NCJ Number
106133
Date Published
Unknown
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This booklet, intended to be read to children 4 to 6 years old, portrays a child's (Jana) experience of father-daughter incest, including events and feelings in the course of the abuse, the exposure, the investigation, the trial, and subsequent family treatment.
Abstract
Jana is portrayed as a typical girl within a typical family structure, except that her father touches her in ways that make her 'feel funny,' and he has her touch him in a way that Jana 'thinks is wrong.' Her father asks her to keep their special touching a secret from her mother. At first, Jana has ambivalent feelings of being special in her relationship with her father but also of being isolated from her mother and friends within her secret world. The strain of keeping the secret and of feeling different from her friends causes Jana to have frightening dreams, to be hypersensitive to her mother's criticism, and to try and avoid being alone with her father. She is afraid to tell her secret but finally musters the courage to tell an adult neighbor, who calls a social service agency. Throughout the investigation and case processing, Jana is confused and hurt by the anger of family members toward her, the family disruption she is apparently causing, and the unfamiliar procedures she is experiencing. Jana is interviewed by investigators who use anatomically correct dolls, and she is asked to tell her story in court. She subsequently undergoes counseling with the other members of her family, and she looks forward to having her father back home. The book is intended to help abused children realize they are not alone and that help is available. A similar booklet is available for children 7 to 10 years old. Illustrative drawings are provided.