’ Ability to Recognize Physical Abuse

All qualified staff identify at least one type of physical abuse indicator (behavioural or
physical), with one exception. Half (52%) of the qualified staff are able to identify both
behavioural and physical indicators of physical abuse. The rest are only able to identify the
physical indicators of physical abuse, main answers consisting of medical terms such as:
“ecchymoses, bruising, hematomas, linear shape injury, lesion, edema, fractures etc.”. The
48% who identify only the physical indicators, fail to name those indicators that do not
coincide with medical terms, such as: difficulties in sitting or walking, hiding the injury,
etc. The 52% who demonstrate knowledge of both physical and behavioural indicators of
physical abuse, name the following: “anxiety, crying, emotional, fear, withdrawn and
avoiding behaviour”. Half of the students name only one type of indicators and 40% indicate
that they have knowledge that alongside physical signs for physical abuse there are also
“psychic or behavioural” signs such as: “anxiety, restlessness, fear, withdrawn, facial
expression, the way they communicate”.
The students’ language regarding the physical signs of physical abuse (“traces on body,
bruising traces”) is less medical than that of the qualified staff. Students have poorer knowledge
regarding physical abuse indicators, their lists are shorter than those of the qualified staff.
Although qualified staff has richer knowledge of physical abuse indicators, only 3 of the qualified
staff give specific explanations: “injuries may indicate a physical abuse when they are not specific
to the age related activities of the child, when they are unexplained or when they are difficult
to explain”. The rest of the qualified respondents fail to indicate when those physical signs
begin to cause “reasonable suspicions” (Levi, et al. 2006, 345) for physical abuse.
It is of course debatable if all the indicators mentioned by our respondents are indeed
indicators of a physical abuse. Very rarely the indicators are accompanied by specific
explanations and this confirms the lack of training. We can conclude that the medical staff
is more able to identify those signs of physical abuse that are visible during a medical
examination, and less prepared to recognize physical abuse if behavioural signs are only
visible or if cases do not end up with a detailed medical exam. Therefore some abuses cases
may be missed by the medical staff and remain unreported.
Table 2. Indicators of Physical Abuse in the groups of respondents:

qualified medical personnel and medical students (Only those indicators were marked
that have been mentioned at least two times in one of the two groups)
Physical signs, Skin signs, Bruising, Wounds 12 13

(one answer indicates - unjustified and another - frequent)
Hematomas 11 6
Fractures (one answer indicates - old fractures and abnormalities in the 7 2
shape of arms and legs and skull)
Burns 6
Anxiety 6 4
Contusions 5
Sadness, crying 5
Lesions 8
The child psychological state, psychic disturbance 5
Body language, lack of communication 4 2
Aggressive with others 4
Scars 4 2
Trauma 3 3
Battered child 2
Cuts 2
Superficial injury, scrapes 2
Stress, agitated 2
Recognizing Sexual Abuse

Research indicates that medical staff is more prepared to recognize and report physical abuse
than other forms of abuse. Our analysis supports this conclusion as when asked to name
sexual abuse signs, more respondents failed to give any answer compared to the questions
related to physical abuse. The majority of the qualified staff named only the physical signs
that sexual abuse may leave behind (“genitalia bruising and lesions, lesions in the anal area,
enuresis, vaginal or anal discharge, sexually transmitted diseases”) and stressed that “only
the medical exam can confirm the sexual abuse” or that “sexual abuse is difficult to confirm
without a gynecological exam”. Respondents did not think about those sexual abuse cases
when we do not have evidence based on physical signs for sexual abuse.
Students have less information regarding sexual abuse signs and they are more alert to
behavioural signs, such as: “fear, scared, afraid to communicate, withdrawn, agitated, shock”.
The physical signs of sexual abuse named by the students are: “bruising, gynecological exam”.
Only 15% of the qualified staff is able to recognize both physical and behavioural signs
of sexual abuse. Six of the qualified staff, who feel very certain about their ability to recognize
CAN, fail to indicate both physical and behavioural signs of sexual abuse. This shows that
the level of certainty in recognizing CAN does not always coincide with the actual knowledge
of CAN indicators. Only one student feels certain about recognizing CAN, but in his answer
regarding sexual abuse signs he identifies only behavioural signs of sexual abuse.
Table 3. Respondents Sexual Abuse Indicators Picture. Comparison between groups
How frequent the indicator is
mentioned by:
Sexual Abuse Indicators Identified by Respondents Qualified Staff (52) Students (30)
Local injuries, in the genital or anal area, gynecological 21 2
examination necessary for confirmation
Sexual interests/behaviour/ Sexual behaviour not suitable 15
for age/ Promiscuity/sexually inhibited or disinhibited
Fearful/emotional state/emotional shock/depression/ Low 14 21
self esteem/ Anxiety
Isolated/refuses to socialize/rejects others/ Avoiding 9 3
behaviour/exacerbated behaviour
Subjective allegations brought by victim/agitated/ Apathy/ 6 2
diarrhea/ Behavioural difficulties
Sexual abuse may be revealed by discussion with the child 4 1
or through drawings
Changes in behaviour/ inappropriate behaviour/child's attitude 4 2
Symbolic games 3
Difficulties in communication/refuses to communicate 3 2
Attachment disorders toward parents and aggressor 2
Violence evidence 2 1
Guilt, shame 2
The way the victim interacts with opposite sex 3 2
Sexually inappropriate content discussions/inadequate 2
language
Victims feel uncomfortable when affection is shown to them 1 3
Trembling 2
Recognizing Emotional Abuse and Neglect

Although we asked the respondents to list the signs of Emotional Abuse and those of Neglect
in two separate questions, in order to compare the obtained lists with the list of CAN
indicators presented in Table 1, we have analyzed the two lists together.
50% of the qualified group prove they have knowledge of both categories of emotional
abuse and neglect indicators. The rest can only identify one type of indicators, showing
greater knowledge of behavioural indicators of emotional abuse and neglect. Half (53%) of
the students show they have knowledge of both behavioural and physical indicators of
emotional abuse and neglect, 33% can identify either physical signs or behavioural signs,
and the rest of 13% do not give any answer.
Table 4. Responses for Emotional Abuse and Neglect Indicators.

Comparison between groups
How frequent the indicator is

mentioned by:
Sexual Abuse Indicators Identified by Respondents Qualified Staff (52) Students (30)
Unkempt physical appearance/dirty/poor hygiene/ Poorly 32 14
dressed
Sad/cries easily/emotionai/agitated/ Oversensitive 22 9
Behavioral difficulties/deviant behaviour/ Fluctuates from 22 6
happy to sad/ Running away/ Alcohol and drug use
Anxiety/depression 19 7
Developmental delays — emotional, educational/ 18 4
Emotionally unstable/ Development below what is
expected of that age group
Fear/withdrawn 17 6
Uncertainty/shy/lack of self confidence 16 6
Not sociable, plays on his own, not interested in playing 12 1
Bad nutrition/dehydrated 11 2
Communication difficulties/speech impediments 8 5
Lack of interest shown by parents/ Parents are either not 5
coming to visit the child or they overly visit
When alleged aggressor is present the child behaviour 4
changes
Poor school attendance/poor results in schools 4
Repeatedly admitted to hospital/difficult to be released 3
home
Inappropriate language 3
Sleep difficulties, unable to sleep 3
Attachment difficulties 3
Child is happy when he gets attention/attention seeking 2 1
Child is infested with parasites 2
Old injuries/injuries with no medical treatment 2
Phobia 2
Seeks approval from adults when involved in different 2
activities
Inappropriate relationship between child and parents 2

Parents fail to protect child 2
Child's behaviour 3
Limitations
The groups of respondents are relatively small and not equal in terms of number of members,
therefore the conclusions are limited for this group of respondents only. More in depth
knowledge regarding specific answers is needed to further explore the results. Nevertheless,
the study offers some answers regarding medical staff’s ability to recognize CAN, and may
be a starting point for a larger research that includes other professionals. A more detailed
analysis may be possible after conducting a Delphi Group or a Focus Group.
The relationship between the level of experience and of training, the feeling of certainty
on his/her own ability to recognize CAN and the richness of knowledge demonstrated in our
questionnaire will be analyzed in a further article.
Conclusions
Overall, the qualified staff demonstrates they have knowledge in the area of CAN indicators,
listing various signs of possible forms of abuse. The answers were however diverse, most of
the listed indicators have been encountered in the answers of only 2 or 3 different respondents.
This supports the idea that CAN may mean different things to different medical personnel
and that the process of interpreting the signs involves both personal and professional
experience.
When comparing the group of qualified medical personnel with the group of medical
students, we may conclude that, despite being less specific or clear in the process of naming
the indicators, students are more focused on the behavioural indicators of different CAN
forms than the qualified staff seems to be. This may be attributed to the lack of work
experience with abused CAN cases.
Compared to the list of indicators we used (Table. 1) the dominant picture shows the lack of
training in the area of CAN. The qualified staff seems to be more prepared to recognize CAN,
when the suspected victims has already undergone medical examinations and show physical
signs of abuse, and seem to focus less on behavioral signs. The knowledge regarding emotional
abuse and neglect seems to be the most complex if we compare Table 2, 3 and 4.
Our research concludes that, in spite of their clinical experience and occasional training,
qualified medical staff has limited capacity to recognize CAN. Although they may consider
themselves experienced and knowledgeable enough to recognize CAN, they very rarely
suspect CAN and probably underreport it. This conclusion is also based on our data that for
more then half of the qualified staff, reporting CAN equals to reporting the case to a working
colleague and not to specialized Child Protection departments. Although the respondents
demonstrate they are alert to possible CAN signs we could observe that a significant part of
the indicators from Table 1 were missing from the responses.
Note
1. Induced illness is a rare form of child abuse. This happens when the person caring for the child
pretends that the child is suffering of a certain illness and induces the symptoms of that illness
to the child (NSH, National Health Services, UK, www.nsh.co.uk).
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The Effects of Migration on Romanian

Families: An Ecosystemic Review
Dan A. Ratliff*, Riccardo Rossano**, Antonio Panico***
Abstract. Romanian immigrants are the largest group of immigrant children in Italian
public schools. This paper applied an ecosystemic framework to review existing research
on Romanian migrants’ experience to understand sociopolitical/cultural, community,
family, and individual factors. The majority of research on migrants from the Romanian
perspective has focused on the effects on children of an absent parent due to labor
migration. Existing research finds little effect of migration on children well‑being compared
to the larger effect of poverty. Given the large number of Romanian immigrants who appear
to have established residence abroad and enrolled their children in foreign schools, further
research is needed to understand the adaptation needs of immigrants in their host country.
Keywords: migration, children, family, consequences, systems theory, Romania
Romanian immigrants form the largest immigrant population in Italy, with over 1 million
Romanians in Italy, accounting for 33% of all immigrants present in Italy. Recent shifts in
immigration policy increases the likelihood of minor children migrating with their families.
Italian Ministry of Education statistics indicate a significant enrollment of immigrant students
in every province of Italy. At present the general understanding of migration and migrant
needs more often comes from stereotypes and popular notions, not from evidence‑based
understanding of immigrant experience and needs. Basing policy decisions and social service
interventions on factual data will improve the social inclusion of migrants.
This paper applies an ecosystemic framework to understand existing research on children’s
experience of migration from Romania, and where needed, research from other former
Communist countries in Eastern Europe. Ecosystemic theory is influenced by Bronfrenbrenner’s
theory of the social ecology (Bronfenbrenner, 1986) which says that a child’s development
should be understood as being influenced by multiple contexts such as sociopolitical factors,
cultural, community, family, and individual factors (Falicov, 2007). Existing research will
be organized by five factors of the ecosystemic framework.
* Correspondence concerning this article should be directed to Dan A. Ratliff, Department of

Counseling and Human Services, St. Mary’s University, One Camino Santa Maria, San
Antonio, TX, USA 78238, e‑mail: dratliff@stmarytx.edu.
** Faculty of Education Sciences Libera Università Maria Sanctissimo Assunta, sez. EDAS –
Taranto, Piazza S. Rita – 74100 Taranto, Italy.
*** Faculty of Education Sciences Libera Università Maria Sanctissimo Assunta sez. EDAS –
Taranto, Piazza S. Rita – 74100 Taranto, Italy.
126 D.A. Ratliff, R. Rossano, A. Panico / The Effects of Migration on Romanian Families:
An Ecosystemic Review
Romanian Immigrant Children in Italian Schools

Romanian children are the largest immigrant group in Italian schools. Table 1 shows the
most predominant immigrant groups in Italian schools, according to data from the Italian
Ministry of Education. Romanian immigrants are the most prevalent, followed by Moroccans,
Albanians, and Chinese. Among former Communist countries, Romanian, Albanian, Macedonian,
Moldovan, Ukrainian, Serbian, and Polish immigrants are most prevalent in Italian schools.
As will be discussed below, the sociopolitical context of the reasons for migration, i.e.
economic migrant or refugee, shapes the social service needs of the migrant population.
Figure 1 summarizes Romanian students in Italian schools by region. Romanian immigrant
children are most prevalent in Lombardy (Milan) with over 160.000 Romanian children in
public schools, more than twice any other area of Italy. Other prevalent areas are Veneto
(Venice), Emilia‑Romana (Bologna), Peidmont (Turin), and Lazio (Rome).
As noted below, research on the effects of migration on the family has focused on negative
effects on children who are left behind by parents’ migration. Since a significant number of
families are relocating their family members to the host country, as seen in the Italian school
data, research is needed to understand factors that contribute to successful adaptation and
problems that arise due to unsuccessful adaptation to the host culture.
Table 1. Immigrant Children in Italian Schools, by Country of Origin
Country of Kinder Elementary Middle High School Total

Origin garten (Scuola School (Scuola (Scuola Migrant
(Scuola Primaria) Secondaria Secondaria Children
dell’Infanzia) I) II)
Romania 22.727 43.732 25.479 91.938 13,7%
Morocco 21.537 35.861 18.957 76.355 11,4%
Albania 21.052 33.799 20.166 75.017 11,2%
China, People’s 5.283 10.230 8.051 23.564 3,5%
Republic of
India 3.991 7.092 4.487 15.570 2,3%
Tunisia 4.727 7.348 3.452 15.527 2,3%
Philippines 3.632 6.779 4.100 14.511 2,2%
Ecuador 3.164 5.408 4.992 13.564 2,0%
Macedonia, 2.600 6.175 4.041 12.816 1,9%
former
Yugoslavian
republic
Moldavia 2.134 4.781 4.694 11.609 1,7%
Peru 2.583 4.469 3.430 10.482 1,6%
Pakistan 2.020 5.125 3.179 10.324 1,5%
Ukraine 1.778 3.899 4.593 10.270 1,5%
Serbia, Republic of 2.071 4.933 3.028 10.032 1,5%
Egypt 3.204 4.169 1.928 9.301 1,4%
Bangladesh 2.516 3.925 1.981 8.422 1,3%
Poland 1.718 3.899 2.675 8.292 1,2%
Niger 3.093 3.083 888 7.064 1,1%
Ghana 2.006 3.182 1.830 7.018 1,0%

Senegal 2.188 2.897 1.486 6.571 1,0%
Total Migrants in 135.840 150.279 150.279 142.082 672.658 100%
Italy
Source: Dossier Immigrazione Redatto Dalla Caritas‑Migrantes Italiana, Annuario 2011.
Note: Data on the secondary level II are not available
Source: Banca Dati Ufficiale Del Ministero dell’istruzione (Miur)
Figure 1. Romanian Immigrant Children in Italian Schools, by Province (in 1000s)
Ecosystemic Framework
Ecosystemic thinking is a core aspect of family therapy, in which a child’s development is
understood as nested within multiple sources of influence. Ecosystemic theory is grounded
in Bronfrenbrenner’s theory of social ecology (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). Falicov (2007)
developed the Multidimensional Ecosystemic Comparative Approach to understand immigrant
family needs and develop interventions that integrate migrants’ acculturation, family relations,
community, culture and sociopolitical contexts.
This article uses an ecosystemic framework to organize the available research on Romanian
immigrants’ experiences by sociopolitical/cultural, community, family, and individual factors.
The section on sociopolitical/cultural factors briefly examines immigration policies in the
political sphere, differences in the migration experience between economic migrants and
conflict migrants/refugees, and research on discrimination against migrants in the EU. At
the community level, this article will review how migration is related to social support and
social capital. The family factors will examine relational stress caused by migration, the
impact of parent migration on children left behind, and relational stress caused by acculturation
to the host culture. Individual factors examine the differences in attitudes and values of
migrants, and migrants’ adaptations to the host country.
Sociopolitical/Cultural Factors
Sociopolitical factors are often a distal influence on migrant children’s experiences. Socio
political factors in the home country determine whether the migrant is considered a migrant
or a refugee, which have a great influence on the motivation for migration and the consequences.
Another sociopolitical factor, discrimination against migrants in the host country, may
influence children’s experiences more directly.
The most common form of migration is without legal documentation (UNICEF, 2008),
and data on the frequency of illegal migration is difficult to attain. The National Institute of
Statistics, which records Romanians’ residence permits in another country, reported 14.217
migrated to a foreign country in 2006 (UNICEF, 2008). The Ministry of Labor, Family and
Equal Opportunities reports temporary migration, based on temporary employment contracts;
in 2006: 53.029 Romanians migrated, 58% women. Given that over 90.000 Romanian
schoolchildren are enrolled in Italian public schools (see Table 1), underreporting of Romanians
migration status is a common occurrence.
Migrant or Refugee Status

The difference between economic migrants and refugees/asylum seekers is a sociopolitical
factor that affects the migration experience a great deal. In addition to the stresses of
resettlement and acculturation, refugees often were subjected to severe trauma in their home
country. Refugees leave their homeland because of threat to their well‑being in the context
of social unrest or civil war. Refugees tend to experience more trauma, more downward
economic changes, and less control over the migration experience than economic migrants
(Meinhardt, Tom, Tse, Yu, 1986; Portes, Rumbaut, 1990; Rumbault, 1989; U.S. DHHS,
2001). Social services may be needed to assist refugees adjust to the additional disruptions
due to their migration experience.
In the immigrant school children data cited in Table 1, migrant children from the Balkans,
i.e. Albania (Rozen, 1997), Macedonia (Farnam, 2001), or Serbia (Economist, 1998) may
be considered refugees from social unrest rather than economic migrants. One could expect
children and families from home countries that have experienced turmoil or civil war to have
different characteristics and needs from those children from stable home countries. However,
motivations for the migration have not been examined in the existing research.
Discrimination
Another sociopolitical factor that influences the migration experience is discrimination and
racism in the host country. The EU Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (2006)
studied migrant’s experience of racism in twelve EU member states, Belgium, Germany,
Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, and
the United Kingdom. The study assessed discrimination across life domains such as employment,
private life, shops and restaurants, commercial transactions, and institutional discrimination.
The study sampled the most prevalent migrants in each country, so the sample differed in
each of the twelve EU countries studied.
The study concludes that migrants experience significant discriminatory practices across
the European Union, but rarely do migrants report discrimination to the authorities. Of those
who reported discriminatory practices, 86% did not report their experience to any authority
(EUMC, 2006).
In Italy, the migrant groups were Albanian, Moroccan, Filipino, Senegalese, and Peruvian,
so the findings may not be applicable to Romanians’ experiences. Overall, between 14% and
35% of these migrants reported some form of discrimination, the highest rate of perceived
discrimination occurring in commercial transactions, followed by discrimination in private
life, public spaces, shops and restaurants (EUMC, 2006). The pattern of discrimination in
Italy did not appear to be different from other EU countries in the study.
The only country in which Romanian migrants were included in the study was Greece,
where Romanians form the fourth most prevalent migrant group, behind Albanians, former
USSR, and Arab countries. In Greece, the lowest prestige jobs, “unschooled laborers”, were
more likely to be held by Romanians (40%) or those with Arab background (38%). The
most frequent domain of discrimination among all migrants in Greece was in commercial
transactions such as renting or buying housing (former Soviet: 81%; Romanian: 74%;
Albanian: 57%; Arab: 40%). Romanians reported the highest rates of employment discrimi
nation of the four groups, with 58% indicating harassment at work (EUMC, 2006).
Community Factors
In the past decade, the feminization of migration has created the need for extended kinship
foster care networks to care for children left behind in the home countries. The effectiveness
of that kinship foster care depends on whether a “culture of migration” exists that supports
the migrants’ quest for economic survival or improvement (Falicov, 2007).
Traditionally, the typical migrant was a man who worked in the host country until he
was economically sufficient to reunite with his wife and family in the adopted country. A
temporary migration alternative saw the man send remittances back to the home country to
support his wife and family; there was no intent to relocate the family to a new country in
this model. With the feminization of migration, women pursuing economic opportunity are
either bringing children with them, or leaving them behind in an informal kinship foster care
with grandparents, aunts or uncles.
The quality of the child’s experience depends on whether the caretakers approve or
disapprove of the parent’s leaving the child “in good hands.” A culture of migration supports
the parents’ efforts toward economic survival or education for the next generation (Falicov, 2007)
There is some evidence that social support for a parent’s migration may be eroded by
the same factors that “push” the migrant to seek employment in a foreign country. Robila
(2010), in a study of Romanian students in grades 5‑8, found that higher economic pressure
was associated with lower satisfaction with migration and lower social support from peers.
This study also found significant influences of economic distress and migration on family
relationships, which will be summarized below.
Family Factors
Relational stresses in the family are inevitable results of the separations and reunions due to
migration. Research on the family factors in the Romanian context has focused on the effect
on family relationships of parents leaving children behind when migrating and the effects
on marriages.
The Romanian Authority for Protection of the Rights of Children (ANPDC, 2007) reports
that in 2006, 59.959 children were reported as abandoned in which one or both parents had
gone to work abroad. Both parents were found to be working abroad approximately 35% of
the time, 11% were single parent families in which the parent had migrated, and 53% had one
parent working abroad and a parent to care for the children. In 86% of the cases, children were
cared for by relatives, while in 9% of the cases children were with family friends or neighbors,
and 3% of the children were placed in foster care (report does not equal 100% of cases).
Robila (2010) found that poverty has a negative effect on children’s adjustment and attitude
toward migration, regardless of whether a parent was working abroad or not. This study
surveyed 382 students, grades 5‑8 in several Romanian schools, 134 (35%; 18,6% mothers,
16,5% fathers) with one parent working abroad and 248 (65%) with non‑migrant parent. In
this study, one can see the feminization of migration, with a majority of parents who work
abroad are female.
Across all subjects, higher economic pressure was related to lower support, higher conflict
with parents, lower satisfaction with life, higher depression and behavioral problems among
children, regardless of their parents’ migration status. However, the more children are
accepting of their parents’ migration, the better adjusted they become; higher satisfaction
with migration is related to higher parental support, lower levels of parent‑child conflict,
and lower psychological distress. It is possible that the supposed negative effects of parental
migration are in fact the negative effects of the economic distress that pushed the parents to
migrate (Robila, 2010).
Popa (2011) found that having migrating parents had no difference in grades among
students. This study examined 117 secondary school students, aged 15‑18 (89 female, 28
male) in one Romanian secondary school, of whom 57 (49%) have temporary migrating
parent(s) and 60 (51%) currently live in nuclear families with both parents. Students with
migrating parents scored significantly higher on amotivation, but scored no different on six
other motivation subscales. Students whose parents have migrated tend to be more autono
mous in learning tasks than other students. The effects of migrating parents were weak on
school performance.
Hatos (2011) concluded that students’ lower GPA and parental migration are both effects of
low socio‑eonomic status. In a study of 1811 high school students, grades 10‑12, from 89 classes
randomly selected from 20 high schools in Oradea, Romania, Hatos found only 14% of students
experienced a parent absence due to working abroad. Fathers (7%) were slightly more prevalent
than mothers (5%) working abroad, while both parents working abroad was infrequent (2%).
Absence of either parent due to labor migration had no significant effect on GPA. If both
parents migrated, GPA significantly dropped; however, these students were three times more
likely to report a recent divorce. Horos paints a desperate picture of parents who both migrate
leaving their children behind: they are more likely to be lower socioeconomic status, have
lower education levels, have less economically viable skills, and have recently divorced.
The available Romanian studies on the effects of parental migration on children who are
left behind indicate that the negative effects on children are largely due to the impoverished
conditions in which they live. Parents’ labor migrations are also a response to those same
conditions of poverty. Little is known about the adaptation of families who immigrate to a
foreign country for one or both parents to work.
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The Impact of Economic Crisis on

Well‑Being among Vulnerable Children
and Young People in Macedonia
Maja Gerovska Mitev*
Abstract. The paper analyzes the effects of the difficult economic times and the current
global economic crisis on the well‑being of children and young people in Macedonia. It
also tends to provide an assessment of the vulnerability of those families most at risk in
difficult economic times. Hence, the analysis is focused on three important aspects:
living standards among households, as well as education and health of children and
young people during the period between 2008 and 2009. The paper uses the research
data and results undertaken within the UNICEF study on the Children and Young people
in difficult economic times (2009)i. The study was focused on more vulnerable households
in the country, by analyzing equivalent number of households among four ethnic commu
nities, i.e. Macedonians, Albanians, Turks and Roma. The paper identifies that the
economic crisis has increased the previous difficult living conditions among the most
vulnerable households in Macedonia. This had negative effect on households possibilities
to provide their children with regular and unrestricted access to basic needs in relation
to education and health. The paper also outlines that the social protection scheme in
Macedonia is not adequately framed to provide for increased needs of vulnerable population
during times of economic constraints.
Keywords: economic crisis, vulnerable households, Roma children, social protection
Introduction
The pressures and threats arising from the global financial and economic crisis have diverse
effects in different places. In countries already undergoing difficult economic times, such
as Macedonia, the global financial crisis exacerbated pre‑existing problems such as limited
foreign investment and high rates of unemployment and poverty, all of which contribute to
high levels of social insecurity. In such time of economic constraints, children can be
particularly adversely affected. Their regular activities and their access to goods and services
may be restricted or even totally halted, with a negative effect on their overall development,
health and comfort. As dependent family members, children cannot individually contribute
to the mitigation of such negative influences. Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe
* Institute of Social Work and Social Policy, Faculty of Philosophy, University Ss. Cyril and
Methodius, Skopje, Macedonia, e‑mail: gerovska@fzf.ukim.edu.mk.
i. The author of this Study is the same author of this paper.
134 M. Gerovska Mitev / The Impact of Economic Crisis on Well‑Being among Vulnerable
Children and Young People in Macedonia
and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) shows that economic transition
has led to reductions in the enrolment of children in education and a rise in the occurrence
of child abandonment (Harper et al., 2009). The Asian economic crisis of 1997‑1998 saw
a decline in birth rates, an increase in malnutrition amongst children under the age of five,
and a rise of up to seven per cent in child mortality rates (ABC, 2009). Also during the Asian
economic crisis, it was found that young workers aged between 15 to 29 – especially young
female workers – were the ones who suffered most from job losses (Lee, Rhee, 1998). In
such circumstances, the behaviour and activities undertaken by parents and other adult family
members are extremely important for children’s mental, physical and material well‑being.
The challenges of financing education and finding appropriate employment, moreover,
become far greater for young people during periods of economic crisis. These threats formed
the basic motivation for the UNICEF research in Macedonia undertaken in 2009, with
purpose to analyze the risks faced by children during period of economic constrains. The
paper gives information about the methodology, the results and conclusions of this research.
Method
The methodology of the UNICEF research on children in difficult economic times (2009a) was
based on mixed qualitative/quantitative approach. Quantitative research method was comprised
of primary field survey, based on nationally representative sample of households with children.
The survey was conducted through a questionnaire, as an instrument for obtaining relevant data.
The sample of the primary field research encompassed nationally representative number
of families with children. According to the 2002 Census, in Macedonia there are 347.066
households with children (61% of total households). Hence, the sample size encompasses
1.042 households with children, which is 0,3% of the total number of households with
children in the country.
The sample was stratified according to ethnicity, region and place of living. The reasons
for stratification of the sample were due to the need to target the population most in risk in
relation to the crises, as well as those groups generally considered as most vulnerable. Hence,
the ethnic groups analyzed were comprised of: Macedonians, Albanians, Turks and Roma.
According to the official statistics, these ethnic groups are also those among which there
is a: 1) greatest number of registered unemployed (in April 2009: 62,8% – ethnic Macedonians,
24,7% – ethnic Albanians, 5,12 – Roma and 3,93% ethnic Turks); 2) greatest number of social
assistance recipients (in 2007: 37% of ethnic Albanians, 33,5% ethnic Macedonians, 14,1%
Roma and 6,4% ethnic Turks) and 3) where social exclusion of youth was most evident
(according to independent research in 2006). Also the stratification of regions (equal number
of families with children per region) is due to the fact that the largest (statistical) region –
Skopski is also the wealthiest and not generally considered to be the epicenter of the economic
crises. Hence, families with children that are part of the survey are equal per each region
in order to assess sufficient numbers of families that live in the smaller regions, which are
supposed to be more affected with the economic crises. Finally, there is an equal distribution
regarding families that live in the urban and rural places, in order to target sufficient number
of respondents that live in the rural places, who are mainly considered as more vulnerable
due to the remoteness of their location.
Concrete sampling structure and size of the stratified sample involved:
• Ethnicity: 260 Macedonians, 260 Albanians, 260 Turks and 261 Roma;
• Geographic location: 8 statistical regions in the country – Polog, Skopje, Northeastern,
Southwestern, Vardar, Eastern, Pelagonija and Southeastern = 130/131 per region.
Place of living:
– Urban places (520 respondents/130/131 per ethnic group);
– Rural places (521 respondents/ 130/131 per ethnic group).
Beside stratified groups (ethnicity, region and location), characteristics of the sample
size according to the family type mainly involved married couples with children, according
to employment status mainly unemployed people and according to education predominantly
those with primary and secondary education.
In relation to the questionnaire, it is important to emphasize that questions were targeted
towards the head of the household, so the responses represented subjective opinion or
subjective perceptions of the household members. To assess the living standards, household
head was asked whether his incomes have changed in the past 12 months, whether someone
from the family lost a job, whether they experienced difficulties in servicing debts in the
last 12 months etc. In relation to education, household members were asked about the regular
attendance of their children in the school in the past twelve months, whether they provided
school supply to their children, whether children performance in the school have changed
in the past twelve months as well as reasons for this conditions. Finally, in relation to health
and nutrition, household head was asked to assess regularity of the children health check
ups and immunization, health care insurance status, as well as type of diet (frequency of
cooked meals) provided for children in the past 12 months compared to previous years.
The qualitative methods applied in this study consisted of literature review and discussions
with focus groups. The discourse analysis was conducted mainly through a review of policy
and research literature, as well as a review of the statistical data available on the socio‑economic
effects of the crisis on children and young people. The sources for the data considered in
the discourse analysis were primarily government institutions: the State Statistical Office,
the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy
and the Employment Agency. The timeframe of the analysis was mid‑2008 to mid‑2009.
The focus group discussions provided further information about the effects of the crisis
on those groups of the population perceived to be most vulnerable to the economic crisis.
The responses gathered in these focus group discussions complemented the primary research
survey and served to provide greater clarification of the findings. Five focus groups discussions
were conducted, each involving 7‑10 participants from the following categories:
• Newly unemployed workers from the textile and metal industries from the eastern part
of the country;
• Families living from remittances in the western part of the country;
• Agricultural families in the southern part of the country;
• Multi‑member families of 5 or more members from the north‑eastern part of the country;
• Families receiving child allowance in the northern part of the country.
Special guidelines consisting of 10 to 15 questions were elaborated in order to guide the

focus group discussions and enable the gathering of short, clear and unambiguous responses
and explanations.
The following section of the paper presents an analysis of the data gathered through the
quantitative and qualitative methods described above. Where possible and appropriate, data
obtained from the research will be compared to official statistics and other relevant national
sources to assess whether they provide any new information regarding threats to the well‑being
of children and young people.
Results
Standards of living
The overall results of the research study of living standards during economic crisis in
Macedonia (UNICEF, 2009a) indicate that households are exposed to important threats and
risks which may have a direct impact on the well‑being of children and young people. The
main threats apparent over the twelve months under consideration included the following:
reduced incomes (38,3% of households); irregular incomes (2,6%); loss of jobs (17,5%);
increased family expenses (89,3%); and problems paying monthly bills for electricity, water,
and food (79,7%). In addition, 65,7% of households with children were unable to mitigate
these problems to any significant extent because of their financial exclusion, i.e. lack of a
bank account, while 90,1% lacked any financial savings to fall back upon in this period.
According to ethnicity, urban Roma households were most affected with the financial
exclusion (33,7% of all interviewed Roma households), closely followed by rural Albanian
households, with 26,5% affected with this issues.
Source: UNICEF, 2009.
Figure 1. Households experiencing financial exclusion (no bank account),

according to ethnicity and location
The majority of these households are thus forced to employ additional copying strategies,
mainly involving some type of informal economic activity, or have to cope by dramatically
reducing expenses even on some essential goods. It is also worth noting that among the
coping strategies, pensions are the only social protection mechanism, or for that matter the
only public program identified to act as a cushion from the economic crisis.
Figure 2. Coping strategies among households with children during economic crisis
Analysis of the discussions held with focus groups in relation to their standard of living
during economic constraints, indicates that those most affected by the economic crisis were
families with members working in agriculture and families of five or more members. These
households were particularly badly affected not only because of reductions in their income
and, in some cases, job losses over the twelve‑month period, but also because their standard
of living was already low prior to the crisis, i.e. they had no savings, lacked adequate housing
conditions etc.
Education
The research data in relation to education show that the economic crisis has impacted the
education among children and young people mainly in two aspects. First, the most visible
link between the economic crisis and education in Macedonia was through the reduction in
the ability of households to pay for the necessary school equipment of their children. 55%
of families with school‑age children reported this to have been a problem. This is an important
indicator as it shows the economic crisis exacerbated the risk of reducing children’s regular
access to goods such as educational supply.
Secondly, a great proportion of the analyzed vulnerable households (49,1%) identified
difficulties in providing their children through their next level of education. These difficulties
were identified mainly as financial constraints impacting the possibility of households to
send all of their children to further education. Also, some of the households were uncertain
about those prospects relating them to availability of future finances.
The most vulnerable categories faced with these two aspects of educational risk during
economic crises were: children from rural regions; children who live in single‑parent
families and multi‑member families with three or more children; children from particular
ethnicities (such as Roma, but also Turkish); and children in families living on incomes
below the poverty threshold. Children in this category face the risk of multiple school
problems, such as irregular school attendance, school exclusion, and dropping out of school.
Source: UNICEF, 2009
Figure 3. The ability of households to provide necessary school equipment

in times of economic difficulties
Figure 4. The ability of households to provide their children with further education
The exclusion from education in the past 12 months was not particularly evident. Only
small proportion – 7,7% have children that do not attend school regularly (3,9%) or do not
attend school at all (3,8%). These children are mainly from rural places, majority of them
live in the Eastern region, mainly are from Roma ethnic origin, and live in households with
5 and more members.
Figure 5. Children not attending education regularly, according to ethnicity
In the focus group discussions, the participants from households with more children
suggested that the needs of older children and girls were greater and that these children were
therefore the most affected by economic hardship. However, these participants also reported
that their children’s needs with regard to regular educational attendance had not been deprived
as a result of the economic crisis.
Health and nutrition

In relation to health, the study confirmed that 92,3% of households with children and young
people in Macedonia are covered by health insurance. However, despite the prevailing
universal character of the health insurance, 7,7% of households with children and young
people, were not covered by national health insurance during the period of 2008‑2009
(analyzed as a period in which the effects of the economic crisis were at its peak). Of these
households, 1,8% had only partial insurance, i.e. not all of their children were covered due
to lack of birth certificates and other registration documents. Analysis of the reasons given
by householders for the exclusion of children and young people from health insurance suggests
that they are primarily excluded due to their parents being unemployed or because they are
not registered with the relevant institutions that provide access to insurance, such as the
Employment Agency and the Centres for Social Work. The next most significant reason
given for exclusion from health insurance was that of a lack of required documentation.
The possible impact of the economic crisis upon the health and nutrition of children and
young people in Macedonia, within the UNICEF study (2009a) was analysed by surveying
the regularity of children’s health check‑ups and immunisations over the twelve‑month period,
as well as according to number of meals with which children were provided. The results imply
that for a majority of children and young people the crisis did not impacted their health and
nutrition. Still it is worrying that 9,3% of children and young people lacked access to regular
health check‑ups, among which 2,1% aged 0‑6 did not have regular immunisation. Of those
parents whose children had no regular health check‑ups, some 26% cited lack of financial
means as the reason for their children not having check‑ups, while an additional 19,5%
stated that they lacked other resources such as access to transportation or health insurance
coupons. Analysis of the profile of unvaccinated children in the period of economic crisis shows
these children are mainly from rural households of Albanian ethnic origin. The majority of
the parents of these children have incomplete primary education or primary education.
Figure 6. Children not vaccinated during economic crises (in the past
twelve months), according to ethnicity
These findings correlate with the MICS data (State Statistical Office, 2007), according
to which low immunization coverage is strongly associated with lower levels of education
amongst mothers; coverage rates for Roma and Albanian children are lower than coverage
rates for ethnic Macedonian children; and urban children are more likely to be vaccinated
than rural children.
In addition, the study indicated a small proportion of children and young people (5,3%)
were deprived of regular nourishment, while 2,5% had only cold meals during the day. The
majority of children deprived of regular nourishment live in households in which at least
one parent is unemployed. Most of the parents of these children have either no regular income
or have an income of below 5.500 MKD (89 EUR). The dire socio‑economic status of these
parents is sufficient by itself to explain the undernourishment of their children in the 12‑month
period under consideration. This is confirmed by the most common reasons which these
parents gave for their inability to provide their children with adequate nourishment, i.e. their
lack of finances and cooking facilities.
The households participating in the focus group discussions indicated that their children’s
needs in relation to regular healthcare and check‑ups had not been affected by the economic
crisis. However, a small number of respondents did report that the crisis had had a negative
impact upon their children’s mental health, making them insecure and introverted as these
children blamed themselves for the financial predicament of their families.
Discussion
Analysis of the results regarding impact of economic crisis on households indicate that
standards of living tend to decline during periods of economic crisis as a result of various
cuts in public spending, reduced employment opportunities, reduced incomes, irregular

payments of wages, increased prices for essential goods, and other factors. All these factors
place pressure on households to reorganise their spending habits. Plans to continue education
may be postponed and regular health checkups may cease, for example, in addition to the
adoption of other cost‑saving measures. According to McLoyd (1989) children of non‑working
parents have a less successful school career than other children, and they have less chance
of getting a job than children of families with at least one working parent. In addition, as
exemplified by Raczynski (1987) severe economic loss and unemployment are also often
followed by family disintegration. These risks may be confirmed to some extent in relation
to the conditions in Macedonia.
In traditional societies, such as Macedonia, where generations of families live together,
it is important to emphasize that reducing social transfers, such as pensions, which in many
cases represent the only source of permanent income, particularly among vulnerable groups,
may lead towards greater risks of poverty and social exclusion. In that relation, the welfare
state should not be seen as an obstacle on the path towards economic recovery, but on the
contrary as an instrument to tackle the effects of the economic crisis. The UNICEF report
focused on East Asia and the Pacific, also outlines that “the consequences of not including
social protection measures as a component of the response can be severe. Experiences from
the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis have shown that when households suffer loss of income,
more children and young people drop out of school, engage in child labor and suffer from
malnutrition, stunting and other health issues” (2009b, 3). The recent example of the
management of economic crisis in Greece shows the opposite trend, where much of the
welfare state transfers are dismantled (state pensions, employments in the public sector etc.),
due to their identification as a burden of public budget.
The global economic crisis seems to have affected to a large degree the most vulnerable
households with children in Macedonia, as they experienced either loss of job, income or
were faced with difficulties to sustain the household budget for essential products and
services. These were mainly: households of Roma origin, single‑parent families, households
with five or more members and families with four children or more. In addition, self‑employed
and unemployed people as well as those living on lower salaries were those mostly associated
with declining living standards during the economic crisis in the period 2008‑2009.
Apart from the fact that the economic crisis has obviously contributed to an increase in
the already high level of unemployment and to a lowering of living standards in the country,
it also challenged the conditions of the most vulnerable categories. This finding is not
surprising given that employment opportunities for unskilled labour with lower levels of
education are scarce in times of crisis, thus increasing the pressure on these types of families.
This problem constrains parental choices in terms of their coping strategies during economic
crisis and limits the means available to them to provide for their children’s needs.
These economic constraints undoubtedly affect the lives of children and young people
throughout the country. One of the most common risks is a reduction in the regularity of
children and young people’s access to goods such as books, clothes, and computers. Among
poorer households, economic constraints may even cause changes in the quantity and quality
of food available to children. Access to the basic services that children need for their
development may also be hindered, including reduced access to schooling, childcare and
healthcare, as well as a decrease in housing standards (e.g. lack of heating). In some cases,
economic constraints may force children to join the labor force or to undertake more
household tasks. Severe economic hardship can result in depression and violence which can
damage the emotional well‑being and long‑term development of children and young people.
Finally, the risk of trafficking and street‑begging may also increase, especially among the
lower income quintiles and in particular among some ethnic groups (Roma).
Access to education is also a vital factor in the cognitive and social development of
children, enhancing their prospects in terms of their future employment status and economic
position in society. Many studies have suggested that education among children and young
people is adversely affected during the economic crisis. In this respect, Shafiq (2010) outlines
that the reduction in adult income makes it harder for the parents to bear the direct costs of
education such as tuition, fees, books, supplies, uniforms, and private tutoring. Educational
outcomes are consequently harmed because the child is either withdrawn from school or
inadequately prepared for it. He, but also others (Behrman, Deolalikar, 1991; Duryea et
al., 2007; Fallon, Lucas, 2002; Dellas, Sakellaris, 2003; McIntyre, Pencavel, 2004;
McKenzie, 2004; Schady, 2004) identify that the economic crisis has mainly negative effects,
such as reductions in hourly or daily wage rates among adults, which may force parents to
work longer hours, resulting in reduced time that they can devote to assisting children with
homework, reading, and other educational activities. In addition, weaker labour market
prospects may discourage parents and consequence with withdrawal of their child from school
or become less supportive of their child’s educational endeavors. However, some of these
studies have in rare cases also noted that the economic crisis can have a positive effect, such
as: reduction in child wage rates resulting in parents encouraging their child to substitute
work with educational activities, hence potentially improving educational outcomes. Other
example points that parents may become more supportive of their child’s educational
endeavors if the crisis convinces parents that less‑educated worker suffer more than educated
workers.
The impact of the economic crisis in Macedonia in relation to children’s educational
access shows some consistency with the exemplified studies. Namely, the crisis has mainly
impacted children regular provision of educational supply, but also for some it has endangered
their follow‑up education. This suggests that children from socially vulnerable categories
are even more at risk during times of economic constraints and may potentially dropout of
the school system completely. Hence, policy measures during the mid of economic crisis,
should encompass much more than a free school books policy. In addition, measures such
as conditional cash transfers, particularly when they represent negligible lump sums, may
not be enough as an incentive and support, especially for households with more than three
children. Hence, organized free transport, particularly to those in remote locations, organized
free meals for those coming from disadvantaged families (i.e. living on social assistance, or
where no one is employed), direct financial transfers for additional necessities, such as
clothing, school supplies are only some of the examples which should be advocated by
educational and social policy makers in times of economic constraints. This support should
be particularly focused towards the identified groups of vulnerable children.
Health care services as well as health insurance coverage provide significant support
particularly in times of economic crises. But, in times of economic constraints, public heath
expenditure may be subject of rationalization, thus impacting the availability and quality of
universal health care services. Health insurance, particularly for vulnerable groups, may also
be unavailable during periods of reduced labour demand. Parallel with this, many studies
acknowledge that health risks increase during economic crisis. A study analyzing empirical
evidence from past economic crises (Stuckler, Basu, Suhrcke, McKee) in the 20th century,
suggests that “rapidity of economic change appears to be a key hazard to health” (2009,
143). Other studies have also pointed to death increase when the economy is expanding or
contracting, relative to steady state (Ruhm, 2000; Tapia‑Granados, 2008). In relation to
children, economic crises most often bring higher rates of malnutrition among children and
mothers, as well as higher rates of child and maternal mortality (UNICEF, 2009a). All these
studies also point that the impact on health depends on the extent to which people are
protected from harm and hence the availability of and access to informal and formal channels
of health and welfare become tremendously important.
The impact of the crisis on children’s health in Macedonia indicates that small proportion
of children was affected in relation to reduced health check‑ups, lack of immunization as
well as poor nutrition. It is also of concern, that during the crisis, certain proportion of
children and young people lacked health insurance. It is worrying that even those in categories
who should be protected under the health insurance system (such as the unemployed) are
not covered. The fact that the majority of those not covered are also not registered as
unemployed with the Agency for Employment implies either the existence of institutional
gaps in the social protection system or a lack of knowledge about the system on the part of
potential beneficiaries. This indicates that potential beneficiaries, especially those with no
education or lower education and those living in remote locations, particularly in times of
economic crisis should be provided with further support in accessing their rights to health
insurance.
The evidence that during the economic crisis, a relatively small number of children and
young people lack health coverage and are faced with certain health risks, should be brought
in relation with the effectiveness and targeting of the social protection system. Most vulnerable
groups, who represent majority among those experiencing deprived health coverage and
health risks, should be enabled a more direct care, either though financial provisions or
assistance in kind and services. In addition, awareness‑raising schemes should be adopted
to help socially vulnerable households claim the social protection rights to which they are
entitled, e.g. their right to free health insurance if registered at the Employment Centre.
Conclusions
On the basis of the analysed data in Macedonia, it is obvious that the economic crisis triggers
challenges for the wellbeing among children and young people. Most evident effect of the
economic crisis is the reduction of disposable income among households, resulting from loss
of job, or reduction (and irregularity) of incomes. This significantly affects household
possibilities to provide for their children needs, particularly in relation to provision of the
necessary school supply, but also, to a lesser extent, jeopardizes their entrance into follow‑up
education. In addition, the economic crisis triggers the children’s access to regular health
check ups, immunizations, and to a lesser degree contributes to a malnutrition among small
numbers of children. All these effects are most evident among children and young people
coming from more vulnerable social categories in Macedonia, such as: households of Roma
origin, single‑parent families, households with five or more members and families with four
children or more. In addition, self‑employed and unemployed people as well as those living
on lower salaries were among those where the economic crisis had most negative effect in
relation to their children’s access to regular social services in the country.
Parallel with these findings, the paper also shows the inadequacy of the social protection
system and accompanying public policies in times of economic constraints. Namely, analysis
of the copying strategies among families indicates that apart from the pensions, no other
public programme or support is indicated as a mechanism to cushion the crisis effects. More
worryingly, during the economic crisis, significant number of children lacked access to the
legislatively universal health insurance system, thus increasing their level of health risks.
This implies a need to introduce more user‑friendly and more elastic public welfare programs,
which can respond to the increased needs of the vulnerable categories of children and young
people particularly in periods of economic downturns. In particular, the social protection
system needs to respond more efficiently with additional and more tailor‑made child benefits
programs, free‑health insurance coupons, as well as educational support and grants, as to
include most vulnerable children and young people as potential beneficiaries. In this way,
the constitutionally proclaimed welfare state will have more meaning and impact, not only
for those who pay for it, but also for those least capable to provide for themselves.
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The Well‑Being of Children Aged

12‑14 in Cluj County. A Pilot Study
Brînduşa‑Antonia Grigoraş*, Sergiu Bălţătescu**, Maria Roth***
Abstract. Starting with an overview of the state of the art in international children’s
well‑being studies and some aspects of children’s well‑being in Romania, this article
describes the background, the method and reports some findings of a pilot study on 200
children aged 12 to 14 years old from Cluj County. This pilot study is part of the
International Survey of Children’s Well‑being (ISCIWeb), developed by the International
Society for Child Indicators. It was designed to give a fair reflection on children well‑being
and life situations around the world. Placing children centrally as research participants
was fundamental to the methodological approach of this study. The way children perceive
and evaluate their own well‑being was explored through the method of self‑administered
survey. Among the numerous dimensions included in the questionnaire, we will show
results on the subjective well‑being of the children, as well as their evaluation of
dimensions such as household and family, material well‑being, relationships, school, and
health. The paper ends with a discussion of some of the implications and challenges
posed by such a research process. Finally, we discuss strengths and weaknesses of the
questionnaire and draw some conclusions on children’s well‑being in Romania.
Keywords: Children, Survey, Quality of life, Subjective well‑being, Romania
Introduction
This study attempts to bring a new approach to the attention of researchers and those
interested in the protection and well‑being of children in Romania. This approach places
children in the centre of the research and allows them to express their views, opinions and
perceptions on life and their well‑being. The “participatory rights based approach” in the
research with children, as Docket and Perry call it (2011, 232), is built on two major
perspectives: children’s rights and the new sociology of childhood (Ben‑Arieh, 2007). These
* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, 128, 21 Decembrie 1989
Boulevard, 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, phone: + 40‑264‑424674, e‑mail: brindusa_grigoras@
yahoo.com. Her contribution was possible with the financial support of the Sectoral Operational
Programme for Human Resources Development 2007‑2013, co‑financed by the European
Social Fund, under the project number POSDRU/107/1.5/S/76841 with the title “Modern
Doctoral Studies: Internationalization and Interdisciplinarity”.
** University of Oradea, Universităţii Str. no. 1, phone: +40‑259‑408439, e‑mail: bsergiu@
uoradea.ro.
*** “Babeş‑Bolyai” University, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, 128, 21 Decembrie 1989
Boulevard, 400604 Cluj‑Napoca, phone: + 40‑264‑424674, e‑mail: roth.mari@ymail.com.
148 B.‑A. Grigoraş, S. Bălţătescu, M. Roth / The Well‑Being of Children Aged 12‑14 in Cluj
County. A Pilot Study
two perspectives are complementary to those traditional for child well‑being assessment:
the developmental and the ecological theories (Ben‑Arieh, 2007, 2010).
Although the adoption of UN Convention on the Rights of the Children as early as 20
years ago offered a new framework that emphasized, among other things, the right to free
expression of children, just “few child indicator frameworks have been developed using
children’s understandings as a basis for, or a contribution to, conceptualising the framework”
(Fattore, Mason, Watson, 2009, 58). This may explain the limited existing research on
self‑reported quality of life for children and youth. Another reason would be that information
about children usually includes data on households, families, mothers, etc., so that children
themselves are not directly subject to observation from the researchers (Ben‑Arieh, 2004).
We were motivated to address this research topic because, despite its recency, we think
it has a tremendous development potential for both researchers and specialists and for social
and political decision makers. Studies with children (most of them starting with age 14) have
been done in our country for educational (PISA), psychological, sociological (e.g. Bădescu,
Comşa, Gheorghiţă, Stănuţ, Tufiş, 2011; Hatos, Bălţătescu, Saveanu, Saveanu, 2007), and
medical purposes (e.g. Ministry of Health, 2005). However, research on well‑being with
children less than 14 years is almost completely missing in Romania.
To have an accurate view of their lives and to understand if they are happy, and what
makes them to feel so, we should ask the children themselves about their experiences and
opinions, listening to their voices. Thus, it is very important to develop systems of subjective
social indicators (Ben‑Arieh, 2004, 2005; Burton, Phipps, 2010; Casas, 2011; Fattore,
Mason, Watson, 2007).
Recent research with children, by showing the relevance of the information collected
directly from them (Camfield, Streuli, Woodhead, 2009; Casas, 2011; Crivello, Camfield,
Woodhead, 2009; Fattore et al., 2009; Frones, 2007; Walker, Crawford, Taylor, 2008),
proves the need to create a research framework where the dimensions of well‑being should
be developed from the child’s perspective. This information could be transformed in indicators
that guide and enhance policy (Ben‑Arieh, Goerge, 2006; Casas, 2011; Coulton, Korbin,
McDonell, 2009; Frones, 2007).
The goal of the present article is to reflect upon what the children have to say in matters
that concern them and upon how effectively they can influence the course of their own lives.
The article also highlights some of the challenges of the research involving children of
different ages and backgrounds, presenting some conclusions that would bring a better
understanding of children’s subjective well‑being.
The paper proceeds as follows: it outlines the ongoing theoretical international debates
concerning children’s well‑being. Then, it presents the dimensions and indicators of this
concept. It continues with a review of some particular aspects of children’s well‑being in
Romania. Then it presents the methods used and the results obtained. Finally, it discusses
the results and draws some conclusions on children’s well‑being in Romania.
The International Framework of Children’s Well‑Being

Well‑being links objective and subjective dimensions of children experiences in a holistic,
contextual and longitudinal framework, and makes this concept a key one in the field of
children’s studies (Camfield, Tafere, 2009). “Children are human beings with rights and
entitlements, including the right to well‑being. Child well‑being encompasses quality of life
in a broad sense” (Ben‑Arieh, Frones, 2007, 249). Well‑being is multidimensional and
opened to multiple interpretations, numerous definitions, conceptualizations, researches
approaches (Bălţătescu, 2003; Camfield, Tafere, 2009; Crivello et al., 2009). It comprises
several dimensions, such as material well‑being, health, educational attainment and partici
pation, children’s relationships with their friends and family, their feelings about their own
well‑being, and their involvement with risky behaviours. According to Dissart and Deller
(2000), we cannot have a single definition of well‑being or quality of life, since the relevant
psychological processes of human experience can be described and interpreted through a
variety of conceptual filters and languages. In a similar way, the concept is loaded with major
axiological contents. Therefore, we cannot expect to have a complete overlap in the ways
adults and children define well‑being (Fattore et al., 2009).
Children’s Well‑Being in Romania

With the signing by Romania of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child and
especially after the accession to the EU in 2007, the Romanian society restructured its roles
and capabilities to care and provide for its children. The improvements were mainly in child
welfare legislation and in the practice of children’s rights, but did not succeed yet in radically
improving the quality of life of the large number of children living in difficult situation
(Roth‑Szamoskozi, Popescu, Raţ, 2006).
The main difficulty in Romania is that the data collection on child well‑being is the lack of
a standardized system of indicators to monitor periodically the main longitudinal dimensions
of children’s lives and their changes. Scientific research is more advanced in measuring the
quality of adults’ rather than children’s life (Bălţătescu, 2009b; Mărginean, 2004; Mărginean,
Precupeţu, 2010). But there have been researches on child poverty (Comunităţile Europene,
2008; Stănculescu, Marin, 2010; UNICEF, 2006; Zamfir, 2005) and social inclusion (Pîslaru,
2004). Statistical data on children, especially on their family situation, education, health,
demography, and social protection measures are provided by the Ministry of Health, the
Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection,
the Ministry of Administration and Internal Affairs.
The researches in the field show that Romanian children well‑being is influenced by a
multitude of factors, including economic and familial context (Hatos, Bălţătescu, 2011) and
is linked with the poverty that affects families (Zamfir, 2005), the health of children and
family members (Oşvat, 2011) or with the status of the family (***, 2010).
There is a real need for the improvement of the Romanian data collection system and the
information about the status of children (by regions, by ages), not just at national but also
at local and smaller area levels. International studies suggest that indices of child well‑being
at “small area” level can link research, practice and policy (Coulton et al., 2009).
Method
Sample and procedure
In this paper, we present the results of the pilot testing in Romania of the International Survey
of Children’s Well‑Being Scale (ISCWeB). It is part of the most recent major international
projects on child well‑being, designed by the International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI).
Starting with 2010, pilot surveys were carried out in the UK, Germany, Spain, Brazil,
Honduras, Israel and Palestine, with three age groups: 8‑9, 10‑11, and 12‑14 years (***, 2011),
facilitated by OECD, UNICEF and World Vision.
The questionnaire for the age 12‑14 was translated in Romanian. It was piloted with 200
children in the Cluj County during June 2011, with 164 children from the county capital,
Cluj‑Napoca, and 36 from Floreşti, a nearby rural locality. Children in this study were aged
12‑14: 17,5% were 12, 40,5% were 13 and 42% were 14 of age. As for gender distribution,
46,5% of the children were boys. For the application of the survey, we had the consent of
schools, of parents and of children themselves. To obtain the consent of children, the
field‑researcher shortly explained to the children the goal of this pilot study and that it is
not compulsory and children can decline completion. There was only one 13 year old girl
from a school in Cluj‑Napoca who refused to fill it in, all the rest complied with our requests.
The self‑completion questionnaire includes questions that refer to socio‑demographics
(age, gender, and area of residence); home and family members (intra‑family relationships,
assessment of housing conditions etc.); the financial and household situation (money
available to children, property etc.); friends and other people that children have relationship
with (spending time with friends and family, satisfaction with their relationships); area of
living (housing services in the area), school (relationships with teacher, colleagues, schooling
situation); leisure (ways of spending time outside classes); information on children’s
perception of their lives life and of the future, including satisfaction with different domains
and their lives as a whole and feelings of happiness.
Methodological observations
Most of the children found the questionnaire easy to fill out and declared they enjoyed it.
They commented to the investigator that many issues in the survey are very important to
their life, i.e. relationships with their friends and families. Just 5 of them (2,5%) reported
that the questionnaire is too long and no one told us that the questionnaire is boring. They
confessed it is unusual for them to be asked how happy they are with their lives. Some of
the children were asking us if something will change in good in their life after answering to
the questionnaire. They felt surprised to find out the questionnaire is international, and many
children from all over the world would be involved in it.
The children had difficulties in answering some of the questions. Such is the category
of questions referring to abstract concepts, such as power or freedom. For example, the
question on “the power to succeed” seems to be difficult for children. Questions should be
more embedded in context, in order that children should respond. A few children asked for
help in answering to the following questions: “I feel I have freedom enough to be outside
the home in our neighbourhood” and “I feel I have choice to travel on my own to and from
school”. Therefore, we suggest for the future a more concrete way to ask this question: “I
can go out of the home when I want”, or “My parents or the people I live with let me to
do this” and “I can go and come by myself at/from school, I don’t depend on the adults of
my family”. Children didn’t understand the item “How are you listened to?”, because they
needed to clarify the environment: “at home”, “at school, “by the friends” etc.
Another difficulty appeared by questions regarding parents’ occupational status. Instead
the question “How many adults that you live with have a paid job?” we suggested that the
term “adult” should be concrete: (i.e. parents, grandparents, older siblings) and “paid job”
to be replaced by “salary”. Romanian children have not understood what actually “the city
council” is. It might be due to the deficit of civic education.
Results
The main purpose of the study was to test the questionnaire in the social context of Romania.
Even if our sample is not representative, given the novelty of the survey in the Romanian
context, its results are informative, being indicative for the structure of children’s well‑being.
Among the numerous dimensions included in the questionnaire, we will show results on
the overall life satisfaction of the children, as well as dimensions such as home, relationships,
school, health, material well‑being, time use and plans for the future.
Feelings about household and family

The first dimensions included in the questionnaire were about safety of home, personal space
of children, their participation in decision making, feelings about family cohesion and fair
treatment in the family. These concepts were measured by a scale with 5 items. Results are
in Table 1.
Table 1. Household and family attitudes of children
Very much Agree Neither agree Disagree Strongly Don’t Total

agree nor disagree disagree know
I feel safe at home 78,0% 19,5% 1,0% 1,0% 0,5% 0,0% 100%
I have enough personal 63,0% 30,0% 4,5% 1,0% 1,5% 0,0% 100%
space for myself at
home
I can participate in 39,0% 46,5% 8,5% 2,5% 0,5% 3,0% 100%
making decisions taken
at home
We have a good time 75,0% 22,0% 2,5% 0,0% 0,0% 0,5% 100%
together in my family
My parents (or the 74,5% 22,5% 2,0% 0,5% 0,0% 0,5% 100%
people who look after
me) treat me fairly
As we can see, children answered to all items by giving very favourable evaluations. This
is the case with most of indicators in the questionnaire, which are strongly skewed. This
raises problems of understanding the differences between the groups of children who strongly
agree or just agree, as well as the few that neither agree, nor disagree, disagree, or strongly
disagree, and the meaning of the differences between those groups for the well‑being of
children. Thus, looking at child abuse prevalence data (Iovu, 2011b; Antal et al., in press),
it is likely that some of the children who declared being satisfied with their family situations,
or being safe at home, still might have been abused, while the few ones who say they are
not safe at home, probably are victims of severe abuse from their carers.
Items in this scale are correlated, but not very strongly, with Pearson r varying between
0,18 and 0,58. A factor analysis performed gives one factor, but the Eigenvalue for the
second factor is very close to 1. Thus, we ordered a second factor analysis, with a forced
solution of two factors. The loadings of the factors are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. The two factor solution for the household attitude items. Extraction Method:
Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization
Component
1 2
We have a good time together in my family 0,802 0,198
I feel safe at home 0,748 –0,007
My parents (or the people who look after me) treat me fairly 0,692 0,404
I have enough personal space for myself at home 0,113 0,833
I can participate in making decisions taken at home 0,172 0,819
Variance explained 46,38% 19,47%
Items linked with safety, fair treatment and general enjoyment in the family load in the
first factor, while the evaluation of personal space and participation in decisions in a second
factor. Children rated these two items the lowest. Indeed, children have limited participation
in decision making in Romania or elsewhere. Involving them in decisions is a recent
orientation, associated with the recognition (not shared by everyone) that they are equal
citizens whose rights and choices should be respected by adults. On the other hand, giving
children personal space in the houses is a problem for many families in our country, as also
the results presented in Table 3 show.
Table 3. To what extent do you currently feel satisfied with each of the following
things in your life? (On a scale from 0 to 10)
0‑6 7‑8 9‑10 Total Average (0‑10)

The house or flat where you live? 6,5% 16,0% 77,5% 100% 9,1
The people who live with you? 1,5% 7,0% 91,5% 100% 9,6
All of the people in your family? 3,5% 7,0% 89,5% 100% 9,6
Children are generally satisfied with the people with whom they live within their homes,
and the people in their family generally, and less with the house/apartment in which they
live. An explanation would be that in urban Romania many families live in rather small
apartments (one to three rooms). Families with more than one or two children find often
difficult to provide them with a room of their own, or even their own bed or desk for doing
homework. Even if in the rural areas the ratio of rooms per household members is higher
than in the cities, not all the rooms are used. The bad state of utilities of these household
may also account for the lower evaluation that children give to their houses.
Financial and household situation

Children selected for this t survey report a general satisfaction with their material situation:
95% of them have adequate clothing, a computer that they can use and 92% have access to
Internet. Providing food and cloths is a priority for parents as only 2,3% of children declared
that they do not receive enough food even if there was enough and 2,5% declared that their
cloths were inappropriate. Medical neglect reaches the highest percentage (3,7%). But, in
conclusion, we could state that in the urban areas, neglect does not pose such a big pressure
on parents as abuse does (Iovu, 2011a).
Table 4. Which of the following things do or don’t you have?
Yes No Don’t know Total

A computer you can use when you need to 95,0% 3,5% 1,5% 100%
Clothes in good condition to go to school in 98,5% 0,5% 1,0% 100%
Internet 92,0% 7,0% 1,0% 100%
The schools where the questionnaire had been applied were among the best in the city/
commune (where go usually don’t go children from poor families). We would not expect to
find the same results on the national level. Romania has among the highest children poverty
rate among European children. Some other statistics show that there are about 4,2 million
children of which over one million (24% of those under 17 years) were in poverty in 2004
with more than 350.000 (8%) in severe poverty. The most children from numerous and
monoparental families are affected by poverty and for the children leaving in the rural area
the poverty rate is double comparative to children from urban area: 32,9% compared to
15,6% in 2004 (Zamfir, 2005).
0‑6 7‑8 9‑10 Total Average (0‑10)

All of the things you have? 3,5% 11,5% 85,0% 100% 9,6
Children generally do not express dissatisfaction with their current material situation.
This is consistent with findings by Bălţătescu (2009a) who explained that in most cases
children are raised in Romania under a “parental umbrella” that keeps them away from
material worries.
Figure 1. Relative deprivation items

Although their relative well‑being, as the majority (68,5%) of the surveyed children said
their needs are covered in their families in a way comparable to their friends, 16,5% of them
reported not having enough money as their friends do, while 15% could not offer an answer.
On the other hand, the vast majority of respondents (84%) declare they are not being deprived
of goods compared to their friends, as seen in Figure 1.
Table 6. How often do you worry about money?
Never Sometimes Often Always Don’t know Total

Urban area No 34,4% 50,0% 12,5% 0,0% 3,1% 100%
Yes 38,1% 42,9% 10,1% 0,6% 8,3% 100%
Total 37,5% 44,0% 10,5% 0,5% 7,5% 100%
Overall, 11% of the surveyed children feel worried or very worried about the money. Those
from the rural areas seem slightly more worried about the money than those from the city,
although there is no possibility to test the statistical differences because of the small subsamples.
Opposite to the previous answers where children expressed mostly satisfaction with their
situation in their homes, at this question the report is that more than half of the children
sometimes or often worry about finances.
Relationships
A third dimension of child well‑being refers to relationships. A chief question in this
dimension concerns the relationship with the family and friends.
Most of the children have spent time every day or most days with their family, in different
activities. Over a fifth of the children report not been helped by their parents to learn/do
their homework.
Table 7. How often in the past week have you spent time doing the following things with…
Every Most Once or Not at Don’t Total

day days twice all know
your Talking together 80,0% 15,0% 4,5% 0,0% 0,5% 100%
family?
Having fun 32,7% 48,2% 16,1% 1,5% 1,5% 100%
together
Learning together 17,6% 21,6% 32,7% 21,6% 6,5% 100%
your Talking together 76,9% 19,6% 3,0% 0,5% 0,0% 100%
friends?
Having fun 58,5% 32,0% 9,0% 0,5% 0,0% 100%
together
Learning together 13,0% 15,0% 29,5% 35% 7,5% 100%
Previous studies showed high percentage of psychological abuse reported by children 11‑16.
Becan report showed 65% psychological abuse of children aged 13 (Antal and Roth, 2011).
The data in Table 6 partially explain these high rates of psychological abuse reports. Only
80% of kids report talking with family every day, 16% have fun together once or twice a
week, and 32% parents are involved in learning just 1‑2 days a week.
Compared to parents, the friends are considered by children aged 12‑14 already more
entertaining. Children have more fun with each other than with their parents, although they
don’t learn together as often as with their parents.
Among the close persons outside of their family, children are the most satisfied with
their friends. About 55% of them rate the satisfaction at nine or ten out of ten. They appear
equally satisfied with their relationships with people in general (of course, that means mostly
friends and family) but less satisfied with neighbours or people from the town, although the
ratings for satisfaction with these people are quite high.
Table 8. To what extent do you currently feel satisfied with each of the following?
(On a scale from 0 to 10)
0‑6 7‑8 9‑10 Total Average (0‑10)

Your friends? 7,5% 15,0% 77,5% 100% 9,0
The people who live in your nighbourhood 14,0% 28,0% 58,0% 100% 8,3
or town?
Your relationships with people in general? 5,0% 13,5% 81,5% 100% 9,1
School
All the items linked with the school are also very highly rated by children. The modal
responses are those expressing agreement. Disagreements and strong disagreements are
expressed by only 7‑14,5% of children. Contrary to common knowledge, most of the children
say they like to go to school. Only 15% of children declare they disagree and about 32,5%
say that neither agree nor disagree with the item. Thus, a significant part of the children
don’t feel motivated to go to school, which is worrying. The other item with the lowest
ratings is “My teachers listen to me and take what I say into account”. 8% of the children
disagree with the sentences and about 20% neither agree nor disagree.
Table 9. School attitudes and evaluations

My teachers listen to 23,0% 47,5% 19,5% 6,0% 2,0% 2,0% 100%
me and take what I
say into account
I like going to school 19,0% 32,0% 32,5% 7,5% 7,0% 2,0% 100%
My school peers treat 33,0% 47,5% 12,5% 3,0% 3,5% 0,5% 100%
me well
My teachers treat me 33,0% 39,0% 19,5% 6,0% 1,5% 1,0% 100%
fairly
I feel safe at school 34,5% 37,0% 20,5% 4,0% 3,5% 0,5% 100%
I am attentive during 30,5% 46,5% 18,5% 3,5% 1,0% 0,0% 100%
classes
I have good results at 34,0% 38,5% 21,0% 4,0% 1,0% 1,5% 100%
school
Children gave very positive answers to the question “I am attentive during classes”.
Giving that indiscipline is often signalled as a problem in Romanian schools, we can raise
the issue of social desirability. When interviewed in classes, children feel often obliged to
give positive answers, so the responses are positively distorted. That is why we should look
at the responses of disagreements and strong disagreements that show the children who are
vulnerable in schools: those who do not feel listened to, who do not like school, who do
not feel welcome by peers, or fairly treated by teachers, or not feel safe, or have not good
results in schools. These percentages vary between items, from 4,5% (I am attentive during
classes) to 14,5% (I like going to school). For a more accurate estimation, we combined
these seven variables into a summative scale called school evaluation (Cronbach alpha = 0,82)
which vary from 0 to 35. We found that 10,5% of the respondents have scores up to 14 on
this scale, which show that they gave negative answers to all of the items.
Health
A small but significant proportion of children (16%) reported absenteeism for at least a day
per week due to illness.
Figure 2. In the last two months, how many times have you missed
school due to illness?
The questionnaire does not include more detailed items about the types of illnesses that
affect children. However, there are two questions that concern psychological well‑being, i.e.
anxiety and loneliness.
Table 9. Anxiety and loneliness

I worry about 19,5% 31,0% 22,0% 14,0% 10,5% 3,0% 100%
things a lot
I feel lonely 5,0% 10,5% 20,0% 27,0% 33,5% 4,0% 100%
Children report low levels of loneliness (15,5% of them declare they feel lonely) but
high level of worries: over half of them agree or strongly agree they worry a lot about things.
This is a disquieting result, which, if confirmed by a representative sample survey should
draw attention on the levels of stress in children. This stress should be linked with school,
family or relationship, because, as we showed earlier in this paper, only 16,5% children feel
anxious about the material situation.
As theory predicts, girls report slightly higher anxiety levels than boys, although giving
the small sample this association is not statistically significant.
Subjective well‑being
Finally, researchers have been interested in the subjective well‑being of children, defined as
their global evaluation of their lives (Casas, 2011). Two questions of subjective well‑being
have been used by the designers of the questionnaire, based on the theory that this dimension
is evaluated affectively (happiness) and cognitively (life satisfaction) (Andrews, Robinson,
1991; Campbell, Converse, Rodgers, 1976; Diener, 1994). We added a third dimension
(negative affect), according to the conceptualisation of Bradburn and Noll (1969) who found
that positive affect is not always correlated with negative affect.
Table 10. Negative and positive affect

I feel sad 3,5% 11,5% 17,5% 29,5% 33,5% 4,5% 100%
I feel happy 59,3% 26,1% 9,5% 2,5% 1,5% 1,0% 100%
We found that, indeed, the negative and the positive way of expressing general psychological
well‑being have a significant, but not very strong negative correlation (Kendall tau = –0.39,
sig = 0,001). Little is known on the dynamics of children’s affect. The reports on feeling
sad rise to 15% of the young respondents, raising alarms around the chances of these children
to become depressed in later years. A simple cross‑tabulation shows that about 7,5% of the
children report they are happy and sad at the same time.
On the other hand, our respondents rated very high, their satisfaction with life as a whole,
close to the maximum level 10.
0‑6 7‑8 9‑10 Total Average (0‑10)

Your life as a whole? 6,5% 9,5% 84,0% 100% 9,6
This last result seems to confirm some recent surprising results from a comparative
well‑being study with a total of 2875 adolescents 12‑16 years old in Romania and Spain
(Casas, Bălţătescu, Bertran, González, Hatos, 2009), in which Romanian adolescents gave
higher ratings for almost all domains of their lives. For example, Spanish children rated their
life satisfaction at an average of 8,04 while the Romanian average was of 8,89. However, a
significant proportion of respondents declared they are anxious and sad. This puts the
above‑cited results in a different perspective: Romanian children may declare themselves
more satisfied than happy. Further researches should address more profoundly the relationship
between the affective and the cognitive dimensions of Romanian children subjective well‑being.
To analyse the structure of satisfaction domains we entered all the satisfaction items in
a principal component analysis, extracting four factors.
Table 11. The four factor solution for the satisfaction items. Extraction Method:
Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization
Component
1 2 3 4
Yourself? 0,863 0,190 0,163 0,045
Your self‑confidence? 0,838 0,148 0,137 0,134
Your appearance? (how you look) 0,828 0,180 0,081 0,156
Your life as a whole? 0,800 0,169 0,235 –0,017
Your health? 0,721 0,278 0,216 0,157
What you do in your free time? 0,704 0,213 0,168 0,268
How you are listened to? 0,703 0,174 0,113 0,361
The freedom you have? 0,603 0,064 0,307 0,209
The school you go to? 0,264 0,815 0,249 0,132
How you are doing at school? 0,281 0,796 0,191 0,184
Your schoolmates? 0,169 0,754 0,267 0,270
How you are treated when you go to the doctors? 0,142 0,598 –0,020 0,147
Your friends? 0,093 0,455 0,411 0,382
The people who live with you? 0,181 0,175 0,803 –0,018
The house or flat where you live? 0,270 0,089 0,703 0,066
All of the people in your family? 0,094 0,245 0,692 0,228
All of the things you have? 0,212 0,100 0,647 0,375
The way you use your time 0,322 0,034 0,500 0,383
The neighbourhood or town where you live, in general? 0,077 0,270 0,262 0,744
The people who live in your neighbourhood or town? 0,213 0,171 0,157 0,806
Your relationships with people in general? 0,364 0,465 0,105 0,509
The local police in your town or neighbourhood? 0,256 0,343 0,103 0,598
Variance explained 43,1% 10,2% 7,0% 5,1%
Overall, the dimensions of children’s satisfaction are rather predictable and describe the
universe of Romanian children. “Overall life satisfaction” loads among the first component
that explains the personal domain (e.g. health, look, self‑confidence). The second dimension
is linked with school (e.g. your schoolmates, how you are doing at school). Interestingly,
satisfaction with friends is part of this dimension, but loads significantly also in the next
two dimensions, namely “household and family” and “social environment”. Satisfaction with
free time is split between the “personal well‑being” and the “household and family” dimensions.
This last dimension comprises the satisfaction with goods, showing that economic dimension
of life is for the child strongly related with his/her family.
Conclusions and Limitations

This paper showed the process of testing the instrument used in the survey that was developed
to measure children’s well‑being. Piloting the international survey on children’s well‑being,
we can conclude that most of the children found the questionnaire easy to fill out and enjoyed
the process, and some felt rather enthusiastic at the idea that adults ask for their opinions.
Talking to the children about the survey process, we revealed that 12‑14 years old children
might have difficulties in understanding abstract concepts (such as freedom and power), and we
made suggestions related to the questions on the work status of their parents or the local council.
Analyzing the results, we found a high percentage of children who report satisfaction
with their family and school life, which lead us to be aware about the social desirability
effects that may appear when interviews take place at this age – in the classroom context.
Some interesting relationships have been found in what concerns psychological and subjective
well‑being. We found that positive and negative affect are not very strongly negatively
correlated, and a significant proportion of children declared they are happy and sad at the
same time. Children report also worrying levels of anxiety.
Using the method of factor analysis, we clarified the structure of children’s perceptions
on their well‑being and we found four factors: general life satisfaction, school satisfaction,
household and family and social environment/neighbourhood.
Overall, this pilot study helped revising the questionnaire and transforming it into an
instrument that will allow international comparisons between children’s well‑being data to
be collected from many countries of the world. We believe that it is just a matter of time
when financial resources will allow longitudinal studies on representative international and
Romanian samples of children. The international comparative research findings will also
help scientists to develop and validate new indicators of children’s well‑being.
This study follows a new approach in children research in Romania, by asking children
directly and by allowing them to talk about their perceptions and evaluation of their own
well‑being (give an assessment of their own perception of their well‑being). This approach
could be also important for improving the professional skills and understanding of the people
who are working every day directly with children and of their families. Encouraging children
to talk about their points of view and opinions can be a very effective way of improving
children’s well‑being and making them happier.
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Violence in Secondary Schools:

A Comparative Study
Diana Dămean*
Abstract. The paper i presents the results of national and local surveys measuring school
safety using scales from the School Success Profile questionnaire. The national sample
consisted of 1.386 students from grades 9‑11 and the local sample consisted of 480
vocational high school students from grades 9‑11 (from Cluj‑Napoca only). In the first
part of the analysis – the examination of the psychometric properties of the measures – a
descriptive analysis was performed, followed by an internal consistency assessment using
the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and a Principal Components Analysis that explored
whether all items subscribed to the same factor. In the second part of the analysis – the
prevalence of school violence – indiscipline and low grades was compared among the
two samples. The relations between school safety and school behaviour (attendance and
discipline), respectively school performance (grades) were investigated using Pearson
correlations, focusing on the differences between the two samples.
Keywords: school violence, school behaviour, school performance, School Success Profile
Introduction
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (1979) describes the developmental process as an interaction
of several subsystems: the microsystem (the direct relation of the individual with immediate
family, people in the neighbourhood, teachers in the school, members of the peer‑group,
and so forth); the mesosystem (the system of relations between microsystems); the exosystem
(experiences in a social setting in which an individual does not have an active role, but which
nevertheless influence the experience in an immediate context); macrosystem (or the
social‑economic‑cultural context in which individuals live); and the chronosystem (the
patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course).
From an ecological perspective, school violence is a characteristic of a microsystem and
it represents an environmental risk to development. Violence in the microsystems of developing
adolescents not only threatens physical and emotional safety, but also reduces the availability
of, access to, or quality of potential learning opportunities in school (Bowen, Bowen, 1999).
* Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, 128‑130

21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd., Cluj‑Napoca RO‑400604, e‑mail:damean_diana@yahoo.com.
i. This work was possible with the financial support of the Sectoral Operational Programme for
Human Resources Development 2007‑2013, co‑financed by the European Social Fund, under
the project number POSDRU 89/1.5/S/60189 with the title “Postdoctoral Programs for Sustainable
Development in a Knowledge Based Society”.
164 D. Dămean / Violence in Secondary Schools: A Comparative Study
One mechanism by which violent or aggressive behaviour among students at school may
affect academic performance is by directly impeding teaching and learning processes in the
classroom. Children who are physically and verbally aggressive in the classroom have a
negative impact on the education of their classmates by diverting their teachers from teaching
and reducing the amount of time students are engaged in learning (Bowen, Bowen, 1999).
According to the same study, the threat of violence at school interfered with teaching
effectiveness. In addition, Lazear (2001) showed that the presence of disruptive students in
a classroom could reduce the performance of their peers. Figlio (2007) and Kinsler (2008)
found evidence supporting Lazear’s conclusion using datasets with information on the
individual student behaviour.
Richman and Fraser (2001) define school risk as the presence of certain factors that cause
a high probability in children to manifest negative behaviour. These risk factors can be
biological (e.g. ADHD, choleric temperament) or ecological and contextual (e.g. poverty, school
violence etc.). In order to prevent school failure it is necessary to identify those risk factors
that significantly correlate with low school performance. If school failure is analyzed through
a contextual frame (family, peer‑group, school, community) rather than through a demographic
perspective, a broader range of risk situations can be identified (Hărăguş et al., 2010).
The present study is based on the assumption that the events in the microsystem (e.g.
school violence) have a direct impact on the adolescent’s protective and risk factors. This article
focuses on student perceptions of their exposure to school danger, and the effects of exposure
on their attendance, school behaviour, and grades. A comparative approach was employed,
since previous research (Dămean, Todea, 2011) has shown that students from vocational high
schools are more exposed to school violence than students in other secondary schools.
Method
For the current study the School Success Profile1 scales measuring school safety were used
(school safety, personal safety in school, non‑victim status) along with a scale measuring
student’s school behaviour (trouble avoidance) and a measure for grades. Only self‑report
data was used, every item representing students’ personal perception regarding their environment.
The scales were completed by 2 samples of secondary school students – a nationally
representative one and a locally representative one. The main objective of the research was
to test whether there is a significant relation between school safety and school attendance,
disciplined behaviour and school performance across the two samples.
The national data was collected as part of the project The social diagnosis of school
performance using the School Success Profile (SSP‑Ro) and the design of research based
intervention methods2 (Hărăguş, Roth, Dămean, 2010; Mezei, Dămean, Dégi, 2010;
Hărăguş, Dămean, Roth, 2009) from a nationally representative sample of 1.3863 high school
students from 31 secondary schools (only grades 9 to 11) in 11 counties covering all regions
in Romania. The national sample was designed as a multi‑stage stratified random sample of
high school classes of students that constituted the clusters of subjects to take part in the
survey. The construction of the sample was done in two steps: first, a sample of 31 public
secondary schools was selected from 11 counties (Argeş, Bistriţa‑Năsăud, Cluj, Covasna,
Galaţi, Iaşi, Mureş, Neamţ, Sibiu, Timiş, Vâlcea) and the city of Bucharest. Second, the
students were sampled by entire classes, not individually, thus creating a cluster sampling
of at least 2 classes by institution. The secondary school sample included 19 high schools
(1 normal school ¼teacher‑training school½, 4 national colleges, 14 high‑schools) and 12
vocational high schools (1 vocational school ¼Şcoala profesională½, 2 schools of arts and
crafts, 7 vocational high schools ¼grup şcolar½, 2 technical colleges). The national data was
collected between October 2008 and January 2009.
The same measures were used on an exclusive sample of vocational high school students
(only grades 9 to 11) from a large urban area in Transylvania (Cluj‑Napoca)4. The local
sample was composed of 480 vocational high school students from all vocational high schools
in Cluj‑Napoca (2 technical colleges and 5 vocational high schools). A minimum of 2 and
a maximum of 5 classes per institution were selected, but the number of respondents in each
school varied according to respondents’ presence in the classroom and availability. The local
data was collected between April and June 2011.
Table 1 displays the demographic characteristics of both samples. Students in the national
sample were nearly evenly distributed by gender: 56,6% female and 43,4% male. However,
in what concerns the vocational high schools sample, the proportions are reversed (only
43,7% female), reflecting the traditional gender composition of vocational schools.
Table 1. Descriptive analysis of the demographic variables
Demographic variable National sample Local sample

N = 1.367 N = 480
(%) (%)
Gender Male 43,4 56,3
Female 56,6 43,7
Residence Urban 88,3 100
Rural 11,7 0,0
Ethnicity Romanian 87,7 89,3
Hungarian 11,4 7,8
Roma 1,0 2,9
Grade 9th grade 31,3 16,9
10th grade 37,0 51,7
11th grade 31,7 31,5
Family income Very low 0,9 7,3
Low 4,4 11,9
Sufficient 35,6 27,6
High 30,3 16,4
Very high 28,7 36,9
Social benefits Social aid recipient 6,9 10,4
Parental migration Not migrated 90,3 85,9
At least one migrated parent 9,7 14,2
The national sample is representative for the urban‑rural distribution of high schools,
not of students. Most respondents attend urban high schools. The local sample includes only
students from an urban area.
Regarding the ethnicity of the students, 87,7% of the children in the national sample are
Romanians, 11,4% Hungarians and 1% Roma. The ethnic composition of the local sample
is 89,3% Romanians, 7,8% Hungarians and 2,9% Roma. Compared to the last Census data5,
the proportions for the ethnical minorities are not reflected accurately. It is worth noting
that the percentage of Roma students observed in schools when collecting data was higher
than the percentage of 2,9 that resulted from the data. This indicates that not all Roma
students declared themselves to be of Roma ethnicity.
While the national sample distribution per grade is quite balanced, in local sample the
majority of the respondents (51,7%) come from the 10th grade.
Respondents’ reports regarding their income, on a 5‑step scale, were not very conclusive,
as the vast majority rated their income as sufficient, high and very high. This may be due
to social desirability, especially in the case of the local sample as the poverty rate is highest
among vocational schools. A much better poverty indicator was the receipt of social benefits:
6,9% of the respondents in the national sample received social aid on grounds of poverty,
even though this number is higher than the combined percentage of the respondents who
rate their family income as very low or low. For the local sample, less than half of the
respondents who rated their income as very low or low receive social benefits (10,4%). This
may be due to the fact the parents find seasonal work which temporary increases the family
income and does not qualify them to receive any benefits from the state.
Results
Descriptive analysis of indicators
Descriptive analyses for each indicator are presented in Table 2. All scales report good
internal consistency (with Cronbach’s alpha values between 0,7 and 0,9).
Table 2. Descriptive statistics for the measures*
Scale Mean Std. No. of Min. Max. Cronbach’s Mean Std.

dev. items alpha (local) dev.
School safety 22,36 7,20 12 12 48 0,91 27,30 6,73
Personal safety 10,19 3,65 4 4 16 0,87 10.73 3,74
in school
Non‑victim 16,98 3,71 13 13 39 0,82 16,46 4,41
status
Trouble 15,80 3,59 11 11 33 0,83 18,58 4,68
avoidance
Grades 2,97 1,24 1 1 7 – 4,35 1,23
* The mean, std. dev., no. of items, min., max. and Cronbach’s alpha were calculated for the national
sample. The mean (local) and corresponding std. dev. were calculated for the local sample.
The measures consisted of Likert scales (School safety, Non‑victim status, Trouble
avoidance: 3‑step scales; Personal safety in school: 4‑step scale; Grades: 7‑step scale),
where minimum values indicate a positive tendency, and maximum values indicate a negative
tendency. The mean scores for the national sample indicate an overall positive trend, while
the means for the local sample tend to be higher, suggesting lower levels of school safety, a
more problematic behaviour in school and lower grades.
In order to have a better overview on the items of each scale, Tables 3 to 7 display the
frequency of school problems as they are reported by the respondents in the national and
local samples. The values marking high differences between the 2 samples are represented
in bold.
Table 3. School safety*
Items Not a problem A little problem A big problem

How much of a problem is each of the Nat. Loc. Nat. Loc. Nat. Loc.
following at your school:
Students making fun of other students. 33,2 1,5 57,3 21,3 9,5 77,2
Students picking on other students. 31,0 3,0 50,1 38,2 19,0 58,8
Disagreements between students from 55,7 19,2 27,9 45,6 16,4 35,2
different ethnic groups.
Fights among students. 37,5 11,5 34,6 60,3 28,0 28,1
Destruction of school property. 33,2 12,4 39,2 56,5 27,7 31,1
Student use of alcohol. 41,6 30,6 25,5 40,4 32,9 28,9
Students who smoke cigarettes. 23,1 4,5 39,1 14,3 37,8 81,3
Student use of illegal drugs. 51,4 40,8 10,0 33,8 38,6 25,4
Students carrying weapons (knives, clubs etc.). 53,5 64,5 8,0 25,9 38,5 9,6
Gangs. 49,3 44,7 24,6 34,4 26,1 20,9
Students verbally abusing teachers. 40,8 8,3 29,4 40,6 29,8 51,1
Students physically abusing teachers. 54,1 72,1 7,8 22,0 38,1 6,0
* The values in the table represent percentages for the national (Nat.) and local (Loc.) samples.
Table 3 displays respondents’ answers to the items from the School safety scale. A significant
difference between the 2 samples can be seen in terms of what represents a big problem in
their school. Bullying (making fun of, picking on other students) is seen as a much bigger
problem in vocational high schools (77,2%; 58,8%), as well as the disagreements between
ethnic groups (35,2%). Smoking among students is seen as a more serious issue in vocational
high schools (81,3%), while the use of illegal drugs (38,6%) and the carrying of weapons
to school (38,5%) appear as much serious problems at the national sample level. In terms
of violence toward the teachers, verbal abuse represents a big problem across the local sample
(51,1%), while physical abuse is a bigger problem for the national sample (38,1%).
Table 4. Personal safety in school *
Items Not at all Rather Rather Very

protected unprotected protected protected
At school I feel protected from: Nat. Loc. Nat. Loc. Nat. Loc. Nat. Loc.
Violence 15,7 13,8 22,1 19,8 28,7 34,2 33,6 32,2
Theft 20,8 17,1 30,5 26,7 26,8 28,7 21,9 27,4
Insults 29,9 25,9 34,7 27,7 20,6 24,2 14,7 22,2
Blackmail 21,4 17,8 22,7 19,6 21,7 28,4 34,2 34,2
In what concerns how safe the respondents feel at school, there were not significant
differences among the national and local sample (Table 4). It is worth noting that over one
third of the respondents in both samples feel not at all protected or rather unprotected from
violence and blackmail when at school, while around half of them feel not at all protected
or rather unprotected from theft and insults in school.
Table 5. Non‑victim status*
Items Never Once or twice More than twice

During the past month, how often did any of Nat. Loc. Nat. Loc. Nat. Loc.
the following occur:
Someone from school insulted you. 58,7 47,6 32,0 41,2 9,4 11,1
Someone from school treated you bad. 58,1 52,4 34,1 37,2 7,8 10,5
Someone from school ignored you when you 52,8 52,1 40,4 38,7 6,8 9,2
asked a question.
Someone from school excluded you from an 86,3 75,9 12,0 20,3 1,7 3,8
activity you wanted to take part in.
Someone from school wrongly suspected that 83,5 69,9 14,4 25,2 2,2 4,9
you did something bad.
Someone from school treated you unfair. 68,8 55,3 26,5 37,4 4,7 7,3
Someone from school discouraged you from 77,9 64,5 19,0 31,5 3,1 4,1
doing something important for you.
Someone from school seemed surprised that 44,4 – 44,6 – 11,0 –
you could do something correctly.
Someone from school harassed you for no 89,1 – 8,4 – 2,5 –
reason.
Someone from school insulted you because 97,3 88,4 2,2 9,9 ,5 1,7
of your ethnicity.
Someone from school picked on you. 72,9 68,4 23,8 27,4 3,3 4,3
Someone from school threatened to beat you. 89,9 79,9 8,3 16,5 1,7 3,6
Someone from school pushed or hit you. 79,7 75,4 18,2 21,2 2,1 3,4
* The values in the table represent percentages for the national (Nat.) and local (Loc.) samples. The
2 items for which values are not displayed were dropped from the scale used on the local sample.
No outstanding differences were found between samples in what regards respondents’

personal experiences of victimization (Table 5). However, all these forms of abuse occurred
to respondents slightly more often in vocational high schools.
Table 6. Trouble avoidance*
Items Never Once or twice More than twice

During the past 30 days, how often did any Nat. Loc. Nat. Loc. Nat. Loc.
of the following things happen?
I turned in a homework assignment late or 11,9 19,0 47,4 36,4 40,7 44,6
not at all.
I showed up for school late (unexcused). 45,9 18,6 37,1 41,4 17,0 39,9
I cut at least one class. 29,3 10,5 47,8 38,6 22,9 50,9
I did not go to school (unexcused). 52,2 32,2 36,8 34,9 11,0 32,9
I misbehaved in class. 71,1 59,4 21,6 27,8 7,3 12,8
A teacher gave me a warning because of my 73,8 52,4 21,0 33,1 5,2 14,4
attendance or behaviour.
I had to see the principal because of 95,6 89,8 3,4 7,3 1,0 2,9
problems with my attendance or behaviour.
My parent(s)/guardian(s) received a warning 89,1 69,3 8,4 19,8 2,6 10,9

about my attendance or behaviour.
My parent(s)/guardian(s) received a warning 88,2 70,4 9,8 21,6 2,1 8,0
about my grades or homework.
I got into an argument with one of my 83,7 68,0 13,7 22,5 2,6 9,5
teachers.
I got in a physical fight with another student. 88,2 83,6 9,7 10,9 2,1 5,6
Table 6 displays the frequency of respondents’ acts of problematic behaviour. Notable

differences are observed for all items referring to truancy that have a higher occurrence
among vocational school students.
Table 7. Grades*
What kind of grades did you make on your most National sample Local sample
recent report card?
Mostly 10s 9,1 0,4
Mostly 9s and 10s 32,3 7,0
* The values in the table represent percentages.
There are striking differences in terms of grades among the 2 samples (Table 7). The
rates of respondents who obtain high grades (mostly 10s, mostly 9s and 10s) are much higher
for the high school students, while the percentages of students who get low grades (mostly
6s and 7s, mostly 5s and 6s) are much higher for the vocational school students.
Principal Components Analysism

Although the psychometric properties of the scales were assessed using Cronbach’s alpha
coefficients (see Table 2), an additional approach was needed in order to examine whether
all the items of a scale are expressed by the same factor. Principal Components Analysis was
used to extract the components the items of each scale load on. All items in each scale were
expected to load satisfactory on one underlying factor. The extraction method used was
Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and the rotation method was Varimax with Kaiser
Normalization. For easier reading of the matrices, values under 0,40 have been suppressed.
This procedure was run only on the national sample data.
The 2 components extracted for the School safety scale are marking a difference in the
gravity of the acts of indiscipline (Table 8). The first component includes the items depicting
a more violent school environment (inter‑ethnic conflicts, verbal and physical violence,
destruction of school property, substance abuse etc.). The second component includes the
items that measure milder acts of indiscipline, that are more tolerated in schools, such as
making fun of, picking on other students or smoking.
Table 8. School safety (KMO = 0,922)
Items Component
1 2
Students making fun of other students. 0,82
Students picking on other students. 0,757
Disagreements between students from different ethnic groups. 0,621
Fights among students. 0,684 0,438
Destruction of school property. 0,640
Student use of alcohol. 0,765
Students who smoke cigarettes. 0,615
Student use of illegal drugs. 0,908
Students carrying weapons (knives, clubs etc.). 0,93
Gangs. 0,844
Students verbally abusing teachers. 0,824
Students physically abusing teachers. 0,926
Eigenvalue 6,58 1,6
Note: Where an item loads on 2 factors, the highest value (highlighted) will be considered.
Table 9. Personal safety in school (KMO = 0,827)
Items Component
1
At school I feel protected from violence 0,847
At school I feel protected from theft 0,867
At school I feel protected from insults 0,819
At school I feel protected from blackmail 0,861
Eigenvalue 2,88
All items load on the same component, as this scale is composed of only 4 items (Table 9).
Table 10. Non‑victim status (KMO = 0,874)
Items Component
1 2 3
Someone from school insulted you. 0,801
Someone from school treated you bad. 0,804
Someone from school ignored you when you asked a question. 0,635
Someone from school excluded you from an activity you wanted to take 0,473 0,537
part in.
Someone from school wrongly suspected that you did something bad.
Someone from school treated you unfair. 0,443 0,502
Someone from school discouraged you from doing something important 0,664
for you.
Someone from school seemed surprised that you could do something 0,617
correctly.
Someone from school harassed you for no reason. 0,431 0,500
Someone from school insulted you because of your ethnicity. 0,717

Someone from school picked on you. 0,648
Someone from school threatened to beat you. 0,464 0,535
Someone from school pushed or hit you. 0,449 0,518
Eigenvalue 4,23 1,27 1,13
The 3 components extracted for the Non‑victim status scale also reflect differences in
the type of abuse the respondent was subjected to (Table 10). The first component includes
the items referring to verbal abuse. The second component includes items that depict
emotional or psychological abuse (unfair treatment, lack of support etc.). The third component
comprises of items that describe forms of discrimination and physical abuse. One item did
not load satisfactory on any of the components.
Table 11. Trouble avoidance (KMO = 0,863)
Items Component
1 2
I turned in a homework assignment late or not at all. 0,715
I showed up for school late (unexcused). 0,716
I cut at least one class. 0,741
I did not go to school (unexcused). 0,596
I misbehaved in class. 0,425 0,499
A teacher gave me a warning because of my attendance or behaviour. 0,544 0,533
I had to see the principal because of problems with my attendance or behaviour. 0,752
My parent(s)/guardian(s) received a warning about my attendance or behaviour. 0,717
My parent(s)/guardian(s) received a warning about my grades or homework. 0,739
I got into an argument with one of my teachers. 0,611
I got in a physical fight with another student. 0,686
Eigenvalue 4,10 1,56
The 2 components extracted for Trouble avoidance mark a difference in the gravity of
problem behaviour (Table 11). The first component encompasses more serious behaviour
problems, such as engaging in acts of verbal or physical violence, and skipping classes and
behaving inappropriately to an extent that implies warnings and sanctions. The second
component includes items referring to milder acts of problem behaviour, such as not doing
one’s homework, cutting classes or misbehaving in class.
For each scale, the Kaiser‑Meyer‑Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy is displayed.
The KMO must have values above 0,50 for satisfactory factor analysis to proceed. The KMO
values on all scales show that the sample size is adequate.
The components were extracted based on their Eigenvalue (criteria: Eigenvalue > 1).
Following this procedure, in 3 scales more than 1 component was extracted (Eigenvalue >
1): School safety (2 components), Non‑victim status (3 components) and Trouble avoidance
(2 components).
The Eigenvalue for components 2 and 3 of each scale was very close to 1, suggesting
these components were rather weak. In cases like this, it is safe if all the items constituting
each scale are forced to load on one factor (the component with the highest Eigenvalue).
Correlation analyses
The main objective of the study was to investigate the relations between safety in school and
school behaviour as well as school performance (grades). As the correlation between these
indicators would not provide much insight, and because the PCA showed gradual differences
in the components extracted from each scale, Pearson correlations have been run between
all items of the scales.
Table 12 shows there are significant relations between respondents’ Personal safety in
school and their school behaviour or grades. The more protected they feel (from violence,
theft, insults, blackmail), the less they are inclined to cut classes or misbehave in school.
However, from here it cannot be stated that students skip school or are not disciplined in
class because they do not feel safe when at school, as the correlation coefficients, although
significant, are quite low. The feeling of being unprotected from violence, theft and blackmail
is also associated with lower grades.
Table 12. Pearson correlations between all items of Personal safety in school,
Grades and Trouble avoidance (only for the national sample)
At school I feel protected from...

Violence Theft Insults Blackmail
Grades –0,234** –0,171** –0,049 –0,183**
I turned in a homework assignment late or not at all. –0,104** –0,138** –0,143** –0,113**
I showed up for school late (unexcused). –0,109** –0,125** –0,109** –0,133**
I cut at least one class. –0,193** –0,182** –0,142** –0,171**
I did not go to school (unexcused). –0,116** –0,091** –0,060* –0,105**
I misbehaved in class. –0,079** –0,112** –0,083** –0,092**
A teacher gave me a warning because of my –0,086** –0,107** –0,057* –0,080**
attendance or behaviour.
I had to see the principal because of problems –0,004 –0,058* –0,005 –0,022
with my attendance or behaviour.
My parent(s)/guardian(s) received a warning about –0,109** –0,098** –0,032 –0,072**
my attendance or behaviour.
My parent(s)/guardian(s) received a warning about –0,066* –0,094** –0,021 –0,068*
my grades or homework.
I got into an argument with one of my teachers. –0,059* –0,066* –0,042 –0,052
I got in a physical fight with another student. –0,077** –0,101** –0,091** –0,061*
*p < 0,05, **p < 0,01
Also, it must be noted that the correlations are significant only for the respondents in the
national sample. No significant correlations have been found between Personal safety in school,
school behaviour and grades for the case of vocational high school students (local sample).
Lower levels of school safety are associated with lower grades for the respondents in the
national sample (Table 13 in Annex). The correlations between school safety and school
behaviour are very weak for this sample, therefore no further comments will be made.
On the contrary, higher correlation scores between safety and behaviour were obtained
for the local sample of vocational high school students (Table 14 in Annex). In particular,
the items measuring attendance (I showed up for school late [unexcused]; I did not go to
school [unexcused]; I cut at least one class) correlate positively with nearly all items of
Trouble avoidance, indicating that skipping school is associated with a lower level of safety
in school. As for the Grades, the scores are rather low and correlations are significant only
for a few items, indicating a relation between violence in schools (bullying, smoking, verbally
abusing teachers) and low grades.
Significant associations have been found between Non‑victim status and school behaviour,
suggesting that having experienced an act of violence (verbal, emotional, physical) correlates
with lower attendance, misbehaviour in class and violence on the part of the student (Table
15 in Annex). These results are limited to the national sample. Also, being victim of some
of the acts of violence correlates with lower grades, but the scores are rather weak.
For the local sample, the situation is reversed (Table 16 in Annex). Few items of the
Non‑victim status scale correlated significantly with school behaviour or grades. However,
the direction of the relation was the same: having experienced acts of violence is associated
with a more problematic behaviour in school and lower grades.
Discussion
The results of the research showed an interesting relation between violence in schools and
respondents’ problematic school behaviour: in the national sample, troubled school behaviour
is rather associated with lower levels of personal safety in school and with being more often
the victim of violence. In the local sample this association is absent or very low. However, in
vocational high schools troubled school behaviour is rather associated with school safety –
that is, with the perceived occurrence of violent events at school level and not at personal
level. This may indicate a tendency of being undisciplined if the environment is perceived
as inadequate (rules are not respected, conflicts are tolerated etc.). At national sample level,
the tendency is reversed: being undisciplined is associated with feeling more exposed to
violence and having been subjected to acts of violence. Thus, two opposite dimensions of
violence can be identified: an internal (personalized) and an external (generic) one, each
corresponding to a category of respondents (national sample of high school students,
respectively local sample of vocational high school students). In what concerns school
performance, across both samples higher grades are associated with higher levels of safety,
but the correlation scores are quite low indicating a weak relation.
The data has shown that the presence of different forms of school violence (personalized
and generic) causes a higher probability in students to manifest negative behaviours. These
findings indicate that violence in a microsystem (school) places adolescents’ physical safety
at risk and has a negative impact on an important indicator of school success (trouble
avoidance in schools), confirming the results of previous research (Bowen, Bowen, 1999).
According to the ecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), school violence represents
an environmental risk to development. Following this line of thought, the study identified
two types of perceived violence (at school level and at personal level), associated with violent
behaviour on behalf of the respondents. The results highlight the important relationship between
school safety and students’ attendance and discipline. It is thus recommended that special
attention should be given to school discipline policies as means of preventing school failure.
A limit of this study is that the survey conducted in schools provided data only for the
students who were at school and completed the questionnaire. The results may have looked
different if the students who are very often absent had answered the questions. Also, the
only type of data used was self‑report data. Moreover, caution is needed when interpreting the
results as correlation analyses do not explain causality, but only association. Therefore, it cannot
be established whether, for example, students who verbally abuse teachers tend to get lower
grades or, on the contrary, students who get lower grades tend to verbally abuse teachers.
The analysed scales are proposed6 to school professionals who wish to measure students’
perceptions of safety in school and who wish to investigate the relations between school safety
and students’ school behaviour and performance. The results are useful not only in terms of
identifying the safety‑related problems in schools or identifying the respondents who may need
to be included in intervention programs, but also for drafting evidence based recommendations
for school discipline policies. Although validity tests indicated a good internal consistency
of the scales, the use of additional objective measurements of school violence is encouraged.
Note
1. The School Success Profile (SSP) is a powerful assessment tool for middle and high school students,
providing school, class and individual profiles of social and individual factors that influence school
performance (Bowen, Richman, 2005; Hărăguş, Roth, Dămean, 2010; Hărăguş, Roth, Mezei,
2010; Mezei, Dămean, Dégi, 2010; Hărăguş, Dămean, Roth, 2009).
2. The School Success Profile‑RO was translated and adapted as part of the research project PN‑II
91063/18.10.2007‑2010 financed by CNMP, coordinated by dr. Maria Roth, “Babeş‑Bolyai”
University (www.successcolar.ro), after The School Success Profile, created by G.L. Bowen
and J.M. Richman, Jordan Institute for Families, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(www.schoolsuccessprofile.org).
3. The original research sample included 2.695 middle school and high school students. The current
research only considers the sample of high school respondents.
4. Data was collected in partnership with the Romanian Foundation for Children, Community and
Family (FRCCF) by Julia Todea Várhegyi and Diana Dămean as part of the Strengthening the
Evidence Based Practice of educational CSOs’ Initiative funded by the Education Support
Program – Open Society Foundation.
5. In the 2002 Census there were 89,6% Romanians, 5,7% Hungarian and 4,7% Roma children
reported (0‑19 years old).
6. The permission for adapting and using any of the the School Success Profile‑RO scales must be
requested from the Centre for Evaluating the Socio‑Educational Profiles (CESEP), contact:
cesep@ymail.com.
Annex
Table 13. Pearson correlations between all items of School safety, Grades and Trouble avoidance (only for the national sample)
Grades
student.
in class.
one class.
not at all.
behaviour.
received a
homework
behaviour.
school late
I got into an
I cut at least
(unexcused).
I turned in a
My parent(s)
I misbehaved
or behaviour.
My parent(s)
attendance or
or homework.
I did not go to
of my teachers.
I had to see the
I showed up for
about my grades
of my attendance
of problems with
my attendance or
principal because
fight with another
I got in a physical
a warning because
warning about my
assignment late or
A teacher gave me
argument with one
received a warning
school (unexcused)
Students making fun of 0,021 0,030 0,014 0,022 0,034 0,035 0,031 0,037 0,070** 0,051 0,000 0,065*
other students.
Students picking on other 0,080** 0,000 0,022 0,046 0,050 0,019 0,032 0,016 0,070** 0,031 –0,001 0,052
students.
Students who smoke –0,052 –0,043 –0,116** –0,074** –0,036 –0,023 –0,022 –0,032 0,030 –0,025 –0,069* 0,007
cigarettes.
Disagreements between 0,117** –0,050 0,000 0,022 0,061* –0,014 0,012 0,067* 0,067* 0,032 0,017 0,054*
students from different
ethnic groups.
Fights among students. 0,105** –0,053* –0,014 0,027 0,051 0,005 0,015 0,007 0,031 0,017 0,015 0,060*
Destruction of school 0,071** –0,038 –0,053 0,018 0,025 –0,030 –0,051 –0,059* –0,019 –0,035 –0,025 –0,025
property.
Student use of alcohol. 0,082** –0,039 –0,079** –0,012 0,033 –0,045 –0,008 –0,049 –0,007 –0,015 –0,041 – 0,027
Student use of illegal 0,127** –0,067* –0,055* –0,012 0,005 –0,050 –0,001 –0,012 0,002 –0,009 –0,017 –0,011
drugs.
Students carrying 0,164** –0,063* –0,065* 0,004 –0,003 –0,044 –0,012 –0,007 0,003 –0,007 –0,014 0,009
weapons.
Gangs. 0,138** –0,090** –0,061* 0,008 0,009 –0,038 –0,051 0,014 0,003 –0,012 –0,034 0,025
Students verbally abusing 0,107** –0,043 –0,045 0,016 0,033 –0,069* –0,022 –0,009 –0,021 –0,037 –0,067* 0,006
teachers.
Revista de Asisten]\ Social\, nr. 2/2012
Students physically 0,161** –0,091** –0,053 –0,005 0,012 –0,051 –0,033 0,006 0,017 0,001 –0,030 –0,014
abusing teachers.
*p < 0,05, **p < 0,01
175
176
Table 14. Pearson correlations between all items of School safety, Grades and Trouble avoidance (only for the local sample)
class.
class.
school
Grades
student.
about my
not at all.
homework
behaviour.
behaviour.
school late
I got into an
I turned in a
(unexcused).
(unexcused).
My parent(s)
or behaviour.
My parent(s)
attendance or
or homework.
I did not go to
of my teachers.
I had to see the
I showed up for
I misbehaved in
about my grades
of my attendance
I cut at least one

of problems with
my attendance or
principal because
a warning because
fight with another
I got in a physical
assignment late or
A teacher gave me
argument with one
received a warning
Students making fun of –0,105* 0,083 0,179** 0,176** 0,189** 0,199** 0,146** –0,006 received a warning
0,014 0,041 0,163** 0,083
other students.
Students picking on other –0,082 0,000 0,038 0,090 0,059 0,111* 0,082 0,062 –0,011 –0,001 0,069 0,088
students.
Students who smoke –0,126** 0,090 0,173** 0,216** 0,216** 0,142** 0,085 0,046 0,076 0,051 0,057 0,027
cigarettes.
Disagreements between –0,015 0,006 0,035 0,104* 0,090 0,186** 0,086 0,053 0,075 0,056 0,124** 0,209**
students from different
ethnic groups.
Fights among students. –0,054 0,055 0,103* 0,172** 0,140** 0,242** 0,135** 0,101* 0,095* 0,106* 0,188** 0,206**
Destruction of school –0,060 0,105* 0,097* 0,179** 0,168** 0,197** 0,169** 0,097* 0,062 0,109* 0,180** 0,157**
property.
Student use of alcohol. 0,052 0,087 0,141** 0,184** 0,134** 0,205** 0,162** 0,127** 0,143** 0,098* 0,133** 0,135**
D. Dămean / Violence in Secondary Schools: A Comparative Study
Student use of illegal –0,010 0,055 0,194** 0,159** 0,132** 0,225** 0,203** 0,143** 0,135** 0,166** 0,186** 0,163**
drugs.
Students carrying 0,095* 0,042 0,091 0,153** 0,096* 0,231** 0,216** 0,169** 0,153** 0,182** 0,217** 0,243**
weapons.
Gangs. 0,022 0,074 0,134** 0,161** 0,117* 0,179** 0,158** 0,089 0,142** 0,121* 0,109* 0,229**
Students verbally –0,136** –0,010 0,099* 0,076 0,132** 0,163** 0,110* –0,024 0,007 0,030 0,174** 0,112*
abusing teachers.
Students physically 0,117* 0,072 0,134** 0,147** 0,071 0,218** 0,206** 0,194** 0,139** 0,159** 0,227** 0,274**
abusing teachers.
*p < 0,05, **p < 0,01
Table 15. Pearson correlations between all items of N on‑victim status, Grades and Trouble avoidance (only for the national sample)
class.
class.
school
Grades
student.
about my
not at all.
homework
behaviour.
behaviour.
school late
I got into an
I turned in a
(unexcused).
(unexcused).
My parent(s)
My parent(s)
or behaviour.
attendance or
or homework.
I did not go to
of my teachers.
I had to see the
I showed up for
I misbehaved in
about my grades
I cut at least one

of my attendance
of problems with
my attendance or
principal because
fight with another
I got in a physical
assignment late or
a warning because
received a warning
A teacher gave me
argument with one
received a warning
Someone from school insulted 0,059* 0,070** 0,131** 0,096** 0,074** 0,196** 0,152** 0,109** 0,095** 0,100** 0,167** 0,183**
you.
Someone from school treated 0,050 0,067* 0,142** 0,097** 0,064* 0,171** 0,117** 0,125** 0,049 0,090** 0,132** 0,184**
you bad
Someone from school picked 0,126** 0,015 0,083** 0,082** 0,093** 0,112** 0,071** 0,105** 0,090** 0,138** 0,124** 0,209**
on you.
Someone from school ignored –0,042 0,071** 0,075** 0,055* 0,023 0,068* 0,044 0,093** 0,051 0,041 0,108** 0,055*
you when you asked a question.
Someone from school treated –0,007 0,062* 0,112** 0,104** 0,055* 0,128** 0,076** 0,127** 0,069* 0,094** 0,148** 0,186**
you unfair.
Someone from school –0,026 0,030 0,078** 0,057* 0,017 0,091** 0,047 0,150** 0,086** 0,104** 0,092** 0,130**
discouraged you from doing
something important for you.
Someone from school seemed –0,027 0,037 0,056* 0,062* 0,058* 0,143** 0,103** 0,117** 0,096** 0,057* 0,102** 0,109**
surprised that you could do
something correctly.
Someone from school excluded 0,012 –0,043 0,033 0,010 0,055* 0,086** 0,086** 0,191** 0,125** 0,119** 0,138** 0,156**
you from an activity you
wanted to take part in.
Someone from school 0,071** 0,001 0,108** 0,032 0,130** 0,108** 0,125** 0,226** 0,153** 0,153** 0,195** 0,262**
harassed you for no reason.
Someone from school insulted 0,089** –0,052 0,076** 0,034 0,072** 0,115** 0,090** 0,212** 0,126** 0,172** 0,105** 0,237**
you because of your ethnicity.
Someone from school 0,105** 0,010 0,089** 0,100** 0,034 0,122** 0,098** 0,218** 0,145** 0,159** 0,168** 0,243**
threatened to beat you.
Revista de Asisten]\ Social\, nr. 2/2012
Someone from school pushed 0,215** 0,009 0,086** 0,089** 0,084** 0,103** 0,110** 0,187** 0,169** 0,195** 0,151** 0,331**
or hit you.
*p < 0,05, **p < 0,01
177
178
Table 16. Pearson correlations between all items of Non‑victim status, Grades and Trouble avoidance (only for the local sample)
class.
class.
school
Grades
student.
not at all.
received a
homework
behaviour.
behaviour.
school late
I got into an
I turned in a
(unexcused).
(unexcused).
My parent(s)
or behaviour.
My parent(s)
attendance or
or homework.
I did not go to
of my teachers.
I had to see the
I showed up for
I misbehaved in
about my grades
of my attendance
I cut at least one

of problems with
my attendance or
principal because
a warning because
warning about my
fight with another
I got in a physical
assignment late or
A teacher gave me
argument with one
received a warning
Someone from school insulted –0,059 0,035 0,106* 0,134** 0,070 0,138** 0,033 –0,008 –0,008 0,000 0,105* 0,077
you.
Someone from school treated –0,086 –0,046 0,057 0,092 0,022 0,078 0,048 –0,017 –0,051 –0,057 0,083 0,050
you bad
Someone from school picked 0,014 –0,016 0,029 0,052 0,043 0,138** 0,057 0,072 0,037 0,025 0,071 0,150**
on you.
Someone from school ignored –0,076 –0,110* 0,078 0,067 0,074 0,063 0,018 –0,007 –0,089 –0,015 0,027 –0,041
you when you asked a question.
Someone from school treated –0,094* –0,105* 0,088 0,053 0,069 0,085 0,071 0,011 –0,066 –0,020 0,126** 0,027
you unfair.
Someone from school 0,004 –0,090 0,001 0,018 –0,014 0,076 0,064 0,054 0,022 0,102* 0,122* 0,075
discouraged you from doing
something important for you.
Someone from school excluded 0,041 0,009 0,077 0,074 0,012 0,020 0,094* 0,094* 0,016 0,039 0,044 0,046
D. Dămean / Violence in Secondary Schools: A Comparative Study
you from an activity you

wanted to take part in.
Someone from school insulted 0,127** –0,041 –0,016 0,029 0,053 0,090 0,055 0,101* 0,035 0,050 0,036 0,093
you because of your ethnicity.
Someone from school 0,072 –0,029 0,042 0,046 0,085 0,200** 0,106* 0,091 0,033 0,034 0,109* 0,181**
threatened to beat you.
Someone from school pushed 0,119* –0,072 0,028 0,023 0,075 0,090 0,025 0,014 –0,022 0,007 –0,015 0,103*
or hit you.
*p < 0,05, **p < 0,01
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protection. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1‑12.
Children in Need. Predisposing

Factors in Preventing Child
Abandonment and School Dropout
Claudia Oşvat*
Abstract. The family is a child’s first framework of reference and it represents a vital
element in their upbringing. But what happens when families face financial and inter‑relational
problems? In most cases these problems will mark the child’s later physical and
psychological development and their future life will depend on the way they manage to
overcome them. The present study aims to present the services of the Oradea Community
Center, run by the Romanian Foundation for Children, Community and Family, whose
results in supporting families and preventing children from dropping out of school have
been remarkable in recent years. We have conducted focus group interviews with adolescents
included in the programs of the Center, individual semi‑structured interviews with experts
(social workers, the psychologist, the psycho‑pedagogue, and teachers) who work for the
Center, as well as analyzed children’s files in order to highlight the specialist intervention
provided at the Center. We have given a particular attention to the work carried out in
order to prevent school abandonment. The results show that for the adolescents included
in the programs of the Center, school has become more important; therefore they are
better integrated in school and make progress as a result of their continuous efforts.
Keywords: child, needy families, school dropout, day care center, intervention
Introduction
In Romania, in the communist era, the national strategy was enforced by a paternalistic
model of the state intervening at both the individual and the community level. By centralizing
activities in child protection, the role of the family and the community decreased, the state
aiming for absolute control in all matters involving the protection of children. Institutionalization
was the key protection measure (Lambru, Roşu, 2000). The outcome was terrible, with up
to 100.000 children in 1989 living in residential institutions nationwide (Cojocaru, 2009).
The period 1989‑1997 was characterized by efforts to develop strategies, to change the
legal framework (e.g. The UN Convention on the Rights on the Child, ratified by Law
18/1990), while transferring state responsibility, until then the sole provider in regard to
child protection, to local communities (Emergency Ordinance 26/1997). After 1997, a series
of specific services were developed in order to meet a wide range of needs. The target was
* Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Oradea, 5 Universităţii Street, tel: 0259
408256, e‑mail: claudiaosvat@gmail.com.
182 C. Oşvat / Children in Need. Predisposing Factors in Preventing Child Abandonment
and School Dropout
to significantly reduce the number of children in public and private residential services, as
a result of implementing de‑institutionalization policies, either by reintegrating children in
their natural or extended family, or by replacing institutional care with a family‑based
measure, thus promoting the idea of the child’s harmonious development in all respects in
an environment enabling them to become members of society, which is best achieved within
a family (http://www.mmuncii.ro/pubimagemanager/image/file/Statistica/Buletin%20statistic/
2011/copii%20trim_I%202011.pdf). Therefore, reducing the number of entries in residential
care would not be possible without developing services aimed to prevent separations from
parents. Some of these services are: day care centers, recovery centers, counseling centers
for parents and children etc.
Harmonizing the law to meet new requirements through Law 272/2004 regarding the
protection and promotion of children’s rights, and Ordinance no. 860/2008 on approving the
national strategy in the protection and promotion of children’s rights 2008‑2013, accounted
for only a fraction of the legal changes regulating child protection in our country. The
emerging idea is that family is a framework of reference for the child’s development, and
the state and the local and central public authorities provide children and families with
protection measures in order to reduce risks.
Thus, art. 18, section 1 of the Convention on the Rights on the Child stresses: “States
Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure recognition of the principle that both parents
have shared responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child. Parents or, as
the case may be, legal guardians, have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and
development of the child. The best interests of the child will be their basic concern” (UN
Convention on the Rights on the Child, 1990, 6). In addition, art. 32 of Law 272/2004
specifies: “The child is entitled to live in conditions which ensure their physical, mental,
spiritual, moral and social development” (Law 272/2004, 5). Moreover, through the national
strategy on the protection and promotion of children’s rights 2008‑2013 (chapter 1 General
Objective of the Strategy), policy makers aim to promote the implementation of the children’s
rights in accordance with the UN Convention, “in all matters of interest for children: society,
family, education, health”, the strategy emphasizing also “the primary role of parents in
raising, caring for and educating children and that the society should focus its efforts on
strengthening and supporting the family in taking responsibility for the child”.
Although there is a legal framework adapted to European standards and practices, one can
identify errors in implementing protection measures for children and families. Such errors can
develop as a result of existing rules and values promoted in our society, of poverty and inadequacies
in service delivery. However, there are examples of good practice that can be referenced,
evidence to the involvement by social actors in managing problems facing certain groups.
A Study on the Needs of at Risk Children

and the Importance of Specialist Services
As noted before, the existing legal framework in our country gives priority to the role played by
the family in the child’s upbringing, care and education on the one hand, and the role of society
in general and the local community in particular in providing support to the family in order to
cope with possible difficulties that may create dysfunctions at the family level. However in
Romania, there are many vulnerable families with children: “poor families, dysfunctional
families, single‑parent families, families with multiple children, rural and peri‑urban families,
Roma families, families with disabled children or with children infested with HIV/AIDS”
(Stanciu, 2008, 130).
The target group in this study consists of children deprived of parental care, a group of
vulnerable children. Family characteristics are the ones specified above. It is known that
each of us has a set of needs; for a normal development and functioning, it is important to
meet them (the most famous classification of needs is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
physiological needs, safety and security needs, love and belonging needs, respect and
self‑esteem needs and self‑actualization needs). The family represents the framework in
which these needs can be met. If these needs are not met adequately, one’s development
may be stopped or present a decline due to negative emotional experiences caused by the
distress/trauma the individual has been exposed to (Muntean, 2001). Generally speaking, in
families facing: poverty, the absence of a parent, domestic violence etc., children are more
likely to become victims of neglect and other forms of abuse. The failure to meet the basic
needs of the child (physiological, love and security, stimulation, appreciation etc.) takes a
heavy toll on their physical, psychological and/or mental development. This will also have
consequences on their ability to become part of groups and fulfill social roles.
Through the existing legal framework and the social protection measures implemented
in our country, policy makers strive to support needy families in order to prevent crisis
situations, through financial means and institutional systems (Stanciu, 2008), social service
networks. Obviously, social services play an important role in this context. Not only do
developed social services such as public education services, child care, counseling and
therapy, public health services etc. safeguard the child’s psychological, intellectual and
physical harmonious development, but they also support the whole family in identifying and
mobilizing resources to overcome the problems they face.
The intervention focuses mainly on supporting the family with children to increase their
problem‑solving abilities. The role of central and local authorities comes thus into play, since
the services they provide for persons at risk, aim to meet their needs. Public‑private partnerships
in developing such services have been an extremely important aspect towards developing
new services or improving existent ones to enhance quality of life for all persons at risk.
An example of such a service is the Oradea Community Center, run by the Romanian
Foundation for Children, Community and Family (FRCCF) – Oradea operational office.
The Romanian Foundation for Children, Community and Family is a nongovernmental
organization, legally registered in 1997 by the organization The Christian Children’s Funds
of Great Britain. If until 2010, the organization relied mostly on external financing, the
strategy gradually changed and currently, it is ensured through accessing non‑refundable
funding. The foundation receives every year the accreditation from the Children Protection
Commission in Cluj and it is a member of the Child Protection NGO Federation (FONPC),
as well as of the Social Services NGO Council (CONSENS). The general headquarters are
in Cluj‑Napoca and there is also an operational office in Oradea, as mentioned previously.
The mission of the foundation is “to support the most vulnerable and marginalized
children so that they grow up in a safe and secure family environment and to benefit from
education and proper medical services” (FRCCF Annual Report, 2010, p. 2).
Since the start of the programs, The Romanian Foundation for Children, Community and
Family has focused on developing services to prevent neglect and other forms of abuse both
in family and institutional settings, as well as on implementing community development
projects. If initially, programs aimed to provide support to needy families and to children
in residential institutions in order to meet their basic needs, the new approach involves social,
psychological, legal and medical services, alongside educational components (FRCCF Annual
Report, 2008), in tackling the multiple problems needy families are faced with, all services
available through these community centers. At present, there are 7 day care centers owned
by the Romanian Foundation for Children, Community and Family, in Cluj‑Napoca, Oradea,
and School Dropout
Satu Mare, Alba Iulia, Câmpia Turzii and Popeşti. In 2010, a number of 1800 children
benefitted from the services delivered in community centers (FRCCF Annual Report, 2010).
Oradea Community Center was founded in 2002 after receiving an European Union grant
through the PHARE program for the project “Creating a network of community centers to
prevent abandonment”. Similar centers were created at that time in the cities Câmpia Turzii
and Satu Mare. After the EU funding through the PHARE program ended, the Oradea
Community Center activities were sustained by USAID funding through the GRASP program,
a similar project entitled “Integrated social services for the community”, followed by another
PHARE funding.
Center activities are currently funded through a project co‑financed by the Romanian
Government and the Social European Fund, through the Operational Program Human
Resources Development 2007‑2013. The Center also received a subsidy from the Ministry
of Labor in accordance to Law 34/1998 and it runs smaller projects in partnership with local
donors such as the Humanitarian Sapphire Association or the City‑hall of Oradea.
The goal of the project is to prevent child abandonment and school dropout. The target
group is made up of children/families at risk, such as: children reintegrated in their families
after having been institutionalized, children not enrolled in school, children with learning
disabilities, street children, abused children, disabled children, unemployed youth and adults,
parents of disabled children, parents of abused children, as well as specialists and volunteers
who provide services through the Center.
Clients are involved in the following services and activities: education, support and care,
psychological counseling for child and family, social and leisure activities (activities aimed
at both school reintegration for children who dropped out of school, and supporting children
enrolled in a form of education through tutoring students in classes 5‑8 in Romanian and
Mathematics, homework support for students in classes 1‑4, psychological counseling, speech
therapy, health education, social and leisure activities etc.). The children attending the Center
activities also get a warm meal.
The following personnel works in the Center: 1 community center manager, 3 social
workers, 1 counselor, 1 psychologist, 1 psycho‑pedagogue, 2 part‑time primary school
teachers, 2 part‑time teachers, 1 cleaning person.
To assist clients in solving their problems, specialists collaborate with educational
establishments attended by the children, with the County School Board and public adminis
tration institutions at the local and/or county level (Oradea Social Community Administration,
the General Department for Social Work and Child Protection Bihor).
Family is for children an environment where they develop, from one stage to the next in
preparing for an independent life. Social and economic difficulties (poverty, social margi
nalization, domestic violence, single‑parent household etc.) may lead to changes in the family
relationships, harming the intra and extra‑family balance. Understanding and accepting the
current situation by all family members, mobilizing and identifying useful coping strategies,
overcoming crises, restoring the family environment, are only a few of the priorities families
at risk must set for themselves. Given the complex dynamics, it is important that family
members be supported in their actions both by professionals, community members and society
in general. The optimal functioning of the family depends largely on the contribution of each
of these factors, thus the family becomes capable of managing their problems (one can speak
of family empowerment).
Similar studies, seeking to integrate the needs of this social group, have reached the
following similar conclusions: children growing up in loving, yet stressful family environments
“develop emotional disorders and antisocial behaviors” (Muntean, 2001, 27); children
victims of domestic violence face difficulties in emotional, social and physical development,
“school problems, behavioral and relational problems, an impaired problem‑solving ability”

(Buzducea, 2009, 273); “maltreated children belong to disorganized families, with a low
socio‑economic level”, the characteristics influencing family functioning are in fact risk
factors in child maltreatment (Ionescu, Jourdan‑Ionescu, 2001, 25); education is extremely
important, being a direct part of the children’s life and it sets up the basis for a successful
preparation for adult life, for work and a life standard; difficulties in this area can create
future problems: unemployment, social exclusion, even delinquency (Facan, Pabon, 1990;
Hartnagel, Krahn, 1989, apud Onatsu‑Arvilommi, Nurmi, 1997); living in poverty can be
a stressor affecting family stability and its ability to meet the basic needs of the members
(Hepworth, Rooney, Dewberry Rooney, Strom‑Gootfried, Larsen, 2010).
Methodology
Based on previous research, this study aimed to monitor to what extent these problems exist
in families of children attending activities within the Oradea Community Center. Such a
study may provide further information in understanding this issue.
The objective of the study

The general objective of the study was to capture specific aspects regarding the needs of
children at risk (difficult family situation, poverty, school dropout, abuse and neglect etc.).
Method and analysis

The methods we selected for the study were: group interview (applied to a group of teenagers)
and semi‑structured individual interview (applied professionals working in the center) since
these two methods can produce a clear image on the needs of children at risk.
The two interviews consisted of aspects along the following dimensions: family (shared
activities, rules, pocket money, interpersonal relationships), school (results, social integration,
school value), leisure (extracurricular activities), in‑group (self‑identification, group of
friends), the meaning of the Center for teenagers, their (economic and social) problems –
both from the children’s and the specialists’ standpoint, identifying the problems specialists
face in activities involving the children, the results of their work.
Information from theme analysis (Singly et al., 1998) of the interviews helped in drawing
a general picture about the life led by these children.
The research sample

To achieve our objective, 10 teenagers aged 13 to 16 (7 girls and 3 boys), from families with
socio‑economic difficulties, living in Oradea, participated in the study. The information was
added to the additional data provided by professionals working in the center: 3 social
workers, a psychologist and a psycho‑pedagogue.
Research ethics
Note: All of the participants in the study expressed their verbal consent to be involved in
this activity.
and School Dropout
Results
As follows, we shall present the results of interview analysis, along a series of dimensions.
a. Family (type of family, shared activities, rules, pocket money, interpersonal relationships)
In regards to the type of family, most participants live in single‑parent households (5
children), 3 of them live with both parents, one child has a step father, and another one was
abandoned by his family and is currently living in a family‑type home under the General
Department of Social Work and Child Protection.
Moving onto the topic of shared activities within the family, most of the participants
stated that they do not get involved in mutual activities with other family members. Only 3
of them claimed that they “talk” to their parents about certain aspects “concerning their
personal life and school, or go for a walk with their parents” (J.M. 15 yrs, B.S. 14 yrs, and
A.P. 14 yrs). All the statements pointed to distant intra‑family relationships.
Pocket money was a delicate topic. Only 3 of the participants said they “sometimes”
received small sums of money when their parents could afford it (B.S. 14 yrs, A.P. 14 yrs,
Z.H. 15 yrs).
On what family rules are concerned, most teenagers stated that if the rules were broken
(e.g. bad marks, the teenager does not clean up or is late etc.), they would be punished. The
most invoked punishments were: they were forbidden to meet with friends (5 participants)
and they were beaten (4 participants).
b. School (results, class integration, school value)
The general school situation of these teenagers can be assessed as being poor. Both their
academic results and their relationships with their classmates and teachers are serious matters
of concern. Most participants in the study have “experiences of repeating classes or failure”
(B.S. 14 yrs, A.P. 14 yrs, Z.H. 15 yrs, L.H. 14 yrs). Due to the socio‑economic level of
their families, most teenagers do not see school as a success factor in life. Their relationship
with school is influenced by the Center activities and professionals who stress on preventing
school dropout, on the value of school education, and provide them with positive role models.
A relevant aspect concerning attitudes towards educational activities was pointed out by
3 participants who expressed “a positive self‑evaluation of their academic results, linking
their recent progress to attending Center activities” (R.C. 15 yrs, J.M. 15 yrs, Z.H. 15 yrs).
c. Leisure (extracurricular activities)
Due to their families’ socio‑economic situation, participation in organized extracurricular
activities is restricted. Most of the teenagers “stated that they stayed at home” (L.H. 14 yrs,
Z.H. 15 yrs) or “spent time with their friends” (L.M. 14 yrs, K.T. 16 yrs, B.S. 14 yrs,
A.P. 14 yrs, R.C. 15 yrs, A.P. 14 yrs). Extracurricular activities they participated in were
exclusively the ones organized in the Center (social activities, games, contests etc.).
d. In‑group (self‑identification, group of friends)
Regarding their group of friends, participants felt that their relationships with the other
teenagers attending Center activities were close. They considered themselves a part of the
group, alongside their peers whom they would meet almost on a daily basis at the Center.
Groups created at the Center were not mixed in terms of gender.
A small social circle is determined by the socio‑economic situation of the family, the
lack of extracurricular activities and the deficient relationship with the class, the group of
friends showing strong similarities between members.
e. The meaning of the Community Center for teenagers

Being involved in Center activities proved to be for the participants in the study the most
important and useful way of spending time. In addition to socializing with other similar‑age
teens, in Center activities, they have access to tutors, information resources and materials
necessary for personal development.
For nine of them, at a first assessment, the center was considered a “support for study”.
When a teenage girl stated that it actually provided “support for anything” (B.S. 14 yrs),
the rest of the group reassessed the issue and agreed with her opinion.
f. The problems clients face
Social workers participating in the study identified a number of problems that children/
teenagers attending the Center face. In the effort to highlight major issues facing this group of
clients, one of them was: “a family environment not suitable for the upbringing and education
of children (neglect and other forms of abuse)” (social works). Although the psychologist and
psycho‑pedagogue “consider these children/teenagers capable, with a potential for learning, family
environment has had an impact on their development”. The outcome is troubling. Most of them
present behavioral disorders caused by affective, educational and material deficiencies (aggressive
conduct – increased verbal and physical aggression, low frustration tolerance). The absence of
positive role models in the family, the low value attached to school by parents (most of them left
school after the 8th grade), a stressful family environment, a poor or nonexistent parent(s) – child
relationship, the low parental investment in the child and the lack of support (which instead
“comes from friends”), only makes them react in ways disapproved of by societal norms.
Returning to the family, the issues these families face are diverse and multiple and may
cause harm to the family environment. An unstable financial situation (very low income)
and the fact that they do not live in their own residence (most of them live in social apartments
or pay rent to physical persons, while some live illegally in abandoned houses), are issues
to be considered in analyzing/assessing the situation. Another specific problem is the low
level of involvement and interest shown by parents in regard to schooling and education.
They insist that they are interested in these matters, yet their lack of efforts speaks for itself.
The parents’ alcohol or/and gambling addictions also harms their relationship with the
children (intra‑family relationships). An extremely important element in this context is the
involvement of parents and children in shared activities. Family members share few programs
and activities, and practically watching TV is the only activity involving all family members.
g. Identifying the problems specialists face in activities involving the children
Addressing these issues, the social workers, psychologist and psycho‑pedagogue working
with this group of clients, consider “the most important one a lack of collaboration with the
parents of the children/teenagers included in the program”. The results would be significantly
different if the parents showed more interest/motivation in changing the way they usually
deal with their problems. In such cases, professionals should intervene not only at the
individual level, but also at the family level – which is practically impossible in most cases.
As to the children/teenagers who are involved in Center activities, one of the main
problems specialists face in working with them is “the low motivation and interest for
activities” (social workers, psychologist and psycho‑pedagogue). Most of them lack the
interest and the patience to participate. Another issue is the inconsistent participation of
some clients, as well as their behavior, language, and the conflicts between them.
h. The results achieved by professionals in their work
In spite of a difficult work environment, the results are all the more relevant. For
specialists, a teenager continuing his education or improved behavior in most children/
and School Dropout
teenagers are satisfactions of their work. Kindling the child’s interest in creative activities,
skill development, showing some small progress in the school situation, all play an essential
part in the child’s development and help them prepare for an independent life.
Conclusions of the study

As seen in the data analysis section, there are many cases of children/teenagers in distress,
and their parents cannot provide them with the care, safety, and the love they need. The
most important problem is that such an environment has negative effects on the children’s
emotional development, which causes changes in behavior and long‑term effects on their
group and community integration.
This study shows that there are support services for youth at risk, but a one‑sided
intervention is not enough. Children and teenagers need a family. Community centers cannot
replace families; however in reality, they often do. Analyzing the situation in regards to the
teenagers and the professionals working directly with this group of clients, the main idea is
that day care centers play an important role in assisting at risk teens. However, one cannot
emphasize enough: such a center is not a substitute for a family. Teenagers who participate
in activities have certain needs which cannot be provided through these services. One of the
social workers stated that the teenagers’ basic needs were not met. Often their sole motivation
to attend center activities is “to receive a warm meal” (C.M., social worker). Furthermore,
their safety needs, the need to be loved and to be part of a family are not met. Such a family
environment is not suitable for their upbringing and education. Not having positive role
models, being undervalued and disrespected within the family leads to a behavior which is
often not accepted within the classroom and the community. A behavior labeled antisocial
is in fact a means of expression used by these teenagers. One of the most important issues
identified by professionals participating in the study is a lack of parental involvement in
solving problems within the family. The work professionals do with these children and
teenagers is not enough, since the latter return to the same environment and face the same
problems. In spite of their claims to the contrary, parents do not make an effort to change.
However, for professionals, knowing they have managed to support their clients and prevent
them from dropping out of school, and provide them with a pleasurable and useful way of
spending time at the center, where they feel cherished, is one of their main professional
satisfactions.
Conclusions
“Analysis on child welfare and the structures established to promote it emphasize the intricate
interrelations between the child’s needs, the family environment and the social setting, as
well as the societal notions on childhood and family” (Roth, 2000, 70). A commitment to
meeting the child’s needs and a growing awareness about child neglect and abuse have led
to a new philosophy on child protection, focusing on preventing abandonment and supporting
families at risk. The outcomes have been an adapted legal framework and a child protection
reform implemented in accordance with international standards.
Thus, child protection programs are based on the idea that parents have the primary
responsibility in the upbringing, care and education of children. When for various reasons,
parents fail to do so, the state and the civil society are bound to intervene, providing assistance
and support to families while enabling them to look after their children, if possible (American
Humane Association. Children’s Division, 1999).
As we have seen, in Romania there is a legal framework adapted to international

standards; support services for children and families at risk have been developed through
public‑private partnerships, and there are trained specialists working in these services.
However, the number of children subjected to various forms of abuse, neglect or exploitation
in our country is very high and remained constant or even increasing. Data (reference:
General Departments of Social Work and Child Protection – nationwide) show that in 2010
the number of children abused, neglected or exploited was 11.232; 7.718 of them remained
in the family and received specific services (psychological, medical, educational etc.). In
July 2011, there were 5.550 children subjected to a form of abuse or neglect, 3.834 of them
remaining in the family and receiving services (http://www.copii.ro/alte_categorii.html).
For measures implemented to be effective, we must call attention to the collaboration
between members of families at risk and professionals working in child protection. It is
important not to intervene only at the individual level, which is often the case (specialists
working only with the child), but at the family level. This partnership also needs to be
integrated in a larger community system in which all stakeholders are actively involved:
public institutions specialized in child protection, non‑governmental organizations, educa
tional establishments, health establishments and even community members.
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The Social Inclusion of the Children and

Young People with Social Disabilities –
between Desideratum and Reality
Camelia Stăiculescu*, Monica Ungureanu**
Abstract. The social inclusion of children and young people with disabilities represents
a desideratum for many countries. We can find this direction in the national and
international policies, and this is the declared purpose of many public and private organisms.
The present article analyzes the results of a survey conducted in families which have
children/young people with disabilities in their care. The survey tried to identify to what
degree and in what manner the fundamental rights, stipulated in the current legislation,
are respected: the right to education, the right to social assistance, the right to accessibility,
the right to a personal assistant and the right to information. Respecting these rights
leads to preventing the exclusion of people with disabilities and to a better social inclusion
of these people. The results of this research show us, to a certain extent, which is the
social inclusion degree for children and young people with physical disabilities and how
their rights, stipulated in the current Romanian legislation, are respected.
Keywords: social inclusion of people with disabilities, fundamental rights
Introduction
The social inclusion of people considered vulnerable is a highly debated problem nowadays,
on national as well as on international level. The social policies adopted by several states as
well as on European level are based on the limitation of the social exclusion situations and
on the adoption of adequate social inclusion measures (the European Union policies, The
Maastricht Treaty, the objectives of the European Social Fund, EU Social Action Programs,
the Lisbon Strategy, the Europe 2020 Strategy etc.).
The social integrationist policies are based on values such as “fighting against social exclusion”
and “promoting social inclusion”. However, these remain “simple declarations of intent” if “the
respective values are not reflected from the area of policies in objectives and actions that give
content to the social inclusion” (Arpinte, Baboi, Cace, Tomescu (Doboş), Stănescu 2008).
* Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, 6 Căderea Bastiliei Street, Bucharest, Project

coordinator, The Association of Support for Children with Physical Disabilities – Romania,
tel.: 0721.405.991, e‑mail camistaiculescu@yahoo.com.
** The Association of Support for Children with Physical Disabilities – Romania (ASCHF‑R),
36, G‑ral Haralambie Street, Bucharest, tel.: 0745.342.653, e‑mail mona.ungureanu@yahoo.
com.
192 C. Stăiculescu, M. Ungureanu / The Social Inclusion of the Children and Young People with
Social Disabilities – between Desideratum and Reality
Social exclusion was often associated with marginalization, poverty, social risk, low
quality of life etc. From the seventh decade of the last century R. Lenoir (Les Exclus, 1974)
enumerates “the excluded”, represented by all social categories which were not included in
the social insurance systems specific to the welfare state. Among these there are also the
people with physical and mental disabilities.
In the Romanian academic environment social exclusion “refers mainly to a situation of
failure in the complete accomplishment of citizen rights, due to some structural causes of
socioeconomic nature, as well as to some causes of individual nature” (Zamfir, Preda, Dan,
2007, 241).
The causes of social exclusion can be multiple. We appreciate the model offered by
Burchard, Le Grand and Pichaudau (2002) as being an integrative and explicit model as far
as the causes of social exclusion are concerned. The model provides six explanatory levels
of social exclusion:
1. the individual (age, ethnicity, disability etc.);
2. the family (children, care responsibilities);
3. the community (environment, social services);
4. local (transport, workforce market);
5. national (social insurance);
6. global (migration, climate change).
Social exclusion can be prevented through a series of rights for the people who present
a risk of social exclusion on all 6 levels listed. In the Romanian legislation the rights and
obligations of people with disabilities are given with the purpose of these people’s integration
and social inclusion. Social inclusion contains the set of measures and multidimensional
actions in the fields of social protection, workforce occupancy, housing, education, health,
information and communication, mobility, security, justice and culture, destined for fighting
against social exclusion (Law 448/2006).
Official statistics published by the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection on
30 September 2011 shows us that in Romania are registered 688.199 persons with disabilities.
Of these, 97,5% (671.044 people) are cared by their families and/or live independently (not
institutionalized) and 2,5% (17.155 people) are in public residential institutions of social
assistance for adults with disabilities (institutionalized) coordinated by the Ministry of Labour,
Family and Social Protection through General Direction for Protection of People with
Disabilities.
According to the Romanian legislation, people with disabilities have several rights which
contribute to the social integration of people with disabilities and to the fight against their
exclusion.
But which is actually the reality? What happens on an individual level, on the level of
families who have people with disabilities in their care?
These questions represent the starting point of the social investigation that led us to the
results and conclusions we are presenting below.
The research, designed and conducted by the authors of this article, took place on the
level of the families that are members of the Association of Support for Children with Physical
Disabilities Romania1.
The sociological investigation was conducted in the period February – May 2010 as part
of the project “Know my world!” – Project financed by the governments of Iceland,
Principality of Liechtenstein and Norway through the Financial Mechanism of the European
Economic Space.
The research2 tried to identify to what degree the rights of the children/young people
with physical disabilities and those of their families are respected, rights which are stipulated
in Law 448/2006 regarding the protection and promotion of the rights of people with
disabilities, and to measure/quantify the degree of social inclusion of children/young people
with physical disabilities who are in the care of families – members of ASCHF‑R.
All people questioned have in their family at least one person with physical disabilities
(or associate).
According to the last certificate attesting the category of the disability the people
questioned have:
Degree of physical disability %

Severe physical disability 87
Pronounced physical disability 9
Medium physical disability 3
Slight physical disability 1
Total 100
Figure 1. The distribution of the disability degree for the people

who were the subject of the investigation
The distribution according to age category of the children who were the subject of this
research is the following:
The age of people with physical disabilities %

1‑6 years old 9
7‑14 years old 32
15‑18 years old 15
19‑24 years old 23
25 years old and older 21
Total 100
Figure 2. The distribution according to age category of the people

relevant for the research
The research tried to identify whether the following categories of rights of children and
young people with physical disabilities are respected or not: the right to education, the right
to personal assistant, the right to information, the right to work.
The Contents of the Article

1. The right to education
The analysis of the results obtained showed that during the past 10 years progress was made
as far as the integration of children with disabilities in schools is concerned: if 38% of the
19 year old young people never went to school, only 23% of the children aged 7‑18 years
old are not schooled. The highest growth rate was noted for school integration in the day
centers, most of these centers being managed by non‑governmental organizations.
Figure 3. The schooling form for the people who are the subject of the research
One third of the children aged 7‑18 years (35%) are in primary grades (grades I‑IV),
one quarter (24%) of the young people have graduated high school, and 14% of the young
people have college education (compared to 18% of the young people from the general
population who have upper education). The 14% percentage of young people with physical
disabilities who participated in a higher education schooling form demonstrates that they
are capable of learning and of obtaining superior performances.
Figure 4. The schooling level of the people who are the subject of the research
80% of the children with physical disabilities of primary school age, 41% of the gymnasium
students and 28% of those of high school age are integrated in school at the schooling level
appropriate for their age. More than a third (36%) of the children aged between 11 and 14
are still in primary grades and a third of the children aged between 15 and 18 are still in
gymnasium. 44% of the young people aged between 19 and 24 and 33% of the young people
over 25 are not schooled and that is why their risk of not being socially and professionally
integrated is at a maximum.
The reasons invoked by the members of the questioned families for the lack of school
integration of children and young people with physical disabilities are multiple:
– the severity of the disabilities – for young people this reason is twice as often although
the severity of the handicap is not higher for them: 83% of the young people have a
serious disability, as compared to 90% of the children who have a serious disability. The
parents’ conceptions and low level of information can be an explanation for the higher
probability of school non‑integration in the case of young people;
– rejection coming from the school institution;
– the fact that home schooling is inexistent;
– lack of money for school supplies and clothes;
– the impossibility of transport to school.
For children with physical disabilities the main barriers in the way of their school
integration are the difficulty as far as transportation is concerned (30% of the cases) and the fact
that the school program is inadequate for their specific needs (difficult learning tasks – 28%,
the lack of the support teacher – 18%).
Other difficulties of school integration are related to the severity of the illness which
induces special needs regarding dressing, toilet, too long school schedule, treatment etc.
The school is still “unfriendly” for children with physical disabilities. A significant
percentage of the children perceive the learning tasks as being too difficult, and the lack of
accessibilities and of the support teacher enhance their discomfort in the school environment.
Figure 5. Schooling difficulties reported by the people who are the subject of the research
2. The right to medical assistance

9 of 10 children/young people (92%) with physical disabilities benefit from consultation and
treatment prescribed by the family physician and only 28% of them have benefited during the
last 2 years from treatments in specialized recovery centres. 9% of the children/young people
with physical disabilities have benefited during the last two years only from the services of the
family physician, although the affections they have require assistance from specialized physicians.
Figure 6. Medical services the people with disabilities have benefited from
Figure 7. The level of satisfaction regarding the medical services accessed

by people with disabilities
The general satisfaction reported to the medical assistance received is low, most of the
analyzed medical services being below the average satisfaction which is considered to be 8,6
(measured on a scale from 1 to 10) in customer satisfaction studies.
The parents of the children (0‑18 years old) are not satisfied first of all with the quality
of the service provided by the specialist physicians, of those provided by the physicians in
county hospitals and with the quality of the balneary treatment. The parents of the young
people (19+ years old) are not satisfied with the medical assistance in recovery centers and
with the quality of the medical devices received.
The children’s medical assistance needs are different from those of the young people with
disabilities. Children need, more than young people, medical assistance for recovery (speech
therapy, orthopaedics, ophthalmology). Young people need, more than children, dentist and
cardiology assistance.
Figure 8. Types of medical assistance perceived as being necessary
3. The right to acessibilities

Most of the respondents (50‑70%), parents who have in their care children/young people
with disabilities declare that the public spaces are not made accessible in the place they
live in.
The main difficulties of children/young people with physical disabilities as far as movement
is concerned are:
– difficult access to institutions (narrow doors, stairs inside the buildings etc.);
– insufficient means of public transportation means made accessible;
– insufficient access ramps in schools, apartment buildings, shops, hospitals and other
institutions;
– insufficient sidewalks adapted to disabled people’s needs.
Latest statistics data published by the National Authority for the people with disability
(reported in December 2006) show that for all public buildings (schools and universities,
prefectures and county councils, city halls, general directions for social assistance and child
protection, public health units – clinics, hospitals, health centers etc., financial administration
and courts) the general level of public accessibility is:
– 100% – 3,45%;
– Partial – 49,5%;
– Lack of accessibility – 46,96%.
Figure 9. The physical barriers that people with physical disabilities encounter
4. The right to a personal assistant

9 out of 10 children (0‑18 years old) and 8 of 10 young people (19 years old and older) who
are in the care of the families questioned can be placed in the category of severe physical
disabilities and, according to the law, they have the right to a personal assistant.
The great majority (80%) of families who have in their care children/young people with
severe disabilities opt for hiring a personal assistant, and this decision is made first of all
after consulting with the family (50% of the cases) or at the suggestion of local authorities
(38% of the cases).
Those who opted for the monthly indemnity (20% of the respondents) are better educated
and live in households with higher incomes (the medium income per household is almost
double, from 1522 RON to 2831 RON), compared to the respondents who opted for hiring
a personal assistant.
The personal assistant is one of the parents (89%), in 90% of the cases the mother and
only in 7% of the cases another person in the family.
A serious situation is encountered in the case of 6% of the personal assistants who
received their salary once every 3 months or even more rarely and 3% who do not receive
the whole salary because the indemnity for the number of years worked was not taken into
account.
Figure 10. Types of support for which opted the families that have children
/young people with physical disabilities in their care
Figure 11. Benefits of personal assistants of children/young people

with physical disabilities
5. The right to information

The parents of children/young people with physical disabilities are not satisfied with the
clarity of the information received regarding the diagnosis and medical treatment. Their lack
of satisfaction is at a maximum when reported to information on the possibilities of medical
recovery. There is a high need for information: most of the parents consider that they need
information regarding the recovery possibilities their child has and information regarding
the rights and social services for people with disabilities.
Figure 12. Information needed by the families that take care of children/
young people with physical disabilities
Printed or audio‑visual media is used by most of the parents (50%) in order to obtain
information regarding disabilities. An important number of parents (71%) use specialized
sources of information: hospital and outpatient units, Expertise Committees, NGOs that are
specialized in the problematic of disabilities, County centers for the protection of people
with disabilities.
6. The right to work

Most of the disabled young people do not work (95%). The reasons that the interviewed
families invoke for the lack of professional integration are: of a biological nature (the
seriousness of the disability – 80%) and psychological (5%) or social – lack of qualification
or of work experience (17%), lack of workplaces and of specialized employers (26%).
As far as the situation of the working young people is concerned, there were only 9 such
cases in the sample, that is why we opted for a qualitative analysis of the answers.
The working young people have seconday or higher education; they are employed with
seconday studies or as specialists, but the salary they receive for their work is the minimum
wage. Those who are employed declared that the main difficulties they had to face at the
workplace were related to their social‑professional integration, to their adaptation to the
professional group and to the management of discriminating attitudes and situations.
Figure 13. The employment situation for young people with physical disabilities
Statistics data published by the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection on 30
September 2011, confirms us the low level of professional employment of the persons with
physical disabilities. Thus, in Bucharest are employed 776 people, in the county Arges – 274
people, in the county of Buzau – 89 people, in Calarasi County – 44 people, in Giurgiu
County – 22 people, the Neamt county – 52 people, in Olt county – 89 people, in Prahova
county – 263 people, in the county Valcea – 175 people. A full analysis cannot be done
because the data published by the mentioned authority do not tell us the number of physically
handicapped adults registered in these counties.
7. The socio‑economic situation of the household

Families that are members of ASCHF‑R who have in their care children/young people with
physical or associated disabilities have, on average, more members than the usual family in
Romania. They are composed of several children under 18, and 7% have in their care more
than 2 children with physical disabilities.
The average number of people in a family that takes care of children/young people with
physical disabilities is 4.0, significantly higher than the national average of 3.0 and the
average number of children in a family member of ASCHF‑R is of 0.92, also significantly
higher than the national average of 0.45.
This enlarged structure, accompanied by the weak professional integration of one of the
parents (who chooses the status of personal assistant of the child/young person with physical
disabilities), represents the certain premises of a precarious economic condition of the
respective family.
The economic situation of the household in which a child/young person with physical
disabilities lives is very precarious. The average income of the personal assistant is under
600 RON (minimum wage established on the 1st of January 2010). This value is extremely
low (2,5 times lower) compared to the average net wage in Romania in February 2010 which
is of 1411 RON – according to the Communication of the National Institute for Statistics
from April, 7th 2010.
43% of the families are under the poverty limit, compared to 31% of the families in the
general population (Gallup poll 2008). Only 1 out of 5 families (20%) has a decent living
(in the general population this ratio is of 1 family out of 3 – 36%).
Figure 13. The subjective perception of welfare in households with children/young

people with physical disabilities
Conclusions
School integration
Although children’s schooling is mandatory, a significant percentage of 23% of the children
belonging to the questioned families are still not schooled. The situation is even more dramatic
in the case of young people, as 38% of them are not schooled. If for children schooling can
still be possible, in the case of young people this can no longer be accomplished. The lack
of schooling increases the risk of not integrating socially and professionally, of depending
on the social services, of poverty.
The mass education institutions are still not prepared for the school integration of children
with disabilities. In the school environment they encounter several difficulties related to:
accessibility, school schedule, the teachers’ attitude, transportation etc.
The contents of learning or the psycho‑pedagogical methods of teaching‑learning are not
adapted to the needs of these children: the difficulty of the contents of learning correlated
with the lack of the support teacher are obstacles in the way of school integration for 41%
of the children.
The unfavorable socio‑affective climate in school and, in consequence, in the classroom,
adds to this chronic inability of the public education system to adapt to the needs of a
particular category. This negative climate is the result of the discriminatory attitude of the
teachers and/or the collective at school (22% of the cases – at least 1 of 5 children has to
deal with this type of discrimination every day).
Among the schooled children/young people higher integration rates were noted for specials
schools, home schooling and especially in the NGO day centers – therefore in the alternative
forms of education, forms adapted to the special needs of people with physical disabilities.
72% of the children aged between 7 and 24 are schooled, but the schooling level compared
to the child’s age shows that the transition from one educational level to another leads to
massive losses in the school population consisting of children with physical disabilities: if
80% of the children aged between 7 and 10 are integrated in the primary level, only 41%
are integrated in gymnasium, 28% in secondary (high school) education and 9% in university
education.
Most of the children/young people are not schooled because of the seriousness of their
physical disability (92% of the cases), but the reason may be more complex: systemic, as
well as informational.
The high percentage of 14% of the young people with physical disabilities who attended
a superior form of education compared to that of 18% of the general population in the same
age category proves that young people with physical disabilities are capable of superior school
performances, and that the seriousness of the physical disability is not an obstacle for this.
Medical support
Although general medical support is offered to children/young people with physical disabili
ties, especially by the family physician, the need of specialized medical assistance is
predominant: 51% of the parents consider that the medical support the child benefits from
at the moment is not sufficient. The most important medical specialties appreciated as being
necessary are, in the order of the frequency of the mentions: kinetotherapeutic medical
assistance, as well as psychiatric, speech therapy, orthopaedic and ophthalmological assistance.
The quality of the medical services is appreciated as being low. The parents declare that
they do not receive significant information from the senior specialist physicians, that this
information is provided with delay most of the times. The quality of the medical devices
subsidized by the state is also pointed out.
Public space accessibility

Although Romania committed to making all public spaces accessible, these are still insufficient.
Official statistics are not updated, the latest statistics published by the National Authority
for disabled persons was reported in December 2006. Most of the respondents declare that
there are no accessibilities for people with physical disabilities: the percentages vary between
55% and 75% according to the types of accessibilities analyzed. Those who exist are
unsatisfactory, sometimes cannot be accessed at all. The people who declared that different
accessibilities exist evaluated with extremely low grades their quality (the grades were
between 2,5 and 6,6 – on a satisfaction scale from 1 to 10).
The accessibilities that are used most often are the access ramps in apartment buildings,
schools, hospitals: 1 out of 7 children use them weekly. The means of transportation made
accessible are used at least once a week by only 6% of the young children.
The lack of public space accessibilities contributes to the social exclusion of people with
disabilities. We consider this a major shortcoming of the Romanian society which does not
ensure that all its citizens have equal chances of social participation.
Personal assistant
88% of the children/young people with physical disabilities who are members of ASCHF‑R
are included in the category of severe handicap: 80% opted for hiring a personal assistant
and in 97% of the cases this is a family member (in 90% of the cases this is one of the
parents). Therefore, the assistance of people with disabilities is based almost entirely on
family solidarity, not on professional personal assistants.
Professional integration
The young people with physical disabilities who are integrated professionally (5%) are an
exception, an extraordinary situation. Their education level is higher than that of the young
people who are not integrated professionally, who are not schooled in a proportion of 35%,
41% are only gymnasium graduates (practically not qualified) and only one fourth are
graduates of specialization/training courses in high school, vocational school or college. The
causes of the professional non‑integration are biological (physical instability) as well as
sociological: lack of alternative working programs – working at home or professions with
part‑time schedule.
The economic situation of families who have in their care children /young people with
physical disabilities is very precarious. The personal assistant’s average income is under 600
RON (the minimum wage established on the 1st of January 2010). It was noted that poverty
is a cause of bringing a child with disabilities into the family. It is expected that in the present
socio‑economical circumstances the economical situation of these families will become even
more precarious. In order to improve this situation social measures that maintain or increase
the living standard should be taken.
Recommendations for increasing the degree of social inclusion

of children/young people with physical disabilities:
We consider that institutionalization is not a solution for people with disabilities, and that
is why more support needs to be offered to the family.
It is necessary to ensure the functioning of centers that offer complex services to people with
disabilities, to correlate these services, to make public spaces accessible, to ensure schooling.
Statistic data published by the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection on 30
September 2011 shows us that the number of public institutions of social assistance for adults
with disabilities is 381 units including: 324 residential and 57 nonresidential – day care.
Residential centers are only for institutionalized people with disabilities, but these do not cover
all these people needs – only 6.533 people (38,09%) out of 17.155 persons living in residential
institutions benefit from the services of these centers. Recovery and neuropsychiatric rehabi
litation centers for people with disabilities cared by families is 50, these covering only the
needs to recover for 5.432 people.
At present the number of recovery centers is insufficient. Taking into account the specific
of the people with physical disabilities, it is necessary to ensure access to complex recovery
services: neuro‑motricity, speech therapy, drug therapy, ergo therapy, hydrotherapy etc.
Also, schooling efforts must be made in the direction of schooling children with disabi
lities: encouraging their enrollment in schools, supporting the educational alternatives,
adequate training of teachers, ensuring associated services (e.g. transportation, support
teacher, classroom accessibility etc.).
Unfortunately, the analysis of the importance the public social expenses have correlated
to the GDP shows us that the state responsibility in producing and balancing welfare in the
social area is dominated by a negative political vision (Zamfir, Ilie, Stănescu ¼coord.½, 2010).
The public social expenses have a negative connotation. The report of the Institute for Life
Research (ICCV Social report After 20 years: options for Romania) shows that: while
developed countries invest over 30% of the GDP in social policies, Romania is investing
less than half of the EU average: 16,4%, lower than all European countries that went through
a transition period and are, at present, EU member states. The Romanian state spends for
the social area the lowest proportion, not only reported to the GDP, but also reported to the
budget: 36,5 compared to 55,9% EU average. Therefore, this is a budget allocation policy
that is not in favor of the social sector. Those in the social area have to support the massive
costs of the crisis.
All these contribute massively to the social exclusion of disabled people, human resources
that can be socially involved, especially in the local forms of social economy. We consider
that the state should support the initiatives for the establishing and survival of different forms
of social economy.
Notes
1. The Association of Support for Children with Physical Disabilities Romania [Asociaţia de Sprijin
a Copiilor Handicapaţi Fizic România (ASCHF‑R)] is the largest organization of parents in
Romania (more than 2.500 people), who have in their care children and young people with
physical disabilities and which has 9 branches in as many counties in Romania (Bucharest,
Argeş, Olt, Prahova, Neamţ, Buzău, Vâlcea, Călăraşi, Giurgiu). The ASCHF‑R mission is to
develop programs with and for children and young people with physical/associated disabilities
with the purpose of facilitating their social inclusion.
2. The research was performed on a representative sample of parents (372 interviewed people).
The sample was probabilistically stratified (the stratification was made based on the residential
environment and on the branch) and members from all branches were proportionally interviewed.
The maximum sampling error is of 5,1%, guaranteed for a trust probability of 95%. The data
collecting method was that of the opinion poll based on a printed questionnaire, applied through
face‑to‑face interviews at the respondents’ domicile, by 12 local monitors trained by the expert
sociologist. The average duration for applying the questionnaire was 34 minutes. The period
during which data was collected was: 1 March – 1 April 2010.
References
*** Autoritatea Naţională pentru persoanele cu handicap, Situaţia accesibilizării mediului înconjurător
la 31.03.2007 în oraşele şi sectoarele municipiului Bucureşti care au peste 50 de mii de locuitori
¼The degree of accessibility in the physical environment, on March 30, 2007 in Bucharest and
in the cities over 50.000 inhabitants½, http://www.anph.ro/admin/doc/upload/serviciu/Accesi
bilitati%202007.pdf.
*** Ministerul Muncii, Familiei şi Protecţiei Sociale, Direcţia Generală Protecţia Persoanelor cu
Handicap, Date statistice – 30 septembrie 2011 ¼Statistical data – September, 30, 2011½, http://
www.mmuncii.ro/pub/imagemanager/images/file/Statistica/Buletin%20statistic/2011/DGPPH%20
trim%20III‑2011%20site.pdf.
*** Legea nr. 448/2006 (06/12/2006) privind protecţia şi promovarea drepturilor persoanelor cu
handicap ¼Law no. 448/2006 on the protection and promotion the rights of persons with
disabilities½, Monitorul Oficial, nr. 1006 (18/12/2006), Monitorul Oficial nr. 1 (03/01/2008).
*** European Comision, Europe 2020, http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm.
Arpinte, D., Baboi, A., Cace, S., Tomescu (Doboş), C., Stănescu (2008) Politici de incluziune
socială ¼Policies of social inclusion½. In Calitatea vieţii, XIX, 3‑4, 339‑364.
Burchardt, T., Le Grand, J., Piachaud, D. (2002) Introduction. In Hills, J., Legrand, J., Piachaud,
D. (eds.), Understanding Social Exclusion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cace, S., Arpinte, D., Cace, C., Cojocaru, Ş. (2011) The social economy. An integrating approach.
In Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 33 E/2011, 49‑66.
Lenoir, R. (1974) Les exclus. Paris: Seuil.
Stanescu, S., M., Zamfir, C. (coord.) (2007) Enciclopedia Dezvoltării sociale ¼Encyclopedia of
social development½. Iaşi: Editura Polirom.
Zamfir, C., Ilie, S., Stănescu, I. (coord.) (2010) Raportul social al ICCV După 20 de ani: opţiuni
pentru România ¼Social report of the ICCV after 20 years: options for Romania½, http://
inovatiasociala.ro/bibliotecavirtuala/index.php/bibliografie/cat_view/1‑cri.
Practicieni din educaţia preşcolară despre

factorii de risc şi rezilienţă în cazul
copiilor cu cerinţe educative speciale
¼Preschool Education Professionals on
Risk and Resilience Factors for Children
with Special Educational Needs½
Adela Elena Popa*
Abstract. The article presents the qualitative results of a research carried on 92 preschool
education professionals from Sibiu County. Research was focused on risk and resilience
factors influencing social inclusion of preschool‑aged children with special educational
needs. Professionals were divided into two samples: first group contained preschool
educators and the second group contained other preschool professionals (psychologist,
speech therapists, support teachers and social workers). We focused on comparing the
manner in which the two groups perceive and define the risk and resilience factors. The
mixed analysis resulted in five themes representing five main categories used by professionals
when referring to the factors.
Keywords: risk factors, resilience, special educational needs, preschool age
Introducere
Articolul de faţă îşi propune o abordare diferenţiată şi comparativă a factorilor de risc şi de
rezilienţă1 care pot interveni în cazul copiilor preşcolari cu cerinţe educative speciale.
Articolul prezintă doar o parte dintr‑o cercetare calitativă mai amplă la care au participat
practicieni din educaţia preşcolară din judeţul Sibiu. Cercetarea a fost realizată în cadrul
unui proiect cu finanţare europeană2 care a reunit reprezentanţi ai unor universităţi din trei
ţări europene: România, Marea Britanie şi Polonia.
Este o cercetare cu relevanţă deosebită pentru contextul educaţional actual, datorită
schimbărilor şi reformelor ce au loc în multe ţări (inclusiv România) şi care vizează în mod
special copiii cu cerinţe educative speciale. România a realizat şi ea după 1989 câteva
* Department of Journalism, Public relations, Sociology and Psychology, School of Socio‑Humanistic

Sciences, “Lucian Blaga” University Sibiu, 2‑4 Lucian Blaga st., Sibiu, tel.: 0269‑212970,
e‑mail: adela.popa@ulbsibiu.ro.
208 A.E. Popa / Practicieni din educaţia preşcolară despre factorii de risc şi rezilienţă...
[Preschool Education Professionals on Risk and Resilience Factors...]
schimbări semnificative legate de educaţia şi suportul oferite acestor copii, schimbări vizibile
atât în teorie şi în terminologia utilizată în documentele oficiale, cât şi în practica din
instituţiile de învăţământ. Diverse lucrări publicate în ultimii ani reflectă aceste schimbări,
analizând, de asemenea, şi provocările pe care educaţia din România le are în faţă pentru a
putea satisface mai bine nevoile acestor copii (Vrăşmaş, 2001; Vrăşmaş, Vrăşmaş, 2007;
Ungureanu, 2000).
Pentru că o explorare a experienţelor, strategiilor de lucru şi mentalităţilor din alte
contexte naţionale este întotdeauna binevenită, membrii proiectului şi‑au propus să creeze
cadrul potrivit pentru ca educatori şi specialişti din educaţia timpurie din cele trei ţări să se
întâlnească şi să discute împreună despre incluziune, joc şi învăţare în preşcolaritate. Astfel,
în fiecare dintre cele trei ţări au fost realizate trei seminarii pentru practicienii din instituţii
locale de educaţie, în cadrul fiecărui seminar realizându‑se câte o cercetare cu metodologie
calitativă, ce a avut ca principal scop explorarea semnificaţiilor conceptului de incluziune a
copiilor cu cerinţe educative speciale şi a diferenţelor care există în practica din România,
Polonia şi Marea Britanie. Cele trei seminarii – ca şi studiile rezultate în urma lor – au avut
o importantă dimensiune culturală şi comparativă, având în vedere că discuţiile s‑au purtat
pornind de la trei studii de caz, având ca protagonişti trei copii cu cerinţe educative speciale,
din cele trei ţări.
Articolul de faţă prezintă o parte a rezultatelor cercetării realizate în cadrul seminarului
din România, desfăşurat în noiembrie 2010, la Sibiu. Articolul se va focaliza pe două teme
abordate în această cercetare, şi anume: factorii de risc care pot genera provocări pentru
copiii cu cerinţe educative speciale şi pot pune în pericol incluziunea acestora, precum şi
factorii protectivi care pot facilita rezilienţa acestor copii şi pot favoriza incluziunea lor.
Întrebările cărora articolul încearcă să le găsească un răspuns sunt următoarele: 1) care sunt
principalele teme pe care participanţii le aduc în discuţie atunci când abordează problematica
factorilor de risc şi de rezilienţă în cazul copiilor preşcolari cu cerinţe educative speciale;
2) dacă discursul practicienilor legat de factorii de risc este diferit de discursul pe tema
factorilor de rezilienţă şi 3) dacă există diferenţe de percepţie şi conceptualizare a riscului
şi rezilienţei de către cele două categorii de participanţi la studiu, adică educatorii (cei care
lucrează zilnic cu copiii în grupurile din grădiniţe/centre) şi specialiştii (adică personalul
care urmăreşte rezolvarea unor probleme concrete ale acestor copii). Ne propunem să
răspundem la aceste întrebări radiografiind mai întâi teoretic conceptele‑cheie ale studiului.
Contextul teoretic în care se încadrează articolul este dat de perspectiva ecologică a
dezvoltării umane, aşa cum este ea construită de Bronfenbrenner (1979). Acesta vorbeşte
despre microsistem considerându‑l acel cadru în care copilul participă şi interacţionează în
mod direct, cum ar fi familia, şcoala sau comunitatea. Conexiunile care se realizează între două
sau mai multe microsisteme în care copilul participă activ reprezintă ceea ce Bronfenbrenner
numeşte mezosistem. Structurile instituţionale şi ideologiile societăţii din care face parte
copilul formează macrosistemul, acesta incluzând aspecte economice, politice sau socio
culturale. Am urmărit în cercetarea de faţă factori care se subsumează tuturor celor trei
tipuri de sisteme ce contribuie la dezvoltarea copilului.
Foarte numeroase sunt lucrările care abordează conceptele de risc şi rezilienţă, analizând
şi factorii specifici acestora, în legătură cu diferite categorii de vulnerabilităţi. Riscul şi
rezilienţa nu sunt doar două concepte de studiat; în ultimii ani au devenit două paradigme
în interiorul cărora studiile se acumulează. Articolul de faţă utilizează definiţiile riscului şi
rezilienţei care s‑au consacrat deja în literatura de specialitate. Astfel, riscul se referă la
factori genetici, biologici, psihosociali sau socioeconomici ce pot determina dezadaptarea
individului. Din cauza modalităţilor de înţelegere şi măsurare a riscului care au fost dezvoltate,
cum ar fi riscul statistic vs riscul efectiv sau riscul obiectiv vs subiectiv persistă o oarecare
confuzie legată de acest concept (Luthar, Cicchetti, Becker, 2000). Rezilienţa face referire
la comportamente care reflectă capacitatea individului de a funcţiona adaptativ în ciuda
condiţiilor de risc şi adversitate la care este supus (Masten, Coatsworth, 1998).
Majoritatea lucrărilor pe tema riscului şi rezilienţei analizează factorii de risc şi protectivi
din perspectiva copiilor de vârstă şcolară şi cu referire la situaţiile legate de abandon sau
eşec şcolar, precum şi de expunere la violenţă. O astfel de analiză comprehensivă este oferită,
de exemplu, de Boyden şi Mann (2005) care prezintă limitele cercetărilor actuale legate de
rezilienţă şi vorbesc despre nevoia unei înţelegeri contextualizate, în funcţie de cultură sau
comunitate, a modului în care copiii reacţionează la adversitate. Masten (1994) examinează
definiţiile date conceptului de risc, exemplifică o serie de cercetări longitudinale pe această
temă şi aminteşte o serie de factori de risc şi de rezilienţă la nivel individual. Fraser (2004)
defineşte conceptul de rezilienţă şi analizează factorii de risc relevanţi pentru eşecul şcolar.
Bowen şi Chapman (1996) vorbesc despre sărăcie şi pericol comunitar ca factori de risc
pentru tinerii din ariile urbane şi despre suportul social ca factor de rezilienţă. Alţi autori
(Pitt‑Catsouphes, MacDermid, Schwarz, Matz, 2006) se referă la relevanţa unor componente
ale comunităţii asupra sprijinului perceput de părinţii care lucrează.
Conceptul de „cerinţe educative speciale” are deja o istorie mai lungă de trei decenii în
Europa (a fost lansat prin Raportul Warnock în 1978), dar ceva mai scurtă în România, unde
începe să fie utilizat şi pus în practică abia în 1995, prin Legea Învăţământului (84/1995).
În practica românească s‑a înrădăcinat utilizarea acestei sintagme într‑un sens restrâns, doar
pentru copiii cu dizabilităţi. Lucrările teoretice din domeniu (Vrăjmaş, 2001; Vrăjmaş,
2004; Mara, 2009) şi ghidurile sau îndrumarele ce orientează practica incluzivă fac referire
în special la dizabilitate ca principală categorie ce se încadrează în acest concept. Experienţa
internaţională însă acordă conceptului o semnificaţie mult mai largă: se consideră că orice
copil are cerinţe educative speciale, pentru că orice copil are particularităţi de dezvoltare,
nevoi unice şi provine dintr‑un mediu familial şi cultural specific. Astfel, în Marea Britanie
spre exemplu, iniţiative precum „Fiecare copil contează” (DfES, 2004) s‑au născut din
dorinţa de a îmbunătăţi rezultatele educaţionale şi realizările sociale ale tuturor copiilor, nu
doar ale celor cu dizabilităţi. Cercetarea de faţă a optat pentru utilizarea sintagmei de „cerinţă
educativă specială” în această a doua accepţiune. Astfel, categoriile de copii vizate de cele
trei studii de caz pe marginea cărora au discutat participanţii la studiu nu au inclus doar
copiii cu dizabilităţi, ci şi pe cei marcaţi de alte tipuri de vulnerabilităţi, precum: provenienţa
din zone defavorizate sau aflate în război, probleme acute sau cronice de sănătate şi apartenenţa
la sistemul de protecţie socială (vezi descrierea studiilor de caz în subcapitolul „Metode”).
Există, de asemenea, un număr semnificativ de lucrări ale unor autori români care au
realizat în ultimii ani studii empirice sau monografii relevante pentru conceptele care
reprezintă punctul de pornire al acestui studiu. Astfel, Raluca Popescu (2003) surprinde date
legate de diverse categorii de copii aflaţi în situaţie de risc. Relevantă pentru articolul de
faţă este analiza legată de copiii cu dizabilităţi din România şi incluziunea acestora în şcoală.
O abordare cu metodologie calitativă legată de calitatea vieţii în trei organizaţii destinate
copiilor cu dizabilităţi mentale este realizată de Alexiu (2009). Mai apropiat de tema
articolului este studiul legat de factorii de risc privind accesul la educaţie pentru copiii din
familiile sărace (Neagu, Stoica, 2004) care identifică factori cum ar fi zona de rezidenţă,
dezvoltarea economică a localităţii, statusul socioeconomic al familiei sau nivelul educaţiei
părinţilor, toţi aceştia influenţând accesul copiilor la educaţie. O parte dintre aceşti factori
au rezultat, de asemenea, din studiul prezentat în articolul de faţă, aşa cum se va vedea în
subcapitolul „Rezultate”.
Luând în considerare lucrările amintite mai sus, considerăm că cercetarea de faţă este
originală prin însăşi tematica ei: abordarea modului în care practicienii care lucrează cu
copii cu cerinţe educative speciale de vârstă preşcolară percep şi se raportează la factorii de

risc şi la factorii protectivi care împiedică sau favorizează incluziunea. În acelaşi timp,
comparativ cu alte studii, considerăm original designul acestui studiu, mai precis generarea
datelor calitative pornind de la studii de caz. Aşa cum arată Houston şi Griffiths (2000), riscul
este construit social, iar cea mai bună modalitate de identificare a categoriilor de risc pentru
o anumită persoană sau situaţie este de a utiliza un proces discursiv, pentru că fiecare percepe
şi experimentează diferit riscurile. Din acest motiv, abordarea utilizată în cadrul acestui
studiu a fost aceea de a provoca discursurile participanţilor la cercetare pe această temă.
Metode
La cercetarea realizată în Sibiu în noiembrie 2010 au participat 92 de practicieni din educaţia
preşcolară din judeţul Sibiu. Cercetarea s‑a desfăşurat în două zile consecutive, în prima zi
participând 46 de educatori şi manageri de grădiniţe din judeţ, iar în a doua zi 46 de specialişti
din educaţia preşcolară: psihologi, logopezi, profesori de sprijin, asistenţi sociali3. În ambele
zile, participanţii la cercetare au fost împărţiţi în câte trei grupuri (aproximativ egale), astfel
că s‑au format în total şase grupuri. Participarea la seminar, care a inclus nu doar cercetarea
în sine, ci şi alte activităţi care au permis interacţiunea şi schimbul de experienţă (pentru o
descriere detaliată a activităţilor, a se vedea Argent, et al., 2011), s‑a realizat pe baza înscrierii
printr‑un formular online, fiind încurajată participarea unor practicieni din cât mai multe
instituţii preşcolare, şcolare sau conexe din judeţ. Participanţii au fost informaţi anterior
înscrierii legat de scopurile şi modul de desfăşurare a seminarului şi cercetării. Aspectului
etic al cercetării i s‑a acordat o atenţie specială, având în vedere că datele din grupurile de
discuţie au fost înregistrate în format audio‑video. Astfel, înaintea începerii seminarului
fiecare participant a primit o scrisoare din partea organizatorilor, în care se ofereau toate
informaţiile relevante (scopul şi obiectivele cercetării, participanţi, modul de valorificare a
rezultatelor, modul de colectare şi înregistrare a datelor, asigurarea anonimatului în toate
fazele cercetării şi prezentării rezultatelor etc.), precum şi o declaraţie de consimţământ
pentru participarea la cercetare.
Metoda utilizată pentru colectarea datelor a fost conversaţia focalizată, o metodă derivată
din focus‑grup care păstrează multe dintre caracteristicile acestuia, dar are şi câteva diferenţe
notabile. Clough şi Nutbrown (2002) sintetizează aspectele esenţiale ce diferenţiază conversaţia
focalizată de focus‑grup: familiaritatea membrilor grupului (bazată pe cunoaştere reciprocă,
experienţe sau interese comune); faptul că participanţii sunt selectaţi pe baza unui element
comun (în cazul nostru experienţa profesională) şi sunt de acord să dezbată idei pornind de
la această experienţă comună; faptul că interacţiunea participanţilor nu se termină odată cu
generarea datelor, pentru că ei se cunosc şi continuă să interacţioneze; şi faptul că se pune
accent pe vocile individuale, dar şi pe dinamica de grup prin care ideile şi experienţele
fiecăruia se remodelează.
Fiecare grup de conversaţie focalizată a fost condus de un moderator, ajutat de un asistent.
Pe lângă înregistrarea audio‑video a datelor, esenţa discuţiilor a fost notată pe flip‑chart.
Discuţiile în cadrul fiecărui grup au pornit de la cele trei studii de caz care au ilustrat situaţia
a trei copii (unul român, unul englez şi unul polonez) şi de la patru întrebări pe marginea
acestora, două dintre ele referindu‑se la factori de risc şi la rezilienţă. În ultimii ani,
cercetarea legată de risc şi rezilienţă a devenit extrem de vastă, studiile empirice pe această
temă urmărind o varietate de factori, de la sărăcia familiei şi sănătatea mentală a părinţilor
până la violenţa comunitară şi abuzul asupra copilului. Un argument în acest sens este studiul
semnat de Luthar şi Zelazo (2003) care trece în revistă principalele cercetări legate de
rezilienţă şi risc, arătând similarităţile şi diferenţele din abordările încadrabile în cele două
paradigme. Cele trei studii de caz‑stimul au fost construite din dorinţa de a oferi participanţilor
la cercetare un punct de pornire în discuţiile lor, având în vedere această varietate. O precizare
extrem de importantă este aceea că, deşi discuţiile au pornit de la aceste studii de caz, în
fiecare grup ele au transgresat spre un nivel mai general, participanţii ajungând să vorbească
despre copii şi practica preşcolară în general. Durata unei conversaţii de grup a fost, în
medie, de 50‑120 de minute. În total, în cercetarea din România au rezultat peste nouă ore
de material audio‑video. Articolul de faţă este construit pe analiza a două dintre aspectele
discutate în grupuri, respectiv factorii de risc şi factorii de rezilienţă în situaţia copiilor cu
cerinţe educative speciale (aproximativ patru ore de material filmat).
Cele trei studii de caz au fost pregătite sau elaborate de reprezentanţii fiecărei ţări din
proiect. Pregătirea studiilor de caz s‑a realizat cu câteva luni înainte de desfăşurarea
seminariilor. Echipele din România şi Polonia au propus studii de caz din viaţa reală (Maria
şi Dominik). Echipa din Marea Britanie a construit cazul ipotetic al lui Hassan, pentru a
prezenta un caz tipic pentru practicienii ce lucrează în educaţia preşcolară într‑un mare oraş
din Anglia. Toate studiile de caz au avut aceleaşi patru întrebări pentru participanţi, scopul
acestora fiind de a provoca reflecţia şi discuţiile în grupuri (pentru descrierea cazurilor
utilizate, a se vedea Argent et al., 2011, 51‑55).
Rezultate
Datele obţinute la seminarii au fost transcrise selectiv, respectându‑se trei categorii (ţara
studiului de caz, tipul subiecţilor – educatori/specialişti – şi tipul factorilor discutaţi – de
risc sau protectivi). Pentru prelucrarea datelor s‑a optat pentru analiza de conţinut calitativă,
deoarece permite explorarea inductivă a datelor în scopul identificării principalelor teme din
discursul subiecţilor. Echipa de analiză a datelor s‑a focalizat pe identificarea temelor apărute
în discuţiile subiecţilor şi pe înţelegerea importanţei pe care subiecţii o acordă fiecărei teme
(sau fiecărui cod). Din acest motiv, accentul s‑a pus pe analiza sumativă a datelor (Hsieh,
Shannon, 2005) care permite o cuantificare a codurilor şi subcodurilor identificate. Analiza
calitativă a materialului rezultat nu a fost nici ea neglijată, mai ales pentru temele cărora
participanţii le‑au acordat mai multă atenţie. Motivul pentru care am optat pentru o astfel
de analiză este acela că studii recente în domeniu arată că cea mai comprehensivă abordare
a riscului şi rezilienţei este cea mixtă: calitativă şi cantitativă (Ungar, 2005).
Aşadar, explorarea discursului participanţilor cu referire la factorii de risc şi protectivi
a permis identificarea principalelor teme (sau coduri) şi a subtemelor apărute în dezbatere.
Schema de coduri nu a fost prestabilită, ci a rezultat din analiză. După cum se poate vedea
în tabelul 1, practicienii invitaţi au discutat cel mai mult despre familie, despre copilul
protagonist al studiului de caz şi abia apoi despre practicieni/instituţii de educaţie şi aspecte
legate de comunitate. Este o schemă de categorii previzibilă în contextul temei şi scopurilor
cercetării. Ne‑am fi aşteptat la mai multe referiri legate de contextul mai larg al educaţiei
(politici educaţionale, legislaţie, curriculă etc.), adică ceea ce Bronfenbrenner numeşte
macrosistem, dar au fost doar două referiri la astfel de teme, restul discuţiilor focalizându‑se
pe aspecte de mai mică amploare. Şi mai interesant este un alt aspect a cărui semnificaţie
dobândeşte o importanţă aparte dacă îl plasăm în contextul teoriei lui Bronfenbrenner. Ceea
ce autorul menţionat numeşte mezosistem, adică relaţiile dintre microsisteme, se poate
identifica în ultima categorie, numită Colaborări din schema de coduri rezultată.
Tabel 1. Schema de coduri rezultată din datele colectate
Coduri şi subcoduri Număr de ocurenţe

A. Familie 77
A.1. Părinţi şi alţi membri ai familiei 24
A.2. Mama 17
A.3. Tata 2
A.4. Climatul/mediul familial 9
A.5. Situaţia materială a familiei 7
A.6. Condiţii de locuire 4
A.7. Statutul social/politic al familiei 5
A.8. Abordarea copilului de către familie 9
B. Copil 61
B.1. Caracteristici fizice ale copilului 10
B.2. Trăsături/caracteristici psihologice 21
B.3. Trăsături/caracteristici sociale 15
B.4. Nivel general de dezvoltare 7
B.5. Nevoi/necesităţi ale copilului 8
C. Practicieni/instituţii de educaţie 39
C.1. Referinţe la practicieni 8
C.2. Abordarea copilului de către practicieni 17
C.3. Raportul educatori‑copii 3
C.4. Frecventarea grădiniţei ca factor de rezilienţă 9
D. Comunitate 30
D.1. Actori comunitari 14
D.1.1. Persoane din comunitate 7
D.1.2. Instituţii din comunitate 7
D.2. Atitudini din partea comunităţii 8
D.3. Specificul comunităţii (vecinătăţii, zonei) 5
D.4. Comunitatea ca mediu cultural 3
E. Colaborări 7
E.1. Familie – practicieni (din grădiniţă/centru de copii) 7
Aşa cum se poate vedea în tabel, există extrem de puţine referiri (ocurenţe) la astfel de
colaborări, acestea vizând colaborarea între părinţi/familie, pe de o parte, şi educatori/grădiniţă
sau centru, pe de alta, iar alte câteva la relaţia dintre familie şi comunitate. Participanţii tind mai
degrabă să discute separat despre microsistemele familie‑copil‑practicieni decât să le pună
în relaţie. Foarte semnificativ este faptul că nu se menţionează sau analizează deloc conexiunea
între gradiniţă/practicieni şi comunitate sau între familie şi alţi actori comunitari. Faptul că nu
există nici o referinţă la colaborarea pe care practicienii din instituţiile de educaţie o pot avea
cu comunitatea în care aceste instituţii funcţionează este simptomatic pentru un mediu educativ
în care relaţia instituţiei (gradiniţă, centru de plasament etc.) cu comunitatea este mai degrabă
o cerinţă stipulată în politicile educaţionale şi o sintagmă fără prea mare acoperire în realitate.
Proiectul menţionat în debutul acestui studiu a oferit membrilor echipei din România
ocazia de a intra în contact cu un alt mediu educaţional şi cu un alt tip de relaţie între
instituţia de educaţie şi comunitatea din care ea face parte. Astfel, în toate centrele de copii
vizitate în perimetrul oraşului Birmingham, colaborarea între centru şi părinţi în primul
rând, dar şi cu alţi actori comunitari era încurajată în mod deosebit. Încăperile special
amenajate în centru destinate întâlnirilor între părinţi, orarul elaborat în aşa fel încât părinţii
să poată petrece câteva ore în centru împreună cu copiii lor, discuţii cu specialişti invitaţi
legate de problemele copiilor, oferirea în mod gratuit de pliante, broşuri pe teme de interes
pentru părinţi (educaţie, nutriţie, sănătate etc.), întâlniri între părinţi şi reprezentanţi ai unor
instituţii locale (primărie, spitale, şcoli etc.) – toate acestea sunt câteva dintre modalităţile
prin care colaborarea între centrele de copii şi părinţi era încurajată în Marea Britanie.
O simplă privire asupra tabelului 1 relevă o serie de aspecte interesante legate de temele
în jurul cărora au gravitat discuţiile din cadrul grupurilor. În discuţia practicienilor legată
de risc şi rezilienţă, familia este percepută ca fiind cea mai importantă, aspect reflectat şi
în literatura de specialitate, unde foarte multe studii se axează pe analiza situaţiilor familiale
de risc şi a factorilor de rezilienţă (Simon, Murphy, Smith, 2005). Faptul că participanţii
au discutat cel mai mult despre familie, ca sursă atât a factorilor de risc, cât şi a factorilor
de rezilienţă, este semnificativ dacă ne gândim că toţi participanţii la seminar se plasează
de cealaltă parte a baricadei, fiind practicieni. Deşi rar exprimat în mod direct, se poate
discerne un discurs de tipul „familia este responsabilă, familia este sursa problemelor, din
familie ar trebui să vină soluţiile…”. În cadrul codului „Familie” putem observa o centrare
a discursului fie pe persoane (membrii familiei: părinţi, fraţi), fie pe aspecte materiale
(condiţii de trai sau situaţia materială), fie pe aspecte nemateriale ale vieţii de familie (climat,
modul în care familia abordează copilul). Disparitatea între frecvenţa cu care se discută
despre persoanele din familie (mai ales despre mamă) şi frecvenţa în care apar în dezbateri
celelalte două subteme este un alt aspect demn de observat. Considerăm că este un semn al
importanţei pe care practicienii o acordă mamei în primul rând şi părinţilor în general, atunci
când trebuie să înţeleagă factorii de risc şi de rezilienţă ce pot interveni în traseul de viaţă
al unui copil cu nevoi speciale. Adversitatea socioeconomică, care apare ca subtemă în cadrul
acestui cod, este considerată ca un factor de risc major ce poate interveni în traseul de viaţă
şi educaţional al unui copil şi este studiată ca atare de numeroşi autori (Brooks‑Gunn,
Duncan, 1997; McLoyd, 1998; Schoon, Parsons, Sacker, 2004). În acelaşi fel, relaţiile
dintre părinţi şi copii, aspect numit „Climat familial” în schema noastră de coduri, sunt
considerate unul dintre cei mai importanţi factori protectivi pentru bunăstarea copiilor în
situaţie de risc (Masten, 2001).
Dacă ignorăm cifrele şi urmărim discursul participanţilor în manieră calitativă identificăm
voci critice sau apreciative în funcţie de cazul discutat. Astfel, o temă recurentă legată de
cazul românesc a fost critica adusă asistentului maternal. Rigiditatea regulilor impuse în
educaţie de asistentul maternal corelată cu manifestările afective ale copilului pentru cadrele
didactice a fost interpretată negativ de cei mai mulţi practicieni: „O mamă adevărată nu ar
gândi despre copilul ei că e sălbatic” (educatoare); „Sunt multe persoane care optează
pentru profesia aceasta din dorinţa de a‑şi asigura un venit. Dar dacă nu ai acel ceva…”
(educatoare); „Poate ar fi mai bine să fie transferată într‑o familie normală, cu copii”
(specialist); „Cred că ar trebui schimbată mama maternală sau integrată într‑o familie care
să aibă ambii părinţi” (specialist). Aşa cum se poate observa, alte două critici care au fost
aduse asistentului maternal au fost legate de faptul că nu avea copii proprii şi soţ, astfel că
familia era una monoparentală. Încercarea de a corela aceste rezultate obţinute cu date din
alte studii pe tema rezilienţei tinerilor aflaţi în asistenţă maternală s‑a dovedit dificilă având
în vedere că toate aceste studii disponibile s‑au focalizat pe tineri şi pe caracteristicile lor,
şi nu pe asistentul maternal şi pe rolul lui în facilitarea rezilienţei (pentru o analiză a acestor

studii, a se vedea Drapeau et al., 2007). Discuţia pe cazul Poloniei a fost similară, practicienii
identificând mai mulţi factori de risc decât protectivi în familia prezentată; în schimb,
situaţia familiei din Marea Britanie a fost apreciată ca fiind semnificativ mai bună, în ciuda
statutului de emigrant, criteriul principal în funcţie de care s‑au făcut aprecierile fiind părinţii
lui Hassan (educaţia lor, statutul de profesori, dorinţa de a se implica în calitate de voluntari
în centrul de copii).
Aşa cum se poate observa în tabelul 1, multe din discuţiile subiecţilor pe marginea
studiilor de caz s‑au focalizat pe cei trei copii protagonişti ai studiilor de caz, Maria, Hassan
şi Dominik. Am optat pentru codificarea separată a acestei teme (codul „Copil”), neincluzând‑o
în codul „Familie”, în primul rând datorită faptului că referinţele la cei trei copiii au fost
suficient de numeroase pentru a alcătui un cod separat, iar în al doilea rând, pentru a sublinia
importanţa acestei teme în discursul participanţilor la cercetare. Subtemele menţionate în
tabelul 1 au rezultat din analiza discuţiilor. Se poate observa că participanţii au discutat cel
mai mult cu privire la trăsăturile sau caracteristicile psihologice ale copilului (exemple,
potenţialul intelectual al copilului, tendinţe de agresivitate, aptitudini creative, motivaţie,
tulburări de vorbire sau de comportament etc.), şi de trăsăturile şi caracteristicile sociale
ale celor trei copii (integrarea în colectivul de copii, sociabilitate, necunoaşterea limbii,
relaţia cu ceilalţi copii etc.). Caracteristicile fizice ale copiilor au constituit o altă temă de
discuţie, participanţii vorbind despre starea de sănătate a copiilor sau problemele lor
medicale). Un număr aproximativ egal de ocurenţe au avut ca subiect nevoile (satisfăcute
sau nesatisfăcute ale copiilor) şi nivelul lor general de dezvoltare. Interesant este şi faptul
că cea mai mare parte a intervenţiilor din cadrul acestei teme s‑au polarizat pe factorii de
risc, iar participanţii au discutat mai mult despre copilul din Marea Britanie, comparativ cu
ceilalţi doi copii.
În cadrul codului „Practicieni/instituţii de educaţie” am inclus toate referinţele făcute de
subiecţi la practicienii implicaţi în abordarea celor trei copii şi la instituţiile de educaţie din
care aceşti copii fac (sau ar putea face) parte, fie că a fost vorba de grădiniţă (ca în cazul
României şi al Poloniei) sau de centrul de copii (ca în cazul Marii Britanii). Cele mai multe
ocurenţe s‑au referit la modalităţile de abordare a copilului de către practicieni (educatori
şi specialişti), subiecţii cercetării vorbind aici despre o varietate de astfel de modalităţi:
modul de lucru cu copilul la clasă şi în grupul de copii (comparativ în cele trei ţări), programe
de intervenţie sau de recuperare adaptate copilului, reevaluarea periodică a copilului,
stimulente ale educaţiei (tipuri de recompense). Toate referinţele la practicieni, educatori
sau specialişti au fost grupate în subcodul C.1 (vezi tabelul 1), care împreună cu subcodul
C.3 („Raportul educatori/copii”) oferă câteva rezultate foarte interesante. Participanţii la
seminar au abordat cu mult interes discuţia legată de aspecte concrete ale muncii cu copii
preşcolari, comparativ cu modul în care se lucrează în celelalte două ţări. S‑a discutat despre
adecvarea modalităţilor de abordare educativă de către cadrele didactice a celor trei copii şi
despre ce alte metode ar putea fi utilizate; discuţiile au făcut posibilă compararea strategiilor
educative şi incluzive folosite în preşcolaritate în cele trei ţări. Cele mai multe aprecieri
legate de practicienii prezentaţi în studiul de caz şi munca lor au fost pozitive, dar au existat
şi câteva comentarii negative – de exemplu, recompensele nepotrivite folosite pentru motiva
rea copiilor cu retard sau faptul că înscrierea la o şcoală specială reprezintă un eşec al
eforturilor făcute în grădiniţă pentru integrarea copilului.
În prezentările realizate anterior grupurilor de discuţii, reprezentanţii Marii Britanii şi
ai Poloniei au descris pe scurt modul de lucru în instituţiile preşcolare din ţările lor, ilustrând
aceste descrieri cu fotografii şi scurte secvenţe video. Aceste informaţii au fost apreciate de
participanţii la studiu şi reluate în discuţiile pe grupuri. Au fost invocate mai ales în discuţia
legată de numărul de copii cu care lucrează un cadru didactic în grădiniţă în România,
comparativ cu celelalte două ţări. Participanţii la seminar au adus argumente cu privire la
una dintre problemele acute recunoscute ale învăţământului românesc, şi anume insuficienţa
cadrelor didactice, ceea ce face ca numărul de copii în grupă să fie prea ridicat: „Într‑un
astfel de centru în care un cadru didactic lucrează cu puţini copii este posibil, dar la noi…
Ia daţi un ciocan şi cuie la noi în grădiniţă la 30 de copii! Este imposibil, nu poţi să‑i
supraveghezi” (specialist, cu referire la fragmentul video dintr‑un centru de copii din
Birmingham, înfăţişând joaca unor copii ce construiau împreună o căsuţă folosind ciocan şi
cuie). Multe dintre referinţele subsumabile acestui cod au fost legate de înţelegerea frecventării
grădiniţei/centrului de copii ca fiind un factor de rezilienţă pentru copiii din studiile de caz.
Aici participanţii au adus argumentat cu privire la faptul că nefrecventarea grădiniţei poate
agrava situaţia copilului.
Referinţele din cadrul penultimului cod („Comunitate”) au vizat actorii comunitari, adică
persoanele sau instituţiile – cum ar fi biserica – din comunitate care intervin fie ca factori
de risc, prin atitudini negative de discriminare sau respingere, fie ca factori protectivi, prin
sprijinul oferit. Au vizat, de asemenea, atitudinile din partea comunităţii mai ales cu privire
la cazul lui Hassan, precum şi specificul zonei sau al vecinătăţii (defavorizarea socială,
comunitatea multietnică) şi implicaţiile acestui aspect asupra copiilor cu nevoi speciale. Au
fost, de asemenea, intervenţii care au prezentat comunitatea în termeni de cultură. Cu
adevărat interesant este faptul că toate referinţele la comunitate au vizat doar studiile de caz
din Polonia şi Marea Britanie. Practic, pentru acest cod nu există nici un fel de referinţă la
studiul de caz românesc şi la protagoniştii lui. Considerăm că acest lucru nu este întâmplător.
Una dintre posibilele explicaţii este modul în care a fost construit studiul de caz românesc
în care elementele comunitare nu sunt evidenţiate. Dar dincolo de această explicaţie, absenţa
referinţelor la comunitate în discuţiile pe marginea studiului de caz românesc arată faptul
că, în ciuda preocupărilor materializate în proiecte şi studii realizate pe tema importanţei
comunităţii nu doar în educaţie, ci şi în serviciile sociale sau medicale, valenţele benefice
şi suportive ale comunităţii nu sunt încă suficient exploatate şi integrate în practicile sociale
din aceste domenii.
Aşa cum precizam anterior, codul „Colaborări” este cel mai slab reprezentat în discursul
participanţilor, aceştia referindu‑se doar la colaborarea dintre părinţi şi practicieni. Alte
tipuri de colaborări, între alte instanţe (cum ar fi instituţii de educaţie – comunitate,
părinţi‑comunitate etc.) care pot reprezenta factori protectivi importanţi, nu sunt amintite.
Importanţa acestor conexiuni (sau colaborări) este subliniată de Ann Masten care afirma în
1994: „conexiunile pozitive şi puternice între diferite microsisteme oferă un context suportiv
pentru dezvoltarea copilului. Conexiunile slabe ¼…½ pot plasa copilul într‑o situaţie dezavan
tajată” (Masten, 1994, 15). Faptul că practicienii participanţi la cercetare discută doar despre
relaţia dintre două din microsistemele relevante pentru situaţia celor trei copii arată, probabil,
că importanţa acestor conexiuni nu este conştientizată.
O prelucrare cantitativă a datelor şi implicit o radiografiere a lor dintr‑o altă perspectivă
relevă noi interpretări ce permit detectarea diferenţelor între discursul legat de factorii de
risc şi cel legat de factorii de rezilienţă. În tabelul 2 am rezumat ocurenţele din fiecare cod,
separat pe cele două categorii de factori urmăriţi în analiză. Rezultatele au fost prezentate
în ordinea descrescătoare a rangului obţinut de fiecare cod. Această prelucrare este extrem
de utilă, deoarece oferă informaţii suplimentare legate de cele două categorii de factori (de
risc şi protectivi) care fac obiectul studiului de faţă.
Tabel 2. Rangul codurilor în funcţie de tipul factorilor
Rang Factori de risc Factori protectivi

I Copil Familie
II Familie Practicieni/instituţii
III Comunitate Comunitate
IV Practicieni/instituţii Copil
V Colaborări
Mod de citire a datelor: Factorii de risc discutaţi de subiecţi sunt legaţi în primul rând
de tema „Copil”, apoi de „Familia” acestuia, de „Comunitatea” din care fac parte etc.
Rezultă o distribuţie oarecum previzibilă a codurilor pe cele două categorii de factori,
în sensul că ne aşteptam ca factorii de risc să se plaseze în zona individuală (copilul în sine),
familială şi comunitară. Codul „Practicieni/instituţii” apare şi el – oarecum surprinzător –
menţionat ca factor de risc, pentru că subiecţii au vorbit şi despre abordări neadecvate ale
copilului de către practicieni sau despre absenţa specialiştilor şi practicienilor care să se
ocupe de copil, fapt care poate constitui un factor de risc în sine. Interesant este şi faptul
că elementele specifice comunităţii sunt asociate de subiecţi fie cu factorii de risc, fie cu
cei de rezilienţă, în ce priveşte copiii cu nevoi de incluziune (codul „Comunitate” având
rangul III pentru ambele categorii de factori). Acest lucru arată atât potenţialul de pericol
şi risc al comunităţii sau vecinătăţii, cât şi potenţialul ei suportiv şi rezilient.
În categoria factorilor protectivi este semnificativ faptul că practicienii consideră că în
primul rând, familia este cea care poate oferi elemente de sprijin pentru copiii cu cerinţe
educative speciale. Plasarea codului „Copil” doar pe poziţia a patra arată că practicienii
consideră că elementele de rezilienţă pentru situaţia acestuia îşi pot avea sursa într‑o măsură
mai mică în trăsăturile psihologice şi sociale ale copilului. Acest lucru poate fi un indicator al
faptului că practicienii aderă la un model de practică care consideră copilul ca fiind neajutorat,
rezilienţa avându‑şi fundamentarea nu în trăsăturile individuale, ci în factorii contextuali.
Putem corela acest mod de raportare la copil cu modelul medical al dizabilităţii, care înţelege
dizabilitatea ca patologie şi nevoile speciale ca anormalitate (Molnar, 2008). Imaginea promovată
de acest model este cea a unei persoane cu dizabilităţi sau nevoi speciale, lipsită de putere, care
trebuie ajutată din afară. Desigur că aceste aserţiuni sunt doar ipoteze care se conturează şi care
ar trebui verificate în continuare. Prezenţa codului „Colaborări” pe ultimul loc în categoria
factorilor protectivi arată încă o dată neîncrederea practicienilor (neexprimată, de altfel, în
mod direct) în faptul că suportul pentru un copil cu nevoi şi cerinţe educative speciale poate
veni şi din efortul comun, nu doar separat al diferitelor instanţe (familie, practicieni,
comunitate). În studiile focalizate pe rezilienţă sunt amintite de obicei trei mari categorii de
factori protectivi: atribute individuale ale copilului, caracteristici ale familiei din care acesta
provine şi aspecte ce ţin de contextul social mai larg (Schoon, Parsons, Sacker, 2004).
Regăsim toţi aceşti factori şi în ierarhizarea rezultată din cercetarea noastră, primii doi ca
atare, iar ultimul detaliat (practicieni/instituţii, comunitate şi colaborări între acestea).
O prelucrare a datelor în funcţie de cele două categorii de participanţi la cercetare,
educatorii şi specialiştii, scoate în evidenţă alte rezultate interesante. Dacă luăm în considerare
discuţiile în mod global, fără a departaja pe factori de risc/rezilienţă, se observă că cele
cinci coduri rezultate formează aceeaşi ordine ierarhică pentru ambele categorii. Astfel, atât
educatorii, cât şi specialiştii se referă în discuţiile lor în primul rând la familie, apoi la copii,
la practicieni/instituţii şi, cel mai puţin, la comunitate. Interesant este că doar educatorii
vorbesc despre colaborări (adică cooperarea între diversele microsisteme, familie, grădiniţă,
comunitate), această temă neapărând deloc la specialişti, probabil datorită faptului că
educatorii simt mai frecvent necesitatea comunicării cu părinţii şi se bazează mai mult pe
sprijinul acestora. Dacă departajăm pe factori de risc şi rezilienţă, apar diferenţe între
discursurile celor două categorii de participanţi. Educatorii localizează factorii de risc în
primul rând în familie şi abia apoi vorbesc de cei cu referire la copil. În ce îi priveşte pe
specialişti, ordinea se inversează: aceştia analizează factorii de risc referindu‑se în principal
la copil şi abia apoi la familie. Probabil că acest lucru se datorează formării lor profesionale
şi capacităţii de a repera mai uşor trăsături şi caracteristici specifice copiilor care pot constitui
factori de risc. O altă diferenţă este legată de faptul că educatorii se referă prea puţin la copil
atunci când analizează factorii de rezilienţă, spre deosebire de specialişti care identifică factori
de rezilienţă şi în sistemul de referinţă copil. Acest lucru arată modurile diferite de raportare
la copil specific celor două categorii, primii fiind tributari unui model care consideră copilul
neajutorat, având nevoie de suport, de ajutor care trebuie să vină din afară, pe când cei din
a doua categorie sunt mai încrezători în potenţialul copilului de a găsi resurse pentru a face
faţă adversităţilor. Ambele categorii identifică mai mulţi factori de risc decât protectivi, iar
specialiştii au mai multe contribuţii decât educatorii pentru toate cele cinci coduri.
Concluzii
Am prezentat în acest articol rezultatele unei cercetări cu design calitativ, legată de modul
în care practicieni din educaţia preşcolară din judeţul Sibiu percep şi se raportează la factorii
de risc şi cei de protecţie care pot interveni în cazul copiilor cu cerinţe educative speciale.
Am pornit de la o scurtă tratare a conceptelor‑nucleu în debutul acestui articol: risc,
rezilienţă, factori de risc, factori de rezilienţă şi cerinţe educative speciale, analizând sumar
o parte din literatura relevantă pentru cele trei concepte.
Studiul s‑a bazat pe date colectate în conversaţii focalizate la care au participat peste 90
de practicieni din educaţia preşcolară a judeţului Sibiu, care au discutat despre factori de
risc şi factori ce determină rezilienţa pornind de la trei studii de caz având ca protagonişti
trei copii cu cerinţe educative speciale din trei ţări europene.
Prima întrebare a cercetării, legată de temele (categoriile) în care se grupează factorii
de risc şi de rezilienţă în cazul copiilor cu cerinţe educative speciale, şi‑a găsit răspunsul în
cele cinci coduri (cu subcodurile lor) care au rezultat din analiza tematică a discuţiilor între
practicieni. „Familia”, „Copilul”, „Practicienii/instituţiile”, „Comunitatea” şi „Colaborările”
sunt numele pe care le‑am dat acestor cinci coduri în încercarea de a surprinde cât mai bine
esenţa lor. Tabelul 2 prezintă cele cinci coduri rezultate, subcodurile lor, precum şi numărul
de ocurenţe pentru fiecare cod şi subcod. Prelucrările realizate pentru a oferi răspuns la a
doua întrebare a studiului au evidenţiat diferenţe între cele două discursuri, cel legat de risc,
respectiv de rezilienţă. Încercarea de a răspunde la ce‑a treia întrebare a studiului a dus la
identificarea câtorva diferenţe notabile legate de modul în care educatorii şi specialiştii
înţeleg riscul şi rezilienţa, cum ar fi o raportare diferită la copilul cu cerinţe educative
speciale sau o identificare mai facilă a factorilor de risc.
Din studiu a rezultat o concluzie importantă, cu implicaţii pentru practica din educaţie
şi serviciile de suport oferite copiilor cu cerinţe educative speciale. Este vorba despre o idee
latentă care n‑a fost exprimată nici un moment în mod explicit de către participanţi, ci a
rezultat la o prelucrare atentă a datelor, anume aceea că practicienii discută pe larg şi
conştientizează importanţa fiecărui subsistem ce poate fi sursă de risc sau de rezilienţă
(familia, copilul, comunitatea, grădiniţa şi practicienii), dar acordă mult mai puţină atenţie
conexiunilor între aceste subsisteme. Acest lucru arată că practicienii subestimează importanţa
beneficiilor ce pot rezulta prin colaborarea dintre aceste subsisteme. Principala implicaţie
pentru practica de zi cu zi este aceea că munca depusă cu aceşti copii şi cu familiile lor
poate beneficia de pe urma unei mai intense colaborări între familie şi practicieni, între
familie şi comunitate sau între practicieni şi comunitate.
Note
1. Pentru termenul rezilienţă vom folosi „factori protectori”.
2. Parteneriatul internaţional Leonardo da Vinci, programul Life‑long learning, 2009‑2011. Au
fost implicaţi 4 parteneri instituţionali: 1. Newman University College, Birmingham, Marea
Britanie; 2. Academy of Humanities and Economic Sciences, Sieradz, Polonia; 3. Universitatea
„Lucian Blaga” Sibiu, România; 4. Inspectoratul Şcolar Judeţean Sibiu. Finanţat de Comisia
Europeană, Agenţia Naţională pentru Programe comunitare în Domeniul Educaţiei şi Formării
Profesionale (ANPCDEFP).
3. Vom recurge la următoarea convenţie: ne vom referi la cele două grupe care au participat la
cercetare folosind termenii „educatori” şi „profesionişti”. „Educatorii” reprezintă grupul de
educatori de grădiniţă, iar „profesioniştii” se referă la personalul format, implicat în asigurarea
suportului necesar preşcolarilor cu nevoi speciale (de exemplu, psihologi, logopezi, terapeuţi,
persoane de sprijin pentru cadrele didactice, asistenţi sociali etc.).
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Terapia familiei
¼Familiy Terapy½
Virginia Satir; traducere de Cristian Constantinescu,
Bucureşti: Editura Trei, 2011
Virginia Satir a trăit în Statele Unite ale Americii între anii 1916‑1988; este cunoscută şi
apreciată ca unul dintre cei mai influenţi psihoterapeuţi americani în terapia de familie, având
o contribuţie inovatoare în acest domeniu.
A scris cartea Terapia familiei plecând de la elemente de cercetare empirice, împletite
cu elemente teoretice, care au la bază noţiuni din funcţionarea sistemelor familiale şi tehnici
de comunicare, respectiv relaţionare.
Prin conţinutul său, cartea înalţă şi îmbogăţeşte experienţa de terapeut în sfera terapiei
de familie a Virginiei Satir. Informaţiile oferite creează un cadru de intervenţie terapeutică menit
să vină în sprijinul tuturor specialiştilor din domeniul psihosocial, în special, şi cu precădere
al specialiştilor care prin munca lor sunt nevoiţi să pătrundă în intimitatea familiilor.
Virginia Satir, pe parcursul întregii sale cărţi, însoţeşte cititorul într‑un proces terapeutic,
în calitate de coterapeut, instruindu‑l pe specialist să pătrundă cât mai profund în interiorul
familiei şi să descopere normele, valorile, credinţele şi regulile după care familia respectivă
îşi conduce viaţa zilnică.
Abordarea terapeutică la care Virginia Satir apelează este una „firească”, numită de
autoare „abordare familială”. Abordarea urmăreşte firul cronologic, ţine cont de etapele de
dezvoltare ale omului pe parcursul vieţii şi are la bază sistemul familial, implicit genealogia
dată de către partenerii angajaţi în procesul terapeutic.
Terapia familiei aşa cum o înţelege Virginia Satir ajută cititorul să vizualizeze, prin
conceptele utilizate, diferitele ipostaze ale familiei disfuncţionale din punct de vedere terapeutic
la un moment dat. Autoarea indică şi ghidează felul în care se poate reconstrui structura
familiei, prin intermediul întrebărilor. Reconstrucţia se face ca într‑un joc de puzzle pe care
terapeutul de familie îl asamblează, evidenţiind aspectele pozitive, pentru ca, apoi, împreună
cu familia să identifice şi să construiască o „poziţie nouă” în care fiecare membru al familiei să
poată funcţiona şi să se simtă confortabil, împărţind şi împărtăşind un interes de viaţă gene
ralizat şi totodată particularizat. Aşadar, fiecare participant implicat în procesul terapeutic poate
să aibă un loc şi un rol în mijlocul familiei, iar familia îşi poate continua viaţa în comunitate.
Spontaneitatea cu care se desfăşoară procesul terapeutic demonstrează înţelepciunea şi
maturitatea pe care autoarea le deţine şi le promovează, ele fiind cele mai valoroase achiziţii
cu care specialistul poate să instrumenteze nevoile reale ale familiilor cu care vine în contact.
Rolul comunicării pe care Virginia Satir îl sugerează în Terapia familiei este acela de a
trezi emoţiile între parteneri, astfel încât să se ajungă la acceptarea dezamăgirilor şi încercarea
de argumentare a intenţiilor, astfel încât fiecare să îşi satisfacă dezideratele. Tehnicile de comu
nicare pe care autoarea le propune sunt menite să clarifice mesajele, să repete, să interpreteze
şi reformuleze într‑un mod coerent pentru fiecare persoană implicată în procesul terapeutic.
222 Apariţii editoriale
Abordarea familială din perspectiva sistemică experimentată de Virginia Satir în Terapia

familiei, face cunoscută cititorului „unitatea” de care este nevoie să se ţină cont atunci când
specialistul întâlneşte familia şi faptul că intervenţia este benefică doar prin participarea
activă şi în prezenţa tuturor membrilor familiei.
În abordarea sistemică, principiile de bază sunt preluate şi combinate cu elemente ale
teoriei homeostaziei familiale în care se evită diagnosticele şi etichetele, dat fiind faptul că
aceste epitete pot duce la dezechilibre. De asemenea, autoarea arată felul în care membrii
familiei răspund la tratament „ca şi cum interacţiunea familială ar avea o legatură directă
cu simptomele” pacientului identificat. Demn de atenţie este, de asemenea, aspectul acordat
metodei pe care Virginia Satir o propune, în prezenţa „pacientului identificat”, şi anume
maniera în care adresează întrebările tuturor membrilor familiei, dând posibilitatea fiecărui
participant la procesul terapeutic de a reflecta obiectiv cu privire la sentimentele şi gândurile
pe care ceilalţi membri le trăiesc şi le simt în condiţiile lor fireşti de viaţă. Astfel, „cauza”,
care iniţial viza un singur membru al familiei, „pacientul identificat”, prin terapia sistemică
de familie îi vizează în cele din urmă pe toţi membrii. Această abordare are rolul de a conecta
membrii familiei „unul cu celălalt”, făcându‑i părtaşi la procesul terapeutic şi responsa
bilizându‑i. Astfel, la dispoziţia familiei sunt puse „alte moduri de a răspunde şi de a alege
între aceste moduri”. Realizarea de sine dă încredere şi pune la dispoziţia membrilor familiei
o varietate de alternative creative de a‑şi îmbunătăţi relaţionarea, progresul şi calitatea vieţii.
Pe tot parcursul cărţii, Virginia Satir întăreşte viziunea terapeutică prin creativitate,
metafore, jocuri, simţ al umorului şi foarte multă vibraţie sufletească, lăsând liber accesul
spre o „fereastră” mentală, deschizătoare de noi orizonturi, pline de speranţe.
Săndica Ion*
* University of Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, 9 Schitu Măgureanu Street,
district 5, Bucharest, Romania, e‑mail: sandicad@yahoo.com.
Errata
The following corrections are to article: Long‑term Implications for Widowhood of Romania’s
Decree No. 770, by Stephen J. Cutler, Revista de Asistenţă Socială, XI, 1/2012, 113‑123.
On p. 114, the last line of the last full paragraph, it should read:
Of the marriages that took place in Romania in 2009, 1.811 involved males 60 years of age
and older, or 1,4% of the total marriages, while only 936 marriages involved women over
the age of 60, or 0,7% of the total marriages (NIS, 2011, Table 2.20).
On p. 116, in Figure 1
Source: National Institute of Statistics, Statistical Yearbook 2010 – Time series 1990‑2009,
Graph 2G3.
On p. 117, the title of Figure 2 is: Sex Ratios for Average Ages at Marriage: Romania, 1985‑2000
The correct Figure 2 is:

224 Errata
On p. 119 the correct Figure 4 is:
On p. 120, the correct Figure 5 is:

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Sumar

Maria Roth, Mihai Bogdan Iovu, Imola Antal

Pentru a acoperi această perspectivă cuprinzătoare, în acest număr al Revistei de Asistenţă

* Detalii privind proiectul şi partenerii implicaţi pot fi obţinute accesând http://www.becan.eu/.

Articolul propus de Ágnes Dávid‑Kacsó şi colaboratorii săi analizează comportamentele

Cercetările prezentate în acest număr al Revistei de Asistenţă Socială au la bază un filtru

* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130 21

* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130, 21

Children’s Rights as Living Rights: Why

Keywords: children’s rights, street children, child refugees, child‑headed households,

Cross‑cultural perspectives on children’s rights

Guatemala: Persecution and oppression

India: Children living and working on the streets

Europe: Separated child refugees

Africa: Child‑headed households

The Committee’s View on Children’s

Abstract. Although children’s (direct) participation in the monitoring and reporting

Keywords: children’s rights, children’s participation, monitoring, the Committee on the

* Child Rights Information Centre, Moldova, e‑mail:smiljanafrick@gmail.com.

The CRC monitoring process1

GC5: The CRC Monitoring Process and Children

GC12: Children’s Right to be Heard

Furthermore, the Committee’s intention to explore means of enhancing children’s parti­

The Implementation of the UN

Keywords: CRC, vulnerable children, Greece

The incorporation of the CRC into the Greek legal system

* International Law at the Department of International and European Studies, University of

Long‑term residents shall enjoy equal treatment with nationals as regards:

• Law 3305/2005 “Medically Assisted Human Reproduction”16. It is pointed out in the

Greek Case Law

The Consumer Ombudsman is an independent authority sanctioned under the provisions

Childcare and Especially Vulnerable Children

Children with disabilities

Other legislative developments regarding the protection

Impact on Civil Society

The Balkan Epidemiological Study

Abstract. BECAN (Balkan Epidemiological Study on Child Abuse and Neglect)i is an

* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130

Keywords: child abuse and neglect, epidemiological study, prevalence

Prevalence data in Romania

The methodological aspects

Considerations on ethical issues

Table 1. The real sample, according to historical regions, rural‑urban

Table 2. Experiencing at least 1 form of child abuse and neglect

Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

Table 3. Psychological abuse

Psychological Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

According to children, 10th grade students (76,6%) experience more psychological

Table 4. Physical abuse

Physical abuse Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

Table 5. Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

Table 6. Sexual contact

Sexual contact Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

Neglect Child questionnaires Parent questionnaires

Abuzul fizic, psihologic şi metodele

* “Babeş‑Bolyai” University Cluj‑Napoca, School of Sociology and Social Work, 128‑130

Keywords: physical abuse, psychological abuse, positive discipline, gender, parental

Tabelul 1. Relaţia adultului respondent cu adolescentul pentru care completează

Părintele care completează

chestionarul permite şi înregistrarea incidenţei comportamentului respectiv în trecut („nu în

Tabelul 2. Prevalenţa diferitelor forme de abuz psihologic în eşantion,

Comportamentul parental Prevalenţa în ultimul Prevalenţa pe viaţă

Tabelul 3. Prevalenţa abuzului psihologic în raport cu genul părinţilor în ultimul

Furthermore, the Committee’s intention to explore means of enhancing children’s parti