Public Perceptions of Child Protection in Nigeria: The Crucial Role of Child Protection Social Workers

Abstract

Children’s welfare and safety are fundamental rights but are often compromised due to various socio-economic factors. Thus, there is a need to understand child protection in Nigeria and the crucial role of Child Protection Social Workers to accommodate the best interests of the child to local contexts. This study examines the perceptions of a cross-section of Nigerians regarding their knowledge of child protection and the roles of social work professionals. Through a structured questionnaire, data were collected from a representative sample of 150 participants between the age of 25 years and above who have child(ren) residing with them. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. The result show that the general knowledge level of child protection in the modern Nigerian context is low (48.00) compared to the traditional or cultural Nigerian method. Although the majority of the respondents (51.5%) were not familiar with the professional designation ‘Child Protection Social Worker’, they, however, demonstrated substantial knowledge about social workers’ general areas of practice (82,5%) with low level of knowledge of social work roles (43.5%) on Child Protection. It was thus recommended that the government, non-governmental organizations, philanthropist, social workers among others should work to ensure that the issue of Child Protection in modern Nigeria be highly prioritized.