NCJ Number
239396
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: January - February 2012 Pages: 19-44
Date Published
February 2012
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article describes a Bayesian approach to evaluating children's abuse disclosures.
Abstract
The authors describe a Bayesian approach to evaluating children's abuse disclosures and review research demonstrating that children's disclosure of genital touch can be highly probative of sexual abuse, with the probative value depending on disclosure spontaneity and children's age. The authors discuss how some commentators understate the probative value of children's disclosures by: confusing the probability of abuse given disclosure with the probability of disclosure given abuse, assuming that children formally questioned about sexual abuse have a low prior probability of sexual abuse, misstating the probative value of abuse disclosure, and confusing the distinction between disclosure and nondisclosure with the distinction between true and false disclosures. The authors review interviewing methods that increase the probative value of disclosures, including interview instructions, narrative practice, noncontingent reinforcement, and questions about perpetrator/caregiver statements and children's reactions to the alleged abuse. Published by arrangement with Taylor and Francis.