Journal of Educational Sciences > Volume 25, No. 2, 2013

Child psychological maltreatment: Elementary school teacher's perspective Field study in Riyadh / Wafa M. Taibah

Child psychological maltreatment (CPM) is a serious problem as it affects development in many areas including learning in
elementary years. The present study aimed at exploring and measuring teacher's conception of (CPM) in the elementary school. The term Child
psychological maltreatments in this study means: The child experiencing one or more of the following aspects of psychological maltreatment:
verbal maltreatment. terrorizing and threatening. degrading and ridiculing. discrimination. denial of school rights. corruption. and over pressing
the child. The study investigated ranking made by teachers of different aspects of (CPM). and whether there are differences between teacher's
ranking according to type of school (public or private). educational qualification of the teacher. years of experience. and school districts. The
researcher used the descriptive analytical method. and the sample consisted of (314) female teachers of five learning districts in the city of
Riyadh. The study revealed that teachers gave high rating to most items on verbal maltreatment degrading and ridicule. deprivation of school
rights. and over pressing the child. In addition. teachers gave moderate rating to items related to terrorizing and threatening. discrimination. and
corruption. as factors of child (CPM) in elementary school. The results also showed significant differences in the conception of (CPM) between
teachers of public and private schools. between teachers who have a bachelor degree and the ones that don't. The analysis also revealed a
significant difference between teachers in regard to years of experiences. and between the five school districts in Riyadh.
Keywords: Child abuse, Child maltreatment, Emotional maltreatment, Child psychological abuse, Psychological violence, Teacher maltreatment.