NCJ Number
162769
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 4 Issue: 4 Dated: (1995) Pages: 1-25
Date Published
1995
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Two hundred fifteen cases of allegations of child sexual abuse in families also involved in divorce were studied with respect to their characteristics, substantiation, and outcomes.
Abstract
The cases came from a university-based midwestern clinic that conducts multidisciplinary evaluations and some treatment of cases involving child maltreatment. The 215 allegations involved 174 children; the number of allegations was greater than the number of children because more than one person allegedly abused 41 of the children. The analysis revealed that 31 cases involved disclosure of sexual abuse followed by divorce, 54 cases involved divorce followed by disclosure of previous sexual abuse, 58 cases involved divorce followed by sexual abuse, 31 cases involved false allegations by adults, 14 involved possible false allegations by adults, 27 were situations in which the dynamics of sexual abuse were not directly related to divorce, and nine cases involved false allegations by children. Biological fathers were the most commonly named offenders, followed by stepparents, and then biological mothers. Clinical substantiation existed in 72.6 percent of the cases. The court substantiation rate was about half the clinic substantiation rate. Almost one-fifth of the parents who raised concerns about sexual abuse experienced some form of sanction. Findings indicate the existence of a variety of relationships between allegations of sexual abuse and divorce and that the professional community needs to provide more cogent assistance to courts in making the complex decisions associated with divorce and child sexual abuse. Tables, notes, and 33 references (Author abstract modified)