Abstract:

The purpose of this descriptive and retrospective study is to investigate the association between pre-service preschool teachers’ past experiences of emotional abuse and their knowledge and awareness of emotional neglect and abuse. To this end, this study surveyed 151 fourth-grade pre-service teachers studying preschool teacher education at the Department of Basic Education under Faculty of Education at Cumhuriyet University during the 2015-2016 academic year. The data were collected using the “Knowledge and Awareness of Emotional Neglect/Abuse Scale” and the “ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tools Retrospective Version (ICAST-R) for Young Adults”. The analysis results indicated a significant difference between the respondents’ level of knowledge and awareness of emotional abuse and the past experience of emotional abuse by being told by a family or household member that he or she was unloved and did not deserve to be loved. However, no significant difference was found between the level of knowledge and awareness of emotional abuse and the past experiences of emotional abuse by being told by a family or household member that they wish he or she had never been born or were died, by a family or household member threatening to abandon him or her or refusing to let him or her live in the house, and by being insulted or criticized by anyone to make him or her feel stupid, bad or worthless.

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