NCJ Number
103431
Journal
Case and Comment Volume: 91 Issue: 6 Dated: (November-December 1986) Pages: 12-20
Date Published
1986
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Until the late 1950's, child abuse was usually unrecognized or ignored, the testimony of children was disregarded, and the prevailing belief was that children's allegations of sexual abuse were fantasy.
Abstract
Since then, the pendulum has swung dramatically in the other direction. Sociologists believe that children have neither the interest nor knowledge to fabricate an allegation, and social workers have been trained to assume that all allegations of child sexual abuse are true. However, a number of studies suggest that a large percentage of child sexual abuse cases are unfounded. Sexual abuse allegations were hoaxes in about 70 percent of divorce-linked cases in one study. A number of cases indicate that children do occasionally lie about sexual abuse, that they may be coached in making allegations, and that the suggestions of biased social workers may contribute to erroneous allegations. The problem of social worker bias and child suggestibility raises serious constitutional questions about statutory hearsay exceptions in child sexual abuse cases. While such statutes may sound good in theory, it is essential that admissible hearsay statements bear adequate indicia of reliability and that the defendant's confrontation rights be protected, lest convictions be based on emotion rather than fact. 32 footnotes.