Societal Factors Impacting Child Welfare: Validating the Perceptions of Child Welfare Scale
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-3-2015
Journal / Book Title
Research on Social Work Practice
Abstract
Objective: This research examines the psychometric properties of the Perceptions of Child Welfare Scale (PCWS). This instrument is designed to assess child welfare workers’ understanding of how society views their role and their work. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was utilized to analyze data on 538 child welfare workers. Results: The final model consisted of three latent variables with 14 indicators related to stigma, value, and respect (χ2 = 362.33, p = .00; root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .09; 90% confidence interval [CI]: [.08, .09]; comparative fit index [CFI] = .96; Tucker–Lewis Index [TLI] = .95). Discussion: The way in which workers believe others view their work suggests an increasingly complex prototype for understanding workforce issues. Those wishing to examine societal factors related to child welfare workforce issues could use this validated instrument.
DOI
10.1177/1049731514530001
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Auerbach, Charles; Zeitlin, Wendy; Augsberger, Astraea; McGowan, Brenda G.; Claiborne, Nancy; and Lawrence, Catherine K., "Societal Factors Impacting Child Welfare: Validating the Perceptions of Child Welfare Scale" (2015). Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 120.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/social-work-and-child-advocacy-facpubs/120
Published Citation
Auerbach, C., Zeitlin, W., Augsberger, A., McGowan, B. G., Claiborne, N., & Lawrence, C. K. (2015). Societal factors impacting child welfare: Validating the Perceptions of Child Welfare Scale. Research on Social Work Practice, 25(3), 305-312.