Özet:

This study aims to study the educational candidates’ level of knowledge about child abuse and neglect and their attitudes towards reporting sexual abuse. This study, based on the relational scan model, was conducted with a total of 515 teachers candidates who participated in pedagogical formation training at the University of Trakya and the Faculty of Education of the Van Century University (Van YYU) in the 2017-2018 educational year. The data of the study was collected for teachers through the "Analyse of Child Abuse and Introduction Information Level", the scale of Child Sexual Abuse Attitude and the "Personal Information Form" for teachers. In analysis; visual statistics, independent groups t-test, one-way variance analysis and Pearson correlation analysis techniques have been used. According to the findings obtained, 87.5% of teaching candidates have not received education on child abuse and abuse, have the highest levels of risk recognition and the highest levels of children’s behavioral symptoms, teaching candidates in Van YYU have a lower level of knowledge on child abuse and abuse compared to teaching candidates in Trakya University, and teaching candidates in Trakya University have a higher level of knowledge on the behavioral symptoms that the child may show about child abuse compared to teaching candidates in Van YYU. It has been found that the teaching candidates’ attitudes towards reporting sexual abuse are low, but as the level of knowledge increases, their confidence increases and their negative attitudes towards reporting sexual abuse to the child decreases. The findings obtained from the research have been discussed in the framework of the relevant area.

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