152 Sodobna pedagogika/Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies Let./Vol. 70 (136)
 Št./No. 4/2019
 Str./pp. 152–169
ISSN 0038 0474 Mar Badia, Xenia Garcia,  
Pilar Escotorín, and Marc Brundelius
Acknowledgement of child abuse by 
teachers of pre-school, primary and 
secondary education: Spanish sample
Abstract: The European project WIDE (Witnessing Domestic Violence and Audit Education in school 
system ERASMUS + Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices, Strategic Partnerships 
2016-1-IT02-KA201-024390) focused on the design of a training model that provides tools and interven-
tion protocols to teachers and school agents in order to detect and intervene properly in the event that 
students witness intra-family violence against women. The pertinence of the subject was confirmed by 
216 teachers, psychologists, social workers and the legal field, from different areas and centres of Catalo-
nia, who voluntarily participated in a 25-hour training process during 2017–2018. The European Project 
FEEL (Call 2018, KA202 Strategic Partnership for Vocational Education and Training) complements these 
objectives, offering knowledge on the detection and management of cases of gender violence to vocational 
and higher education staff. In order to properly contextualise the study, it was necessary to understand 
the role of education authorities and professionals. A contrasting study highlights that pre-school teachers 
are the only ones that have received training to a sufficient degree to be considered relevant. In the pre-
-school cycle, the type of abuse most often detected is negligence, followed by a tie between emotional 
abuse and children witnessing violence; violence among equals is the third most detected type of abuse. 
Importantly , a high proportion of teachers have never used the necessary documents to carry out this task, 
which is concerning. The results highlight the importance of offering training to teachers so that they can 
anticipate possible cases of violence and reduce the potential risks that occur in this group of children.
Keywords: Knowledge, child abuse, violence, teachers, students, detection
UDC: 376
Scientific article
Mar Badia, PhD., Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, CERSIN Research center for an inclusive society 
and Laboratory of Applied Prosocial Research, Plaça del coneixement, Edifici G6, Bellaterra, Spain;  
e-mail: mar.badia@uab.cat
Xènia Garcia Vallès, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, CERSIN Research center for an inclusive society, 
Plaça del coneixement, Edifici G6, Bellaterra, Spain; e-mail: xenia.garcia@uab.cat
Pilar Escotorín Soza, PhD., Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, LIPA Laboratory of Applied Prosocial 
Research, Plaça del coneixement, Edifici G6, Bellaterra, Spain; e-mail: Pilar.Escotorin@uab.cat
Marc Christian Brundelius, Autonomous University of Barcelona, (LIPA) Laboratory of Applied Prosocial 
Research, Plaça del coneixement, Edifici G6, Bellaterra, Spain; e-mail: marcchristian.brundelius@uab.cat 

  Badia, Garcia, Escotorín, Brundelius     153
Introduction
From the WIDE (Witnessing Domestic Violence and Audit Education in School 
System) and FEEL (Femicide Emergency on European Level) projects funded by the 
European Union, a study has been carried out with teachers of different Spanish 
educational levels. The study dealt with the knowledge that these teachers had 
about child abuse and the mechanisms they had available to detect and manage 
cases in which boys and girls experienced some kind of abuse. This work proposes an 
analysis of the current barriers in schools that prevent the detection and reporting 
of abusive situations suffered by students. A review of the scientific literature and 
the study of the state of the art in the context of the European projects WIDE and 
FEEL made it possible to identify good European practices and training needs in 
the area of child abuse.
With the aim of revealing the current training needs of Spanish teachers, a 
descriptive study was carried out based on the adaptation of the Real and Jolluskin 
questionnaire (2002), with a sample of 120 teachers from more than 15 schools, 
comprising all grades and funding mechanisms in Spain. After performing a stat-
istical analysis of the results, it is evident that a large number of teachers have not 
received training in this subject, and many of them do not know the legal framework 
within which they can intervene.
The data allow us to visualise that this topic, widely documented in previous 
studies in the Spanish context (Botton et al. 2012; Santos 2012), continues to have 
high relevance. The scientific literature and public policies call for greater awareness 
of this situation (Esqués 2013, Generalitat de Catalunya 2015), not only because the 
problem affects the entire society but also because its detection can be difficult and 
ambiguous for educators. The studied aspects address the ignorance—or not—of 
the steps to be followed by the teachers when a case of abuse is detected and the 
instruments that are used to identify such cases as well as the local institutions 
in the area that are responsible for the care, protection and maintenance of child 
welfare.
When beginning an investigation of this type, it is important to start with a 
definition of the phenomenon and to present some data that illustrate the seriousness 

154 Sodobna pedagogika/Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies Escotorín, Brundelius
 
Badia, Garcia,
and relevance of the topic. According to De Paúl and Arruabarrena (2001), child 
abuse is‚ any non-accidental action or omission that compromises the satisfaction 
of the child’s basic needs and / or hinders its optimal development’. This problem 
is also given attention at the international political level. The World Health Organ-
isation (WHO) defines child abuse as: »[...] the abuse and negligence that occurs to 
children under 18 years of age. It includes all types of physical and / or emotional 
abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, [...] commercial or other exploitation, which causes 
actual or potential harm to the health, survival, development or dignity of the 
child in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power. Exposure to 
dating violence is also sometimes included as a form of child abuse” (WHO 2016).
This indicates that there are many ways to mistreat a child and that the 
problem occurs frequently in society.
There are several statistics that indicate the relevance child abuse: In 2015, 
there were 13,818 cases of children and adolescents under 18 years of age in Spain 
suffering abuse (Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality 2017). Some 
of the 4439 children under the age of 18 (ibid.) were victims of emotional abuse, 
so this figure probably includes cases of children witnessing intra-family gender 
violence. The problem of intra-family gender violence, in turn, has several dimen-
sions. According to statistics of the General Council of the Judiciary, there were 
166,260 complaints of violence against women in Spain in 2017. Moreover , the true 
number of cases was probably higher. For example, it is estimated that there were 
141,350 women who were victims of some type of gender violence in Barcelona in 
2015 (Circuit Barcelona 2017).
Consequently , schools are an important place for detecting abuse. Thousands 
of children and adolescents spend their time there, and the regular contact between 
students and professionals working in educational institutions place these institu-
tions in a privileged situation (Farcas and Roth 2011; Ceballos et al. 2007; Pérez 
de Albéniz et al. 2011; Botton 2012).
Gender violence always has negative impacts and causes harm to the child or 
adolescent, whether he or she has directly experienced violence, has witnessed it or 
has indirectly witnessed what he or she perceives as effects of violence (Alemanyet 
et. al. 2012).
The identification of the problem is complex, as there are children who ex-
perience more than one type of abuse, including physical and emotional abuse, 
negligence and sexual abuse, which requires special training to detect (Larraín 
and Sepúlveda 1999). Investigations in other contexts of the recognition of cases of 
victimised children indicate that pre-school education professionals feel that they 
lack sufficient knowledge to identify the symptoms or signs of intra-family violence. 
Some professionals, who consider this topic important, also have difficulties relating 
the issue of witnessing violence with child abuse (Münger and Markström 2018).
It should be noted that although children may not have been directly attacked, 
they would still be direct victims since living in such circumstances causes a series 
of serious psychological consequences, as explained below.

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Acknowledgement of child abuse by teachers of pre-school, primary and secondary education ...
 
The school as the epicentre of the detection of abuse
Previous research on the Incidence of the Comprehensive Law against Gender 
Violence in initial teacher training revealed the lack of specific training offered by 
Spanish universities eight years ago regarding the prevention and early detection 
of family violence. In 2010, Spanish Universities were still ignoring the regulations 
established by the Organic Law 1/2004 regarding the measures of Integral Protection 
against Gender Violence, despite their specificity (article 7, point c) with regard to 
the role of educational institutions (Santos et al. 2012), which should ensure that 
teachers acquire the necessary knowledge and skills that enable them to detect in-
tra-family violence early on, especially that affecting women and children (de Botton 
et al. 2012). An awareness campaign among the university population was strongly 
indicated as urgent to ‘counteract the social and cultural inertias that prevent 
identifying gender violence in all its manifestations’ (de Bottonet al. 2012, p.44).
In the specific plan for the protection of children, Organic Law 1/1996, of 
January 15, on the Legal Protection of Minors, in Title II, Chapter I, Article 13, 
establishes that: »Any person or authority and, especially, those who by their 
profession or function detect a situation of risk or neglect of a minor, will inform 
the authorities or their closest agents, without prejudice to provide the immediate 
assistance to those in need« (Arroyo 2013, p.17).
From this, it could be deduced that it is a priority to attend adequately to 
the cases that schools report to social services, which are not always identified, 
either because of ignorance about how to act or because of the excessive academic 
obligations that consume the time of professionals. Attention must also be given 
to the cases of minors for whom social services are not acting, given the intrinsic 
characteristics of the family nucleus, which has probably gone unnoticed by social 
services.
Ethical issues must also be considered, as teachers do not want to go beyond 
their own responsibilities. Many question whether they are exceeding their ob-
ligations and whether families may feel uncomfortable or upset by this meddling 
in their private lives. In the case of domestic violence, the decision of whether or 
not to report a case to social services subjects teachers to an ethical and emotional 
dilemma. Some professionals feel very insecure and emotionally overcome by this 
type of dilemma. They lack adequate knowledge to make these kinds of choices, and 
a perception that they lack emotional and technical support at the institutional level 
contributes to their feelings of uncertainty about how to act in relation to children 
who are exposed to domestic violence (Markström and Münger 2017).
Impediments to making a clear and correct detection of the emotional 
or behavioural indicators
It is important to highlight that the cases reported to social services only 
represent a few of the total cases of abuse (Cerezo and Pons Salvador 2004). This 
could be due to the barriers that professionals face when they attempt to make a 

156 Sodobna pedagogika/Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies Escotorín, Brundelius
 
Badia, Garcia,
correct determination, a culture lacking spaces for the protection of children, the 
need to educate parents to differentiate discipline from abuse or the scarcity of 
proposals for improving education abouth abuse (Mazadiego 2005).
In the study of Farcas and Roth (2011), teachers exhibit difficulties in recog-
nising the emotional or behavioural indicators in their students that would give 
them clues regarding abuse. There is also a lack of knowledge of the consequences 
of child abuse (De Paúl and Arruabarrena 2001). For example, it can cause damage 
to the child›s personality or poor academic results (Pino and Herruzo 2000).
It is very important to remember that the establishment of violence as a 
habitual form of relationship makes it difficult for the victims of abuse to identify 
maltreatment as such, and they may progressively lose the ability to think and act 
freely and thus mask this problem in their daily lives. This could result in teachers 
not being able to perceive what is happening in the families of their students.
Apart from these aspects, there are a number of myths surrounding this topic, 
some of which we will point out since they seem relevant to the study. It is often 
said that children who have not seen the violence between their parents will not 
be affected by it, but the truth is that there are many such children, and they may 
suffer from other forms of abuse. They are trapped by violence, either by listening 
to their brothers and sisters explaining that they have observed violent episodes 
between the parents or by the perception of a climate of fear and abuse among the 
members of the family (De Paul and Gómez 2003).
Another myth is that those who have experienced violence when they are young 
do not suffer because they do not realise what is happening. Studies show, how-
ever, that at a young age, children are clearly affected by these events and react in 
various ways expressing their discomfort (Devoe and Smith 2002; Lizana 2012). The 
damage produced in the early stages of development can have a devastating impact 
that will influence them in later developmental stages (Groves 2002; Osofsky 2002; 
Lizana 2012). It is also commonly believed that this problem affects people of low 
cultural and economic status, but that is not true (de Botton et. al. 2012).
The greatest challenge is that the myths are self-fulfilling, and so society in gen-
eral remains ignorant and fails to care for and protect these children (Lizana 2012).
A wide range of behaviours can be found in school. On the one hand, there 
are some children who respond to violence by behaving correctly and becoming 
excellent students at school. They never fight or argue, and they are self-sufficient. 
They accept that the situation is not in their control, and so they cannot change 
the situation. On the other hand, there are children who are dominated by rage 
or impotence. These children are usually more visible to the teacher, who could 
sometimes confuse this behaviour with a bad attitude (Ayllon et al. 2011).
Consequences of these processes
There is a broad body of scientific research that has made it possible to de-
termine the effects not only of the direct abuse of children and adolescents but 
also of a climate of violence in the family directed towards the mother. Moreover, 

      157
 
Acknowledgement of child abuse by teachers of pre-school, primary and secondary education ...
 
guides that have been published by public and private institutions in Spain to 
empower teachers in the detection and protection of abused children indicate that 
the consequences of violence against women are a social problem (Generalitat de 
Catalunya 2015; Junta de Andalucia 2014). Gender-based violence at home can 
become a model - the only model that the children have - which they replicate in 
their future intimate and family relationships. According to this model, boys tend 
to replicate the paternal role of the aggressor and girls the maternal role of the 
submissive. Thus, when educators are confronted with a case of abuse in their class, 
the symptoms of the child can have multiple facets: a) the victims show affective 
problems related to a lack of empathy or high levels of anxiety, stress, fear, anger, 
guilt or shame; b) there can be cognitive problems, such as paying attention and 
concentration; c) self-destructive, violent but also perfectionist behaviours may occur; 
and d) hyperactivity and hypervigilance are often seen, or may victims distance 
themselves from their social contacts and relationships with others (Kearney 1999; 
McCloskey et. al. 1995; Save the Children 2005).
The complexity of the phenomenon and the variables that influence it can make 
teachers feel insecure and confused about the procedures they should follow in a 
suspicious case. As a consequence, they may not take appropriate action. Rather, 
as the scientific literature reveals, there are different strategies the teachers may 
apply to handle the problem, such as minimising the suffering of child victims of 
domestic violence. Other justifications for not intervening include viewing the child’s 
situation as not serious enough and a fear of reprisals from the family (Botton 2012).
Considering this, it is very important that professionals have good training 
on this subject so that they can intervene in an appropriate manner. They need 
the right knowledge to understand the situation and the causes and signs of abuse. 
They must have the ability to work in a network, to choose the right relational 
space to intervene, to be observers and to facilitate without interfering with an 
approach, building relationships of trust. Unfortunately, the data indicate that in 
the educational world there are few professionals who have specific training in 
these issues (Alemany et al. 2012; Lizana 2012).
Objectives and hypotheses
The purpose of the study was to establish what knowledge Spanish teachers 
have on this topic, analysing, among several aspects, the dimension of action. The 
intention was to analyse the weakest points of the teaching staff regarding the 
identification of cases of children or adolescents who are being mistreated and to 
plan a response to these needs to generate future proposals for educational innov-
ation. Given that there are a series of barriers that prevent correct detection by 
professionals, in addition to describing them, proposals are offered that facilitate 
the work and the fulfilment of the legal requirements.

158 Sodobna pedagogika/Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies Escotorín, Brundelius
 
Badia, Garcia,
Method
Participants
The final sample consists of a total of 120 teachers, of whom 84.6% are fe-
male and 15.4% are male, belonging to 15 educational centres in the Autonomous 
Community of Catalonia, including pre-school, primary and secondary levels, who 
responded to an online questionnaire. The distribution of the samples according 
to the years of teaching are as follows.
Instruments
The data collection was performed by adapting the questionnaire of Real 
and Jolluskin (2002). It was validated by four qualified and independent experts, 
who assessed its consistency , relevance and unambiguity . Socio-demographic data, 
gender, age, teacher cycle and years of education were assessed. In a general way, 
and referring to the study objective, the questionnaire information has been divided 
into the following categories:
 – Teachers’ knowledge and training received on child abuse.
 – Detection by the teachers in the school of cases of abuse.
 – Actions taken by the teachers.
Procedure
Descriptive univariate analysis of all the selected questions was carried out. 
Questions were chosen that make reference to the three thematic blocks of interest: 
The training and knowledge of the teachers, the experiences of the teachers and 
the actions they have taken (the latter refers to actions that the teachers have 
already taken as well as the actions expected in hypothetical cases). In addition, 
when required for the accomplishment of the goals of the research, comparisons 
were performed based on two key variables: the educational cycle in which the 
classes are given and the years of experience as teachers. Variables, such as gender 
or the age of the teacher, were not taken into account, the first because of a lack 
of variability (85% of the sample are women) and the latter because of its close 
relation with the years on the job, a variable that is better distributed within the 
sample and which is a better indicator of classroom experience. The analysis was 
performed using the statistics program SPSS22.

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Acknowledgement of child abuse by teachers of pre-school, primary and secondary education ...
 
Results
The comparison study highlights that the teachers of the pre-school cycle 
are the only ones that received training in a high enough percentage that can be 
considered relevant, although not adequate, since a little more than half received 
training (52.6%). For the rest of the cycles (primary and high school cycle), less than 
half were trained, which is an insufficient level (29.6% and 29.5%, respectively). 
Pre-school teachers also have higher levels of knowledge about the steps to take 
after detecting a case (73.7%).
52,6%
29,6% 29,5%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Pre-School PrimaryH igh School
Graph 1: Teachers who declared being trained (Teachers who declared they had received some kind of 
training on child abuse, according to the educational cycle they give classes in).
73,7%
57,4%
61,9%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Pre-School PrimaryH igh School
Graph 2: Teachers who declared knowing the steps to take (Teachers who declared knowing the steps 
to take in the event of detecting a case of child abuse, according to the educational cycle in which they 
give classes).
Referring to the amount of detection, 24.8% of teachers reported that, in the 
present year , they detected an anomaly in the attitude or normal behavioural devel-
opment of a pupil, which could indicate a risk for the child. Regarding the different 
types of detected abuse, during their career as a teacher, violence between equals 
was most frequently detected while child exploitation was detected least often.

160 Sodobna pedagogika/Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies Escotorín, Brundelius
 
Badia, Garcia,
31,6%
18,5%
29,5%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Pre-School PrimaryH igh School
Graph 3: Teachers who declared observing an anomaly during the past year that could indicate a risk 
situation for the child, according to educational cycle.
93%
78%
58%
49%
47%
42%
40%
6%
21%
27%
33%
23%
26%
18%
6%
10%
10%
15%
12%
9%
8%
20%
18%
30%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Child exploitaon
Sexual abuse
Pyshical abuse
Child witness of violence
Negligence
Emoonal abuse
Violence between equals
Any 1 o 2 3 o 4 5 o more
Graph 4: Detection of abuse during the career as a teacher (violence among equals, emotional abuse, 
negligence, children witnesses of violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, child exploitation).
Teachers in the pre-school cycle detected the highest percentage of anomalies 
that could represent some kind of risk situation in the last year.
 
 
31,6%
68,4%
57,9%
15,8%
47,4%
5,3%
57,9%
38,9%
46,3%
55,6%
16,7%
57,4%
7,4%
44,4%
50,0%
54,5%
61,4%
31,8%
68,2%
6,8%
56,8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Physical
abuse
Negligence Emoonal
abuse
Sexual abuse Violence
between
equals
Child
exploitaon
Child witness
of violence
Pre-School Primary High School
Graph 5: Detection of abuse by educational cycle.

      161
 
Acknowledgement of child abuse by teachers of pre-school, primary and secondary education ...
 
In the pre-school cycle, the type of abuse that was most often detected was 
negligence, followed by a tie between emotional abuse and children witnessing 
violence; violence among equals was the third most commonly detected type of 
abuse. In contrast, the most commonly detected type of abuse in the primary and 
secondary cycles was violence among equals, followed by and coinciding with pre-
school, emotional abuse. The third most commonly detected type of abuse in primary 
school was negligence, and in secondary school cycle it was children witnessing  
violence.
73,5%
6,8%
19,7%
yes
No
I don't know
Graph 6: Notification as a responsibility of teachers.
Finally, the analysis of the dimension of performance, on a general level, re-
vealed that 73.5% of the teachers believed that notification and reporting of child 
abuse was indeed the responsibility of teachers.
 
47,9%
52,1%
No
Yes
Graph 7: Collaboration in the resolution and monitoring of a detected case
Regarding the reporting of abuse, 52.1% of the teachers said they had collab-
orated in the resolution and follow-up of a detected case.

162 Sodobna pedagogika/Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies Escotorín, Brundelius
 
Badia, Garcia,
32,5%
29,9%
5,1%
50,4%
13,7%
8,5%
6,0%
76,1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Maltreatment risk detecon paper
Quesonnaire for the noficaon
Others
None
Know's Use it
Graph 8: Knowledge and use of documents of child abuse treatment.
A little more than half (50.4%) did not know, and 76.1% had never used the 
necessary documents to carry out this task, a worrying finding.
41,4%
20,7%
41,4%
6,9%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Headquarters studies
In the commission of pedagogic
coordinaon
Delivery to the social worker of the center
Mailing form by email
Graph 9: Medium used to file the report.
The medium most often used to file the report was, with the same percentage, 
submission to a social worker in the centre and the head of studies.

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Acknowledgement of child abuse by teachers of pre-school, primary and secondary education ...
 
89,5%
79,6%
68,2%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Pre-School PrimaryH igh School
Graph 10: Teachers who would report cases of child abuse, according to educational cycles.
Pre-school and primary cycle teachers reported their suspicions more frequently 
(89.5% and 79.6%, respectively), in comparison with secondary cycle teachers (68.2%).
31,6%
26,3%
21,1%
0,0%
0,0%
26,3%
0,0%
16,7%
40,7%
20,4%
1,9%
1,9%
33,3%
3,7%
18,2%
43,2%
11,4%
0,0%
6,8%
29,5%
2,3%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%
Fear of retalaon
Ignorance
It does not concern me
Lack of support from the direcon of my
center
Lack of support from my colleagues
Lack of support by relevant public
administraons specialists
Afraid that I will damage my own mental
health
Pre-School Primary High School
Graph 11: Why they would not denounce, according to the teaching cycle.
The reasons that the teachers chose to ignore or proceed with these complaints 
varied and were closely related to the training received. In the case of the pre-school 
cycle (the only one where teachers claimed to have received training), teachers 

164 Sodobna pedagogika/Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies Escotorín, Brundelius
 
Badia, Garcia,
who did not pursue a complaint indicated that it was because of a fear of reprisals, 
whereas primary and secondary cycle teachers failed to do so due to ignorance.
Discussion and conclusion
Despite increased awareness of the issue of child abuse in the mass media 
and social media, there is still a gap in the education provided by universities to 
professionals studying teaching in Spain. There is an urgent need to improve the 
training plans of teachers to adequately address and differentiate the types of child 
abuse and their management strategies. It is untenable that in the twenty-first 
century teachers continue to intervene based on intuition and that they suffer 
from the lack of information about this topic. The lack of collaboration between 
educational cycles and between related professions that should normally collaborate 
closely also needs to be addressed.
Training and knowledge
Compared with the situation described in previous studies (Santos et. al. 
2012; de Botton 2012), there is still a high percentage of teachers who have not 
received any training on child abuse (67.5%). Ignorance about the legal framework 
that regulates the rights of children is a subject that schools and universities must 
address when providing training to teachers.
We should highlight that the vast majority of teachers have knowledge about 
the steps to follow if they detect a case of abuse in the school. It is also remarkable 
that most of the teachers know which organisations could collaborate with. However , 
although the initial analysis regarding the knowledge of the steps to be followed 
was favourable, when the documents and procedures used were analysed in detail, 
a clear lack of training emerged, especially in the secondary and primary cycles. 
There was incoherence among the answers to “Have you received training?” and 
“Do you know the steps to follow?” Only 20% of the primary and secondary cycle 
teachers said they had received training in child abuse, and 57% and 62% indicated 
that they knew which steps to follow, respectively . Finally , further data analysis of 
the dimension “action” demonstrated that the results were related to the training 
received. The pre-school cycle, in which a greater percentage of teachers was trained, 
was the group that demonstrated the highest degree of understanding of the steps to 
follow , while primary and secondary schools demonstrated a proportional decrease 
related to training.
The fact that pre-school cycle teachers receive the highest level of training on 
child abuse issues can be highlighted as an opportunity and a positive finding. The 
pre-school cycle, due to greater interpersonal bonding and school–family proximity , 
could be seen as a favourable space for the implementation of better protocols 
focused on the needs and emotional situations of teachers and students. The data 
can determine a good baseline for the design of efficient and adapted protocols 

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Acknowledgement of child abuse by teachers of pre-school, primary and secondary education ...
 
for schools, which are not based only on legal regulations but also incorporate the 
relational component in decision-making.
The teachers of the pre-school cycle, having more applied knowledge tools, 
could be a valid source of collaboration for the design of policies at each centre that 
benefit the children. Moreover, they could also generate common workspaces with 
professors of higher cycles, who, although they know the steps to follow in the case 
of complex actions, have less pedagogical information to act in an integrated manner .
Detection
In the area of detection, we see the influence of training again. In the pre-school 
cycle, more cases of abuse were detected than in the other cycles. Even though 
secondary cycle teachers have detected more cases, this fact could be related to the 
higher numbers of teaching years of secondary professionals. This aspect should 
be analysed in future research.
It is evident that the types of abuse that are detected more easily, or which 
teachers feel more secure to intervene in, refer to violence between peers and neg-
ligence, probably due to the clearer presence of objectively verifiable indicators. 
Meanwhile, child exploitation or cases of children witnessing gender violence are 
detected less often and are characterised by greater complexity and emotional 
involvement by the teacher, which is consistent with the findings of the European 
WIDE project.
Action
A positive point is that 70% of teachers consider the detection and response 
to abuse to be the direct responsibility of the teacher. Indeed, more than 60% of 
teachers from all cycles affirmed that if they detected a case they would report it. 
Although we believe that better education of the teachers would increase this per-
centage and their commitment, as we specify below , in terms of action, this positive 
attitude is not enough to materially affect the reporting of the cases.
In this study , 50% of the teachers reported having participated in the resolution 
of a case of child abuse. Worryingly , however, more than 50% did not know how to 
do this or did not use documents when the detection or reporting was carried out, 
clearly revealing a lack of training.
Thus, we see a narrow relationship between not reporting and lack of knowledge 
(no formation) in the primary and secondary cycles. When the teachers fail to report 
abuse, it is generally because of a lack of knowledge of the process. This fact implies 
a reduction in complaints in the secondary cycle. Accordingly , training in the process 
should result in an increase in the number of cases reported. This is confirmed by 
the fact that 87.2% of the teachers claimed not to have had confrontations with or 
suffered threats or coercion from families or students in their centres. Also, with 
regard to the complaint, it is essential to consider the issue of social, institutional 

166 Sodobna pedagogika/Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies Escotorín, Brundelius
 
Badia, Garcia,
and emotional support of teachers who report cases of child abuse. This is one of the 
factors that influences which type of training is appropriate in the pre-school cycle. 
It may be assumed that the fear of reprisals, which is evident in the pre-school cycle, 
does not disappear in the primary or secondary cycles, especially in cases of schools 
with greater social vulnerability and in which teachers can be more influenced by the  
environment.
Regarding the means of carrying out the complaint, it is clear that it is easier 
for teachers to report abuse if they can delegate it or feel that they share respons-
ibility with other professionals. Thus, they are more likely to act by delivering the 
documentation to a social worker of the centre or to the head of studies. This fact 
reinforces the previous idea of supporting professionals throughout the process, 
from detection to action.
In terms of future research, the social relevance of the topic is confirmed, 
and it is necessary to highlight teachers’ obligation and ethical responsibility to 
inform and intervene in any suspected situation of abuse or domestic problems, 
following schemes that guarantee privacy and confidentiality (de Botton et al. 2012). 
For this reason, it is crucial for universities to actively incorporate legislation, 
detection protocols and risk factors into their curricula. However, the insecurity 
of teachers to intervene or their ignorance of the subject cannot be linked to the 
overabundance of existing diagnostic materials, which reinforce the existence of 
the problem and the scarcity of educational materials and non-legal support. For 
this reason, the usefulness of educational innovation projects is confirmed, such 
as the European WIDE and FEEL projects, which have allowed financing a pilot 
intervention at the institutional level in each school, offering training in personal 
and technical tools for teachers as well as work in the classroom. The design of this 
type of project favours the subsequent reflection that will help generate new and 
more appropriate public policies.
The challenges of teacher training in interdisciplinary spaces, as offered through 
WIDE, include the development of adequate materials to use in the classroom, 
working with families and training all involved agents on pro-social skills.
As demonstrated in the European WIDE project, child abuse has an impact 
on the social, emotional and academic development of students. Advancing educa-
tional models that transform the school into a social laboratory free of all types of 
violence requires trained and informed teachers.
Acknowledgments: This research has been carried out within the European 
project WIDE (Witnessing Domestic Violence and Audit Education in school system), 
ERASMUS + Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of best practices, Stra-
tegic Partnerships (2016-1-IT02-KA201-024390) and the European Project FEEL 
(Femicide Emergency on European Level) WF616062. 2018-1-IT021-024390.

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Mar BADIA (Univerza v Barceloni, Španija)
Xenia GARCIA (Univerza v Barceloni, Španija)
Pilar ESCOTORIN (Univerza v Barceloni, Španija)
Marc BRUNDELIUS (Univerza v Barceloni, Španija)
 
USPOSABLJANJE VZGOJITELJEV IN UČITELJEV OSNOVNIH IN SREDNJIH ŠOL ZA 
PREPOZNAVANJE ZLORAB OTROK: PRIMER ŠPANIJE 
Povzetek: V okviru evropskega Erasmus+ projekta WIDE (Witnessing Domestic Violence and Audit 
Education in school system) smo se osredotočili na zasnovo modela usposabljanja, ki bi šole in učitelje 
opremilo z orodji ter protokoli za zaznavanje in ustrezno odzivanje v primerih, ko bi bili otroci in mladi 
podvrženi nasilju v družini. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 216 vzgojiteljev, učiteljev in drugih strokovnih 
delavcev iz različnih ustanov v Kataloniji, ki so med letoma 2017 in 2018 prostovoljno sodelovali v 
25-urnem programu usposabljanja. Evropski projekt FEEL (del operacije Strateško partnerstvo na 
področju poklicnega in strokovnega izobraževanja) je k tem ciljem še dodatno prispeval, saj je razvijal 
znanje, ki ga o zaznavanju in odzivanju na primere nasilja potrebujejo strokovni delavci v strokovnem 
in visokošolskem izobraževanju. Da bi študij v okviru projekta ustrezno umestili v širši kontekst, je bilo 
potrebno razumeti vlogo izobraževalnih oblasti in strokovnjakov. Ugotovili smo, da so bili le vzgojitelji 
predšolskih otrok v zadostni meri deležni usposabljanj, ki bi jih lahko šteli za relevantna: na področju 
predšolske vzgoje vzgojitelji najpogosteje zaznavajo zanemarjanje otrok, čemur sledi preplet čustvenih 
zlorab in izpostavljenosti otrok nasilju; medvrstniško nasilje je tretji najpogosteje zaznan tip zlorabe. 
Pomembna je ugotovitev, da veliko vzgojiteljev in učiteljev nikoli ni uporabljalo potrebne dokumentacije, 
ki bi jim omogočila zaznavanje zlorab, kar je zaskrbljujoče. Rezultati nakazujejo velik pomen usposa-
bljanja vzgojiteljev in učiteljev, ki bi jim omogočilo, da pravočasno zaznajo primere nasilja in zmanjšajo 
tveganja, ki so jim v tem pogledu izpostavljeni nekateri otroci. 
Ključne besede: znanje, zloraba otrok, nasilje, učitelji, učenci, zaznavanje zlorab
E-naslov: mar.Badia@nab.cat