What Drives Collaboration? Risk Factors, Leadership, and Collaboration Stages In Korea’s Child Abuse Response System

Background and Purpose: Collaboration among stakeholders in Korea’s child abuse response system has become increasingly important following the institutional shift toward public-led investigations. Despite these reforms, the mechanisms that shape the progression of collaboration between public officials and child protection agency caseworkers remain insufficiently understood. Drawing on collaborative governance theory, this study examines how collaboration risk factors, leadership, and the degree of collaboration influence the stage of collaboration.

Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional survey design using data from 143 caseworkers in child protection agencies across Korea. Participants had at least one year of experience and had engaged in case management following the policy reform. Data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and AMOS 25.0. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) were conducted. The analytic model included collaboration risk factors and leadership as independent variables, the degree of collaboration as a mediator, and the stage of collaboration as the outcome, controlling for the number of high-risk cases, tenure, age, and burnout.

Results: Coordination was the most frequently reported stage of collaboration (30.1%), followed by cooperation (23.8%), coalition (18.9%), and collaboration (18.2%). The mean collaboration stage score was 3.11 (SD=1.27), indicating a moderate level.

The structural model showed good fit (χ²=108.268, df=71, TLI=.950, CFI=.967, RMSEA=.061), supporting the adequacy of the proposed model. SEM results indicated that collaboration risk factors had a significant negative effect on the stage of collaboration (β=-.237, p<.05) and on the degree of collaboration (β=-.431, p<.001). The degree of collaboration had a significant positive effect on the stage of collaboration (β=.455, p<.001). Leadership had a significant positive effect on the degree of collaboration (β=.214, p<.05), but no direct effect on the stage of collaboration. Among control variables, the number of high-risk cases negatively affected the stage of collaboration (β=-.142, p<.05), whereas age had a positive effect (β=.174, p<.05). Mediation analysis showed that the degree of collaboration partially mediated the relationship between collaboration risk factors and the stage of collaboration (indirect effect β=-.196, p<.01), while the mediation effect of leadership was not statistically significant.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings indicate that structural risk factors and workload pressures play a critical role in constraining collaboration in child abuse response systems. While leadership contributes to enhancing collaborative engagement, it does not directly lead to higher stages of collaboration without improvements in collaborative practices.

These results suggest that strengthening collaboration requires reducing systemic constraints and promoting active collaborative engagement. Policy efforts should focus on alleviating workload burdens, enhancing inter-agency coordination mechanisms, and supporting sustained collaborative processes. The study provides empirical support for collaborative governance theory and offers practical implications for improving the effectiveness of child abuse response systems.