世論 What Japan Thinks

Following up on a recent survey on hitting children, iShare looked this time at reporting suspected abuse, with an interesting breakdown by kind of residence.

Demographics

Between the 15th and 21st of September 2010 470 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.2% of the sample were male, 31.7% in their twenties, 31.9% in their thirties, and 36.4% in their forties.

I think I could give you a reasonable estimate of the number of kids in my 32-roomed block of flats, but I could only name one just because I often hear his name being called from the next door garden! If I suspected any abuse of kids I would discuss it with our janitor and get him to do something.

Research results

Q1: What kind of place do you live in? (Sample size=470)

	All	Male N=264	Female N=206
Rented apartment	37.4%	42.0%	31.6%
Purchased apartment	10.9%	9.1%	13.1%
Rented house	4.7%	5.3%	3.9%
Purchased house	44.9%	40.9%	50.0%
Other	2.1%	2.7%	1.5%

Q2: Do you know approximately how many children in elementary school or below live in your immediate neighbourhood? (Sample size=470)

	All	Male N=264	Female N=206
Yes (to SQ)	19.4%	17.4%	21.8%
No	80.6%	82.6%	78.2%

Those living in houses knew the numbers better than apartment dwellers, and owner-occupiers knew better than renters, but still the top figure for house owner-occupiers was only 27.5%.

Q2SQ: Do you know the names of these children who live in your immediate neighbourhood? (Sample size=91)

	All	Male N=46	Female N=45
Most of them	22.0%	28.3%	15.6%
Some of them	40.7%	32.6%	48.9%
None of them	37.4%	39.1%	35.6%

Q3: If you thought that a neighbourhood child was being abused, would you contact a Child Consultation Centre or take other actions to help? (Sample size=470)

	All	Male N=264	Female N=206
Definitely	12.1%	11.7%	12.6%
Probably	53.6%	50.8%	57.3%
Probably not	30.2%	33.0%	26.7%
Definitely not	4.0%	4.5%	3.4%

70% of apartment dwellers would probably take action versus 65% of house owner-occupiers, but just 40% of house renters would be likely to take action.

Q4: Due to frequently hearing a child crying or a parent shouting, etc, have you ever felt that a neighbourhood child could have been abused? (Sample size=470)

	All	Male N=264	Female N=206
Yes	3.6%	3.4%	3.9%
No	96.4%	96.6%	96.1%

Q5: Who do you think should promptly notice and help a child being abused? (Sample size=470, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=264	Female N=206
School, kindergarten teacher	69.4%	64.0%	76.2%
Neighbours	62.3%	61.0%	64.1%
Relatives	30.6%	35.2%	24.8%
Other	4.9%	6.4%	2.9%

Two-thirds of those living in apartments thought neighbours should be early responders, but just under three in five of those living in houses thought the same way.