Institut für interdisziplinäre Konflikt- und Gewaltforschung
The EVIDENCE Studies
Emmy Nöther - Effects of violence and maltreatment on the development and well-being of children: Experimental approaches to studying the causal effects of maltreatment reduction
Child maltreatment inflicts immediate and often lasting physical and psychological pain on affected children. It has been associated with a broad range of negative short- and long-term outcomes, including psychological difficulties and poor academic performance. These relationships are often interpreted as being causal in nature, with maltreatment assumed to cause negative developmental trajectories. However, most findings are based only on correlational analyses, which do not allow for such an interpretation. Causal relationships can only be determined by experimental studies. When it comes to the study of childhood maltreatment, though, the research using experimental methodologies are scarce. The high prevalence and social acceptance of the use of violence in child rearing in Sub-Saharan Africa provides an excellent opportunity for experimental manipulations on the basis of interventions seeking to reduce maltreatment.
In this project, we aim to complement current research by testing the effects of a maltreatment-reducing intervention on a spectrum of outcomes in the context of educational institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The studies open up the possibility of testing the causal relationship between maltreatment and various outcomes, ranging from children’s well-being to social and cognitive functioning. In experimental field studies, the project will test the effectiveness of the intervention Interaction Competencies with Children that aims for a reduction in maltreatment. We will investigate the effects of (reducing) maltreatment in the general population of children across educational settings, societies, cultures on the basis of a school-based multi-site cluster-randomized controlled trial (CRCT) in Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana. In addition, we will investigate these effects in another CRCT in a high-risk group of orphaned children. The project will also focus on the effects of maltreatment on pre-school children. In addition to determining the effectiveness of the intervention, the proposed studies allow for the monitoring of the temporal effects of maltreatment on children between the ages of 3 to 17 both in community samples and high-risk samples.
Websites:
Laufzeit:
- 01/2021 - 12/2026
Kooperationspartner*innen:
- Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE), Dar es Salaam, Tansania
- Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST), Mbarara, Uganda
Projektteam:
IKG, Universität Bielefeld
- Prof. Dr. Tobias Hecker (Leitung)
- Dr. Florian Scharpf
- Anette Kirika
- Getrude Mkinga
- Eliud Kabelege
- Margaret Ekatushabe
- Emmanuel Nyarko-Tetteh
- Hilke Jablonski
- Lea Hennemeier
- Kim Güse
- Katrin Block
- Luisa Beerbaum
Standort Tansania
- Faustine Bwire Masath
- Mabula Nkuba
- Maregesi Machumu
Standort Uganda
- Joseph Ssenyonga
- Charles Mugoba Muwonge
Standort Ghana
- Amoah Karikari
Förderung:
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Veröffentlichungen:
- Kirika, A., & Hecker, T. (2022). Interaction Competencies with Children – Development and Theory of Change of a Preventative Intervention for Teachers in the Context of Socially Accepted Violence. Verhaltenstherapie. https://doi.org/10.1159/000525237.
- Scharpf, F., Kirika, A., Masath, F. B., Mkinga, G., Ssenyonga, J., Nyarko-Tetteh, E., Nkuba, M., Karikari, A. K., & Hecker, T. (2021). Reducing physical and emotional violence by teachers using the intervention Interaction Competencies with Children – for Teachers (ICC-T): study protocol of a multi-country cluster randomized controlled trial in Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/S12889-021-11950-Y/FIGURES/3.