TTLV: Child protection capacity of grassroots social workers in Hanoi city.

1. Full name of PhD student: Nguyen Thuy Trang 2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth: December 5, 1978 4. Place of birth: Hanoi
5. Decision on recognition of PhD students: Decision No. 2775/QD-XHNV-DT dated December 31, 2020 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
6. Changes during the training process (if any): Decision on changing the title of doctoral thesis of PhD student Nguyen Thuy Trang, No. 2475/QD-XHNV dated September 8, 2022; Decision on extending the study period of PhD student QH-2020-X (first time), No. 5109 dated December 4, 2023 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
7. Thesis topic: Child protection capacity of grassroots social workers in Hanoi city.
8. Major: Social Work 9. Code: 9760101.01
10. Scientific advisors: Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thai Lan, Dr. Pauline Meemeduma.
11. Summary of new results of the thesis:
The thesis researches and evaluates the overall issues related to the child protection capacity of grassroots social workers in Hanoi city through indicators of demographic characteristics, professional qualifications, knowledge, skills and attitudes related to child protection of this staff. At the same time, it provides information on the child protection capacity framework in the world, identifies gaps and lessons from research.
The study systematized tools and concepts on child protection capacity (CPV) of grassroots social workers. The research model was designed based on 3 theories/competency frameworks, including Ecosystem theory, Learning theory and ASK Competency framework. The research methods used were a combination of qualitative and quantitative: document research, questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews, expert consultation. Statistical data analysis and processing used SPSS 2022 and thematic analysis.
The research results describe a picture of the job positions of social workers in the field of child protection, which is quite diverse, including child protection collaborators, cultural and social officers in charge of many fields, including child protection, and social workers/staff. Survey participants self-assessed that they had limitations in some knowledge related to case management, child protection programs and projects, and child protection procedures. Regarding child protection skills, social workers were weak in psychological counseling skills and emergency response skills. Social workers generally had attitudes that were consistent with professional ethics standards, but they still did not ensure working hours, and feelings of stress and fatigue due to shift work and heavy workloads also caused certain limitations in working attitudes. However, service recipients such as parents/caregivers were satisfied with the services and attitudes of social workers.
Regarding the current situation of training for child protection workers, there are still shortcomings such as: child protection training courses have not been highly appreciated due to the design of large, crowded classrooms that are not suitable for small-scale practical classes; the highly academic training content is not suitable for the reality of child protection work in wards and communes; the teaching methods are traditional, mainly theoretical and not focused on practice. Therefore, the training courses have not attracted and created the interest of ward and commune leaders as well as staff working in child protection. However, social work service providers have paid more attention to these courses.
The study assessed the ability to implement child protection work at three levels: prevention, support and intervention. Prevention work was carried out at a high level. Child protection collaborators mainly carried out propaganda work, provided information, detected risks and disseminated child protection responsibilities, while cultural and social officers and social workers mainly taught self-protection skills to children and equipped child protection skills for parents and caregivers. The ability to implement support work varied depending on the job position, between cultural and social officers, social workers and child protection collaborators. Similarly, intervention measures were mainly aimed at abused children and children in special circumstances. Child protection collaborators carried out interventions at a lower level than cultural and social officers and social workers.
The study identified the difficulties that social workers encounter in the process of performing their work. These include low monthly income, work pressure and large workloads that limit their participation in training courses and reduce their focus on their professional work, community attitudes that are indifferent to children's problems and families that lack cooperation with staff. The study initially provided social workers' assessments of a number of factors that affect their child protection capacity, including: Personal characteristics, education and training, working environment, and cultural factors. Personal characteristics of social workers have a strong influence on their capacity. With experience in practicing social work and child protection, social workers believe that they will acquire new knowledge more quickly, such as understanding the intervention process and identifying children's problems accurately and promptly.
Education and training factors have a strong influence on the child protection capacity of social workers. The results of the test of the difference in the level of child protection capacity in social work training levels show that the higher the training level, the higher the child protection capacity of social workers. Social workers who are trained in depth in social work will achieve child protection capacity at a professional level. The group of working environment factors has a fairly strong influence on the child protection capacity of grassroots social workers. In particular, the factor of new knowledge acquired at the workplace has a positive impact on child protection capacity. However, administrative factors/mandatory work processes such as making many reports, updating information on the child database that is often congested and filling out complex forms take up a lot of social workers' time and make it difficult for them to do their jobs.
Cultural characteristics also have a relatively strong influence on the child protection capacity of social workers. Consider some factors that have a negative impact on the child protection capacity that hinder the detection of child abuse and violence, including: shame, reluctance to disclose family matters and indifference from people, the community and society. The community's hesitation and fear of being implicated also cause difficulties and hinder the detection of cases.
The study has provided solutions on regulations and policies to help remove difficulties that social workers encounter in the process of performing their work; solutions to enhance the capacity of social workers to protect children and recommendations for state management agencies, social work service providers, social work training institutions and grassroots social workers themselves.
12. Further research directions:
- Research on the differences in competency standards for social workers in schools, social service facilities, and special care facilities in the community.
- Research on the impact of policies on the capacity of social workers to protect children.
- Research on training programs to improve child protection capacity for grassroots social workers in the child protection system.
- Experimental study on the competency framework for social workers in social service establishments in Hanoi.
13. Publications related to the thesis:
- Nguyen Thuy Trang, Nguyen Thi Thai Lan (2023), “Child protection competence of social workers at communal level in Hanoi: Status quo and need for capacity building”, Make a difference social work without barriers in response to sustainable development and public emergency, ISBN: 978-604-315-116-9, pp. 91-108.

 

INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS
 

The study has provided an overview of child protection competence issues, discussed global CPC frameworks, and highlighted research gaps. In Vietnam, social workers currently lack a CPC framework.
The thesis provides an overview of issues related to the child protection competence of groundswells social workers in Hanoi city through indicators such as demographic characteristics, educational levels, knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to child protection. Additionally, the thesis offered information on the global frameworks regarding child protection competencies, identified research gaps.
The study systematized tools and concepts related to the child protection competence of grassroots social workers. The research model was designed based on theories such as Ecological system theory, Social learning theory, and the ASK framework. Various research methods were used, including literature review, survey questionnaires, in-depth interviews, expert interviews and data analysis methods with SPSS 2022.
The research results show that the job positions of social workers in the field of child protection are quite diverse, including child protection workers, socio-cultural officers responsible for various areas including child protection, and social workers. The surveyed participants had the limited knowledge related to case management, child protection programs and projects, and child protection procedures. In terms of child protection, the social workers mainly rely on psychological counseling skills and crisis management skills. Regarding attitude, they had an appropriate attitude towards professional ethics standards but still struggled with work hours, stress, and fatigue from shift work, and heavy workloads, which could affect their work attitudes. However, service recipients such as parents/caregivers expressed satisfaction with the service and attitudes of the social workers.
Regarding the current situation of child protection training, there were still existing issues. Child protection training courses were not highly valued due to the large class size, which is not suitable for practical sessions; the contents of the training courses did not align with the actual child protection work at communal level; teaching methods were traditional and theory-focused rather than practical. Therefore, the training courses did not attract the attention and interest of local leaders as well as child protection officers. However, service providers in social work institutions show more interest in these courses.
The study evaluated the ability to carry out child protection work at 3 levels of prevention, support, and intervention. Prevention work was carried out at a high level. Child protection workers are mainly focused on propaganda work, providing information, identifying risks, and promoting child protection responsibilities, while social workers and child protection officers are mainly focused on educating children on self-protection skills and equipping child protection skills for parents/caregivers. The ability to provide support varies between the job positions of social workers, child protection workers, and child protection collaborators. Likewise, intervention measures mainly target children who had been abused and children with special circumstances. Child protection workers intervened at a lower level compared to social workers and child protection workers.
In addition, the study identifies the challenges that social workers were facing in the process of carrying out their work. These include low monthly income, work pressure, and workloads that limit their ability to attend training sessions and distract them from their professional work. The community's indifferent attitude towards issues affecting children and families, as well as a lack of cooperation with colleagues was also noted. The study provided an assessment by social workers on factors affecting their child protection competence, including personal characteristics, education and training, work environment, and cultural characteristics. Personal characteristics strongly influence the capacity of the social workers. With practical experience in social work and child protection, the social workers believed they could quickly absorb new knowledge, understand intervention processes, accurately and promptly identify issues affecting children.
Education and training had a strong impact on their child protection competence. The results show the differences in child protection competence at various social work training levels. The better level of social work training was gained by the participants, the higher ranges in their child protection competence were. Those who received specialized training in social work will achieve a professional level of child protection competence. The work environment factor had a significant impact on the child protection competence of grassroots social workers. However, administrative/mandatory work processes such as making numerous reports, updating the children's database information which was often slow and the completion of complicated forms took up a lot of their time and made it difficult for them to do their work.
Cultural characteristics also had a relatively strong influence on the participants' child protection competence. Some of the factors that negatively affect their competence and hindered the detection of abused and violent children include shame, embarrassment about disclosing family matters, and the apathy of people, community, and society. The community's fear of being implicated also makes it difficult to detect such cases.
The study provides solutions to regulations and policies to remove difficulties that the participants encountered during their work; to enhance their child protection competence; and offered recommendations for state management agencies, social work service providers, social work training institutions, and social workers at the grassroots level.
12. Further research directions
- A study on the differences in child protection competence standards for social workers in schools, social service facilities and special care facilities.
- A study on the impact of policies on social workers' child protection competence.
- A study on training programs to improve social workers' child protection competence at the groundswell level in the child protection system.
- An experimental study of a child protection competence framework for social workers in social service facilities in Hanoi.
13. Thesis-related publications
- Nguyen Thuy Trang, Nguyen Thi Thai Lan (2023), “Child protection competence of social workers at communal level in Hanoi: Status quo and need for capacity building”, Make a difference social work without barriers in response to sustainable development and public emergency, ISBN: 978-604-315-116-9, pp. 91-108.
- Nguyen Thuy Trang (2023), “Factors affecting child protection competence of social workers in Hanoi, Vietnam”, International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research and Studies. Vol.3 (4), pp. 272-276. ISSN: 2583-049X.