Social isolation of families at risk of child neglect: What do mothers think?
Child neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment reported to public Child Protective Services. According to Lacharité et al. (2006), child neglect is mainly caused by two perturbations. The first disturbance relates to the parent-child relationship and occurs when the parent is not emotionally available to meet the child’s needs. The second disturbance affects the relationship between the family and the community. Most of the time, this perturbation causes the family to become socially isolated. Social isolation is one of the most common risk factors reported in child neglect related studies. However, very few of them have investigated the causes and consequences of social isolation in child neglect situations. In addition, few studies have examined how parents perceived their own parental and social realities. In order to document parents’ point of view, 12 interviews were conducted with mothers involved in a child neglect situation. Different topics were discussed to explore how these mothers perceived the mechanisms that produce and help maintain social isolation. Using a qualitative approach, the study revealed that the fear of judgment is a crucial factor of social isolation. Mothers are specially concerned by negative attitudes and judgments they perceived from the general population as well as from the social services workers. Considering the specific characteristics of the environment in which those families live, some principles related to intercultural intervention will be explored in order to better understand and intervene with families in child neglect situation. In conclusion we suggest that the recognition and acceptance of differences and challenging preconceptions are needed to promote the dialogue between these families and the rest of society.