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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Critical-thinking skills and decision-making abilities of investigators of child abuse cases Mandel, David Robert
Abstract
Dramatic increases in the number of reported cases of child abuse have necessitated attempts to improve front-line workers' investigative skills. This study examined the relation between investigators' critical-thinking skills and decision-making abilities in the context of a hypothetical scenario of a reported case of child abuse, and explored the relations between these two investigative abilities and general reasoning skills, job-related beliefs, and personality dimensions. As part of a 3-day interviewing and credibility assessment workshop, 150 respondents completed a survey, providing their reasons for their disagreement/agreement with a premature intervention made in a scenario of a reported case of child abuse. Accounting for 48% of the variability in investigators' decisions, higher levels of critical thinking and lower levels of perceived responsibility for ensuring a child's safety in a reported case of child abuse significantly predicted stronger disagreement with the premature intervention. Accounting for 17% of the variability in investigators' levels of critical thinking, (a) sex, (b) beliefs about the percentage of reported cases of child abuse that, in general, are true, and (c) levels of hostility emerged as significant predictors, such that being female, estimating a relatively low percentage of true cases, and being relatively less hostile were predictive of higher levels of critical thinking. No significant differences in investigative abilities were found between investigators and other non-investigative professionals. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Item Metadata
| Title |
Critical-thinking skills and decision-making abilities of investigators of child abuse cases
|
| Creator | |
| Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
| Date Issued |
1992
|
| Description |
Dramatic increases in the number of reported cases of child
abuse have necessitated attempts to improve front-line
workers' investigative skills. This study examined the
relation between investigators' critical-thinking skills and
decision-making abilities in the context of a hypothetical
scenario of a reported case of child abuse, and explored the
relations between these two investigative abilities and
general reasoning skills, job-related beliefs, and personality
dimensions. As part of a 3-day interviewing and credibility
assessment workshop, 150 respondents completed a survey,
providing their reasons for their disagreement/agreement with
a premature intervention made in a scenario of a reported case
of child abuse. Accounting for 48% of the variability in
investigators' decisions, higher levels of critical thinking
and lower levels of perceived responsibility for ensuring a
child's safety in a reported case of child abuse significantly
predicted stronger disagreement with the premature
intervention. Accounting for 17% of the variability in
investigators' levels of critical thinking, (a) sex, (b)
beliefs about the percentage of reported cases of child abuse
that, in general, are true, and (c) levels of hostility
emerged as significant predictors, such that being female,
estimating a relatively low percentage of true cases, and
being relatively less hostile were predictive of higher levels
of critical thinking. No significant differences in
investigative abilities were found between investigators and other non-investigative professionals. Implications and
suggestions for future research are discussed.
|
| Extent |
1856998 bytes
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| Genre | |
| Type | |
| File Format |
application/pdf
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| Language |
eng
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| Date Available |
2008-12-18
|
| Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
| Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
| DOI |
10.14288/1.0086858
|
| URI | |
| Degree | |
| Program | |
| Affiliation | |
| Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
| Graduation Date |
1992-11
|
| Campus | |
| Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
| Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.