The credibility of children's testimony is a hotly debated topic in America's courtrooms, universities and professional organisations. Are children more suggestible than adults, and if so, what are the implications for those who work with child witnesses? This work examines real life cases in which children were key witnesses in criminal chid abuse trials. Written in accessible language by experts in the field, this text should be useful for expert witnesses and all those who work with child witnesses, including therapists, social workers, law enforcement personnel and lawyers.

Jeopardy in the Courtroom: A Scientific Analysis of Children's Testimony

The empirical basis for the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome (CSAAS), a theoretical model that posits that sexually abused children frequently display secrecy, tentative disclosures, and retractions of abuse statements was reviewed. Two data sources were evaluated: retrospective studies of adults’ reports of having been abused as children and concurrent or chart-review studies of children undergoing evaluation or treatment for sexual abuse. The evidence indicates that the majority of abused children do not reveal abuse during childhood. However, the evidence fails to support the notion that denials, tentative disclosures, and recantations characterize the disclosure patterns of children with validated histories of sexual abuse. These results are discussed in terms of their implications governing the admissibility of expert testimony on CSAAS. Although it is widely acknowledged that the sexual assault of children is a major societal concern, it is not known how many children are victims of sexual abuse in the United States (Ceci & Friedman, 2000). There are two major reasons for this lack of data. First, present estimates of the incidence of child sexual abuse (CSA) are primarily based on reports received and validated by child protection agencies. These figures, however, do not reflect the number of unreported cases or the number of cases reported to other types of agencies (e.g., sheriff’s offices) and professionals (e.g., mental health diversion programs). Second, the accuracy of diagnosis of CSA is often difficult because definitive medical or physical evidence is lacking or inconclusive in the vast majority of cases (Bays & Chadwick, 1993; Berenson, Heger, & Andrews, 1991), and because there are no gold standard psychological symptoms specific to sexual abuse (Kendall-Tacket, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993; Poole & Lindsay, 1998; J. M. Wood & Wright, 1995). Given these limitations of medical and psychological evidence, children’s statements typically represent the central evidence for judging the occurrence of

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DISCLOSURE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE What Does the Research Tell Us About the Ways That Children Tell

https://psychology.unl.edu/childmaltreatmentlab/documents/FactorsInfluencingDisclosure_Paine_Hansen2002.pdf

Factors influencing children to self-disclose sexual abuse.

Interviewing children for investigative purposes is a specialized skill. Professional interviewers need to be able to conduct interviews that bear scrutiny from outside agencies and also serve the best interests of children. In clear, engaging language, this eye-opening book corrects the common misunderstandings about adult-child conversational exchanges and provides guidelines for interviews, based on the most up-to-date research. It also presents a flexible interview protocol that can be tailored to meet individual needs. Topics discussed include: The current child protection crisis The difficulties of investigating alleged abuse cases Children's strengths and weaknesses as interviewees Characteristics of the most respected interview protocols Children's language development and understanding of "interview rules" Ancillary techniques, such as the use of drawings and anatomically detailed dolls How to improve one's decision-making skills How to stay abreast of the latest research and techniques The principles outlined in his book can be generalized to a variety of situations in which the interviewer wishes to gather information untainted by the dynamics of adult-child questioning. Thus, Investigative Interviews of Children will be invaluable not only to child protection workers, lawyers, law enforcement officers, and psychologists, but also to other mental health professionals, educators, and parents.

Investigative Interviews of Children: A Guide for Helping Professionals

Delay in disclosure of childhood rape: results from a national survey.

In an analysis of the disclosure by a large number of children from three to 17 years of age of having been sexually abused, and who were eventually confirmed as credible victims, the large majority at first denied the abuse. The authors describe disclosure as a process with definable phases and characteristics--seldom the single entity that typical investigations consider disclosure to be, thereby setting the stage for ensuring injustices and harm to the children.

How children tell: the process of disclosure in child sexual abuse

Ritualistic child sexual abuse is a relatively unknown and poorly understood form of child maltreatment. This study describes the common characteristics evident in five cases of ritualistic abuse that occurred in five separate neighborhood settings. The sample consisted of 39 children, from 4 to 17 years of age, who described in clinical interviews at least six elements of ritual abuse. Three distinct components to the abuse were identified: incest, neighborhood juvenile perpetration, and organized adult ritual sex rings. These components operated simultaneously and interacted with one another. Lack of understanding of these separate components led to oversimplification of the problem, inaccurate investigative work, and attempts to discredit victims and therapists. Disclosures were difficult and progressed slowly. The majority of children showed little symptomology at initial referral with significant increases during the disclosure process. Perpetrators involved religious leaders, women, and many juvenil...

Teena Sorensen

Papers

How children tell: the process of disclosure in child sexual abuse

Ritualistic Child Abuse in a Neighborhood Setting