Early childhood teachers play major roles in defying child abuse and neglect and alleviating its detrimental effects on young children. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring how Jordanian pre-service early childhood teachers define and perceive violence against children and their role in child abuse detection and prevention. Furthermore, the study aimed at identifying pre-service early childhood perceived preparation needs in child abuse and neglect. To achieve the study purposes, an interpretive qualitative approach was utilised. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 pre-service early childhood teachers who completed a compulsory course in child abuse at the time of the study. Thematic analysis was applied to data through which findings were confined to three themes corresponding to the research questions: violence and abuse defined; perceived preparation needs; and perceived roles in child protection. Several implications and recommendations for educators and teacher preparation programmes were offered and discussed based on the findings of this study.