Emotional discomfort among school staff and student teachers when they had to 'tell' or 'not tell' about vague suspicions of domestic violence

BACKGROUND: Many employees in schools and kindergartens fail to report vague suspicions (e.g., inadequate clothing, signs of anxiety or lack of sleep, being verbally violent to peers) that children are victims of domestic violence because they are unsure whether their suspicions are well founded. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the degree of emotional discomfort among school staff and student teachers when they had to 'tell’ or ‘not tell’ about vague suspicions of domestic violence. We assumed that they would experience more emotional discomfort when they did not report such vague suspicions. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Seventy-one teachers and student teachers (20 men and 51 women; average age: 25, age range: 18–62) were recruited from three primary and lower secondary schools. METHODS: We used an experimental design in this quantitative vignette study, and the particiants were asked to respond to 54 statements that were related to the need for acceptance by others, seriousness, appraisals (e.g. social self-image and self-image) and self-critical feelings (e.g. rejection, shame, and inferiority). RESULTS: The results of the experimental study show that participants who did not tell about their vague suspicions of violence reported this as being more serious (p < .05), had a more negative self-appraisal (p < .05) and reported a higher degree of negative feelings (p < .05). The study sheds light on the seriousness of ‘not telling’ about vague suspicions, and shows that ‘not telling’ is reported as being more emotionally uncomfortable than ‘telling’.