Discretionality in the detection and reporting of child abuse in Health Institutions in Mexico

Two-hundred and sixty-nine workers (physicians, nurses and social workers) of the public health system in a Mexican city were interviewed. The aim of this research was to determine variables explaining the use of discretion i n detecting and reporting child abuse cases. The most important predictors of discretion were a young age, the lack of training in detecting and handl ing child abuse cases, and having reasons for being discretional. Those who reported most reasons for being discretional were the youngest, the ones w ith least training and those with the lowest educational level, but also th ose with a higher occupational status within the hospital. It was detected a high level of incongruence between the reporting of child abuse cases ind icated by the hospitals' personnel and that detailed by child protection ag encies. This lack of correspondence could be explained by a discretionary d etection and reporting practiced in both institutional systems.