Child Maltreatment· 2026Q1
Explaining Rural Help-Seeking Processes in Community-Based Prevention: A Critical Interactionist Approach
- 1citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
A critical interactionist framework revealed four emergent concepts explaining how rural community norms shape family help-seeking and access to support systems.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Community norms significantly shape family help-seeking and access to support systems in rural areas.
- A critical interactionist framework was used to analyze community-based prevention efforts.
- Four emergent concepts were identified that explain the core process of rural help-seeking.
- The study provides a grounded theory articulating access levers for family support within community-based prevention systems.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This study examined a community-led effort to develop and strengthen local prevention systems to promote child and family well-being and enhance access to protective supports within a rural community context. We utilized a community-based participatory action and theory-driven research approach with an aim of understanding how community norms explained family help-seeking behavior. Applying a critical interactionist framework, community members in one rural Midwestern area defined the drivers of local norms and explained how those norms shaped access to and use of community-based family supports. Analyses resulted in a constructivist grounded theory articulating access levers for family support in community-based prevention systems. This paper details four emergent concepts supporting the core process of this theory of rural help-seeking. We further articulate how community norms shaped access to community-based systems of family support and discuss considerations for rural maltreatment prevention and theory-informed and community-driven system change.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Child Maltreatment, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Safety Research
Safety ResearchSocial Sciences