Mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect highlights the challenges between the ethical and legal obligations of social workers and the need to maintain the therapeutic relationship with the client. The ability to bridge this tension is paramount to ensure continued psychosocial treatment and the well-being of children. This paper discusses a study to determine the decision-making factors of social work students and practitioners when facing a suspicion of child abuse and neglect, how they justify their decision to report or not report to child protection services, and the current and future relationship repair strategies used with simulated clients during an objective structured clinical evaluation (OSCE). Nineteen BSW, MSW, and experienced practitioners (N = 19) underwent an OSCE with one of two child maltreatment vignettes, physical abuse or neglect. Fisher’s exact test was used to examine participants’ historical and current reporting behaviors. Independent samples T-tests, Cohen’s D, and qualitative content analysis was used to examine participants’ decision making and relationship repair strategies when faced with suspected child abuse and neglect. Results showed that six participants discussed the duty to report during the OSCE while 13 participants did not. Participants’ who discussed and did not discuss the duty to report during the OSCE articulated clear reasons for their decision and identified relationship repair strategies in working with the client. A sub-group of participants who identified the child maltreatment but did not discuss the duty to report, provided more tentative and complex reasons for their inaction and next steps in working with the client. All participants demonstrated a degree of competence and critical reflection in the OSCE, with integration for future learning. These findings are discussed and implications for future practice are offered.

对涉嫌虐待和忽视儿童的强制性报告突出了社会工作者的道德和法律义务与维持与服务对象的治疗关系的必要性之间的挑战。弥合这种紧张关系的能力对于确保持续的社会心理治疗和儿童的福祉至关重要。本文讨论了一项研究，以确定社会工作学生和从业人员在面临虐待和忽视儿童的嫌疑时的决策因素，他们如何证明自己决定向儿童保护服务机构报告或不报告的理由，以及当前和未来的关系修复在客观结构化临床评估 (OSCE) 期间与模拟客户一起使用的策略。十九名 BSW、MSW 和经验丰富的从业者 (N = 19) 接受了 OSCE，其中有两个虐待儿童的小插曲，身体虐待或忽视。Fisher 精确检验用于检查参与者的历史和当前报告行为。独立样本 T 检验、Cohen's D 和定性内容分析用于检查参与者在面临疑似虐待和忽视儿童时的决策制定和关系修复策略。结果显示，6 名参与者讨论了欧安组织期间的报告义务，而 13 名参与者没有。在欧安组织期间讨论和未讨论报告义务的参与者阐明了他们做出决定的明确理由，并确定了与客户合作的关系修复策略。确定虐待儿童但未讨论报告义务的参与者小组，为他们的不作为以及与客户合作的后续步骤提供了更多暂定和复杂的原因。所有参与者都在欧安组织中展示了一定程度的能力和批判性反思，并为未来的学习提供了整合。讨论了这些发现并提供了对未来实践的影响。