Play Technique: Diagnosing the Sexually Abused Child (From Out of Harm's Way: Readings on Child Sexual Abuse, Its Prevention and Treatment, P 108-113, 1986, Dawn C Haden, ed. -- NCJ-107618)

• NCJ Number: 107627
• Author(s): A F Clark; J Bingham
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Oryx Press
• Publication Type: Training (Aid/Material)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Reprinted from Tarrant County Physician (August 1984)

Annotation

This discussion of the diagnosis of child sexual abuse using the play technique details age-appropriate behavior and verbal responses that might be evidence of abuse, suggests different aids to use when establishing communication with a sexually abused child, and shows examples of how children, through drawings, can express their emotional difficulties.

Abstract

Talking to children is easy if the adult remembers that a child has a more limited field of knowledge and if the adult uses the language of children. Preschoolers can show what happened, using dolls or play materials. They can say who did it and tell if it hurt. However, they cannot give times and dates or understand the implications of revealing sensitive information. Children ages 6 through 11 can give detailed accounts and may not use dolls or play materials. They can tell in general terms when an incident happened. They can also tell where it happened, how long it has been going on, and tell the first and last times it happened. These children also understand some implications of revealing a secret. Adolescents can tell exactly what happened, but will be unable to understand why it happened or to forgive the mother. Useful aids to communication are dolls, anatomical drawings, puzzles, puppets, and art. Physicians must be aware that they may be the first or only person to suspect child sexual abuse. Lists of behavioral signs of child sexual abuse and 5 references.