Child Protection and Psychology Education in Australian Universities

Abstract

Child maltreatment is a significant problem in Australia. Psychologists in a wide range of occupations play an important role in the identification and prevention of child abuse and neglect, the provision of interventions to children and families, and the development and conduct of research in related areas. Psychology graduates must be adequately prepared to work in this field; however, little is known about the extent to which child abuse and neglect related contents are taught in current university curricula. A purpose‐developed curriculum‐mapping survey was used to examine Australian undergraduate, fourth year, and postgraduate Australian Psychology Accreditation Council‐accredited programmes available in 2008. Results showed that students in the majority of programmes were exposed to child protection‐related content; however, the extent of exposure was limited. Three postgraduate units specifically addressed the prevention, identification, and response to child abuse and neglect. Course coordinators reported that child maltreatment content was mostly integrated into general units throughout the programme, typically within developmental psychology units in the undergraduate curriculum and in ethics, research, or professional issues units in the fourth year and postgraduate programmes. Results suggest the need for child protection content to be included in minimum national standards and accreditation guidelines for universities.

Key words:

• academic learning and achievement
• child abuse and neglect
• child protection
• child welfare
• psychology as a discipline
• teaching of psychology

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Australian Psychological Society for assisting with the collection of data for this study, and educators in the Schools of Psychology across Australia who completed the survey forms.

Funding for the production of this research has been provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

Notes

1. This report will use the term “programme” to describe the degree or award, and the term “unit” or “units of study” to describe individual courses or subjects.

2. This report can be downloaded from the Australian Centre for Child Protection http://www.unisa.edu.au/childprotection.