7037CCJ Qualitative Social Research: Interview Protocol for CPWs

This assignment presents a semi-structured interview protocol designed for child protection workers (CPWs). The protocol includes an introduction outlining the purpose of the interview, confidentiality, and the criteria for selecting interviewees (age, residency, and work experience). The interview questions are a mix of open and closed-ended questions, exploring the CPWs' experiences with cases of child maltreatment, neglect, or abuse. Questions address the duration of their work, their motivations for choosing this profession, specific allegations they have encountered, their interactions with the alleged individuals, the conditions of the children involved, their assessment of the alleged person's guilt, their handling of the situations, and their overall experiences. The assignment also includes a brief literature review that discusses the role of CPWs in child mistreatment cases, the impact of parental separation on children, and the CPWs' role as mediators. References include relevant sources on interview research and child protection.

Running head: INTERVIEW
Semi-structured Interview Protocol
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTERVIEW
Interview is a kind of obtrusive data collection method where the source from which
the data is collected is aware of being studied, which may influence the outcome of the result
(Castillo-Montoya, 2016). By interviewing a group of child protection workers (CPW) or
caregivers who have dealt with cases involving allegation of maltreating, neglecting for
abusing children, we will be able to trace substantial amount of data and information
regarding this area of research. For the purpose of this assignment, an appropriate population
of interviewee shall be chosen and subsequently certain interview questions shall be framed
for this interview. The interview questions shall be a mix of open and closed ended questions.
Criteria for the chosen population for the interview
a) Gender no bar
b) Age between 18 to 50
c) Residing in and around NSW
d) Work experience as a CPW for 3 years at least
Interview Protocol and Questions
Interview starts with greetings between the interviewer and interviewee, subsequently
with the interviewer making the interviewee aware of the purpose of conducting this
interview along with the fact that the response of the interviewee will be kept confidential.
1. For how long are you working as a child protection worker?
2. Why did you choose to be a CPW and not a caregiver of elder people, given the fact
that children are more difficult to handle?
3. Have you experienced any of case of allegation of maltreatment, neglect or abuse
faced by a child whom you have been giving protection?
4. Kindly state the specific allegation that that was brought against the alleged person.
5. Did you confront the alleged person directly?

2INTERVIEW
6. How was the condition of the child who was mistreated, neglected or abused?
7. To what extent do you think the alleged person was guilty of the given allegation?
8. How did you deal with the situation?
9. What was your overall experience from the situation?
10. Any advice that you would like to convey to your fellow child protection workers in
this regard?
Ending the interview with greeting each other again.
Brief literature review
Child mistreatment, neglect or abuse cases are often handed over to child protection
workers, who are vested with the responsibility of taking care of the child in question along
with counselling the victim in order to understand his trauma that he may have gathered by
the mistreatment, abuse or neglect (Saini et al., 2019). It is often witnessed that children are a
victim of abuse and negligence in the course of separation between couples who tend to
forget about their children while fighting to get out of their marriages. Children, in such cases
become a witness and sometimes even a part of the abusive verbal or physical fights between
their parents, which scar their mental health forever. CPWs often come to the rescue in such
cases, where the help the child by understanding his thoughts and mental condition along
with making him aware of the severity of the situation and his position in it. The CPWs often
plays the role of a mediator between the children and their abusive guardians in order to
repair the relation (Saini et al., 2019).

3INTERVIEW
References
Castillo-Montoya, M. (2016). Preparing for Interview Research: The Interview Protocol
Refinement Framework. Qualitative Report, 21(5).
Saini, M., Black, T., Godbout, E., & Deljavan, S. (2019). Feeling the pressure to take sides: A
survey of child protection workers' experiences about responding to allegations of
child maltreatment within the context of child custody disputes. Children and Youth
Services Review, 96, 127-133.