Portable Guides to Investigating Child Abuse

• NCJ Number: 251655
• Date Published: May 2007
• Length: 2 pages
• Publication Series: OJJDP Portable Guides to Investigating Child Abuse
• Grant Number(s): 9535
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Instructional Material (Programmed)

Annotation

General and specific information is provided on 13 "Portable Guides" provided by the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to guide professionals involved in the investigation of child abuse.

Abstract

Professionals who would benefit from this series include police officers and detectives, social workers, physicians, nurses, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, psychologists, attorneys, and judges. Written by nationally recognized experts, the Portable Guides are designed to be both substantive and handy to consult. Each of the 13 guides addresses a specific topic, providing key facts, checklists, and resources relevant to the topic. Each guide addresses one of the following topics: 1) investigating physical abuse and homicide; 2) burn injuries in child abuse; 3) child neglect and Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy; 4) criminal investigation of child sexual abuse; 5) diagnostic imaging of child abuse; 6) forming a multidisciplinary team to investigate child abuse; 7) interviewing child witnesses and victims of sexual abuse; 8) investigating child fatalities; 9) law enforcement response to child abuse; 10) photo documentation in the investigation of child abuse; 11) recognizing when a child's injury or illness is caused by abuse; 12) sexually transmitted diseases and child sexual abuse; and 13) the use of computers in the sexual exploitation of children. The content of each one of these guides is summarized in this report.