Divorcing Parents Are Often Unfairly Accused of Child Sexual Abuse (From Child Abuse: Opposing Viewpoints, P 48-55, 1994, David Bender and Bruno Leone, eds. -- See NCJ-159823)

• NCJ Number: 159828
• Author(s): R Sheridan
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: Greenhaven Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Opposing Viewpoints Series

Annotation

False child abuse accusations have become a weapon of choice in the angry conflict accompanying many divorces, and the emotionalism caused by child abuse allegations often prohibits a rational examination of the facts.

Abstract

The result is that many parents, usually fathers, are unjustly branded as child abusers and deprived of contact with their children. Child abuse cases are peculiarly difficult for authorities to deal with rationally for several reasons. Underlying causes of difficulty involve the emotions such cases engender, along with the pressure to "do something" right away to protect children from abuse. In child abuse cases, the amount of proof required to remove a child temporarily from a parent is minimal; the mere reported statement of a child is often sufficient, especially when the reporting party is a person in authority. The rational approach requires that no adverse action be taken without sufficient proof and that reasonable objections be shown not to exist before adverse action can justifiably be taken. Mental abnormality is discussed as an explanatory factor in child abuse allegations in the divorce context, and the importance of consistency and accuracy in listening to and evaluating child abuse allegations is stressed.