RE: Early recognition of seriousness

["Lisa Jones" <lisa.jones@xxxxxxx>]

I am  writing up research that I did in graduate school on applying the
stages of change model to child maltreatment.  Research using stages of
change models (or other "readiness to change" models) shows mixed success.
Part of the complexity with measuring "success" is that "readiness to
change" or "stage of change" models are currently being applied and measured
in different ways with very different behaviors.

Little empirical research has been done applying the model to such complex
behaviors as child abuse and neglect although I think that the University of
Oklahoma Health Sciences Center has done some intial work in this area.
More research has been conducted using stages of change models to help
better understand the process of change in partner abuse.

I think the popularity of the stages of change model is due to a recognition
that 1) the pattern of change is complex and may look different for
different groups of individuals, and 2) that cognitions and emotional
factors(e.g., motivation, intentions, self-efficacy) may be extremely
important in helping to better understand differences in successful change.
It may be a while before empirical research in this area can translate
directly into to social work practice, but the heuristic value of these
models in encouraging people to think and talk about how assessments of
change are currently being conducted seems to me to be valuable in itself.

Lisa M. Jones, Ph.D.
Crimes Against Children Research Center
University of New Hampshire
126 Horton Social Science Center
Durham, NH 03824-3586
(603) 862-2515
Fax:  (603)862-1122
lisa.jones@unh.edu
www.unh.edu/ccrc



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu
[mailto:owner-CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu]On Behalf Of
bill higgins
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2001 3:57 PM
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
Subject: Re: Early recognition of seriousness


It was my understanding that there is little or no
evidence to support stages of change in a social work
setting.  Is this not true?

Bill


--- DSWLFSU@aol.com wrote:
> Two thoughts occur to me about this:
> 1) I think there is a great need to build into
> assessments and subsequent
> family work the Prochaska/diClemente model of change
> which i think isn't as
> central to practice as it should be. There's a
> summary of this work in the
> Reader accompanying the new Framework
> 2) I believe that all case files should have a
> Critical Incident File at the
> front of the file so that all incidents of note can
> be put down and this,
> freed from all the vast accumulation of detail that
> files inevitably gather,
> can give a readily available overview of the pattern
> of events. A particular
> inquiry into a child death in Sheffield a few years
> ago argued this point
> very persuasively.
>
> David Saltiel
> Service Manager
> West Leeds Family Service Units
> Tel: 0113-275-7600
> email: dswlfsu@aol.com
>


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