Decision-making e safety assessment in famiglie italiane ed immigrate segnalate ai Servizi Tutela Minori

[Autom. eng. transl.] Recently, a growing number of studies have tried to deepen the decision-making process of the operators of the Minor Protection Services with respect to the evaluation of the level of safety of the reported minors and to their consequent removal from the family nucleus. On the other hand, the factors associated with this decision-making process for families who have undergone a migration journey are less explored. The present study aims to understand which specific risk factors and protection factors predict the placement of the child, considering both Italian and immigrant families. Method. On the basis of the Protocol on Risk Factors and Protective Factors (Di Blasio, 2005), 163 psychosocial folders relating to Italian families and 177 folders of immigrant families reported to Child Protection Services were analyzed retrospectively. In order to identify among the 36 factors identified those most predictive of the decision taken by the services with regard to the placement of minors, two decision trees (CHAID algorithm) were calculated, one for Italian households and one for immigrants. The factors that emerged as predictive in decision trees were subsequently tested using two logistic regression models. Results. In the group of Italian families, the distal risk factor lack of interpersonal relationships, the proximal impulsivity risk factor and the proximal factors of personal autonomy protection and desire to improve emerge as discriminating factors among the nuclei for which a removal order was adopted of the minor and those in which alternative support and / or monitoring measures have been adopted. Among the foreign families, on the other hand, the risk factors of distal knowledge and lack of interest in the development of the child, the young age of the mother, the proximal impulsivity risk factor and the proximal factor of good self-esteem have emerged as discriminating factors. These significant factors were selected to construct two models tested by logistic regression (Italians: χ2 = 61.67; p <.001; R2 Nagelkerke = .43; Immigrants: 2 = 58.48; p <.001 R2 Nagelkerke = .39). Conclusions. From the results two different pattern of factors emerge for Italian families and foreign families that seem to guide safety assessment and the consequent recommendation to place the child. The analyzed factors, with the exception of the impulsivity risk factor, are probably perceived with a different "weight" by the Minor Care professionals in the evaluation process of families with different socio-cultural backgrounds. However, risk factors (eg chronic poverty and poor social integration) that in the literature emerge as characterizing a situation of disadvantage and vulnerability of immigrant families are not predictors of the child's removal intervention.