By Alessandra Suuberg, Decency LLC
Lawyers think a lot about the meanings of words.
In particular, members of the legal profession (e.g., lawyers, judges) spend a lot of time thinking about the interpretation of written laws, or statutes. For this reason legislators—the individuals who make laws at the state or federal level—also need to think carefully about word choice.
One 2023 study from researchers at Vanderbilt University and the Penn State College of Medicine highlights the importance of statutory word choice in the context of child abuse reporting laws.
State laws in the U.S. generally designate some or all adults as “mandated reporters” who must report child abuse to their state government or face penalties. (Relevant to DLLC’s readers, healthcare providers often fall within the category of individuals required to report.)
Mandated reporting laws can differ from state to state, for example in terms of who is considered a mandated reporter, in terms of the procedures that institutions (such as schools or hospitals) must follow in this context, and in terms of the circumstances under which mandated reporters must make a report.
With these variations in mind, researchers at Vanderbilt and Penn State studied the practical impact of word choice in child abuse reporting laws by looking for differences in reporting patterns across U.S. states and territories—particularly differences between “believe” states and “suspect” states.
They focused on laws that required a report when mandated reporters only “suspected” child maltreatment and those that required a report when reporters “believed” that maltreatment was occurring. They found that suspicion language (as opposed to belief language) was associated with higher rates of referrals made or screened in, but lower rates of substantiated reports. They concluded that word choice could be having an impact on reporting patterns, but that further research would be needed to consider alternative explanations for the observed differences.
The choice of one word versus another might seem like a minor point, but imagine yourself now in the shoes of a mandated reporter in your state, knowing that you could face legal consequences for failing to report possible child maltreatment—and that a decision to report can have consequences of its own, including but not limited to consequences for you and for your patient or client.
In an uncertain case, what course of action might you take if the law says “suspicion” is enough to necessitate a report? What if the law only requires you to make a report if you “believe” that abuse is taking place?
Faced with a situation like this, you might quickly realize the difference that one word can make.
Disclaimer: The information and opinions on this site do not include legal advice or the advice of a licensed healthcare provider.