NCJ Number
178615
Date Published
1999
Length
311 pages
Annotation
Written to help the front-line practitioner in assessing and managing allegations of sexual abuse with children from ages 18 months to 6 years old, this book provides information about basic child development, interview procedures, and case management theory.
Abstract
The first three chapters provide the theoretical basis for subsequent assessment practices in cases of allegations of child sexual abuse. The first chapter discusses sexual development (normative and clinical sexual behaviors), followed by a chapter that addresses child development theory and how it provides the background against which the symptoms or expressions of child abuse must be understood. Research on children's memory and the implications for how abuse experiences may be stored and recalled are considered in the third chapter. These first three chapters are followed by chapters that explain in detail the practical assessment procedures designed to determine whether a child has been sexually abused. One chapter specifies assessment procedures for children aged 18-36 months, many of whom cannot be interviewed to obtain verbal information from them. Another chapter describes assessment procedures for children 3-5 years old. This is followed by a chapter that presents current interview formats with adaptations for preschool children. A separate chapter explains how to use the Touch Survey to determine whether a child has been touched in a sexually abusive manner. The next chapter discusses the management of high-risk cases in which there is not sufficient evidence to prove sexual abuse in court. Family reunification is a central topic in this chapter. The concluding chapter suggests ways to improve the management of cases in which child sexual abuse is alleged. Appended assessment outline for very young children and a prescreening outline for the assessment of children ages 3-5, 275 references, and a subject index