NCJ Number
139791
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 7 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1992) Pages: 532-542
Date Published
1992
Length
11 pages
Annotation
In a specialized interview, verbal disclosure of sexual abuse was studied in a sample of 28 children (age range 3 to menarche) who presented only with physical complaints subsequently diagnosed as a sexually transmitted disease and for whom there had been no known prior disclosure or suspicion of sexual abuse.
Abstract
Only 12 children (43 percent) provided any verbal confirmation of sexual contact. The caretaker's reaction was associated significantly with the child's disclosure: 63 percent of children with supportive caretakers disclosed abuse, contrasted with 17 percent of those with unsupportive caretakers. Sixteen caretakers accepted the possibility of abuse, but 12 refused to acknowledge any possibility. Caretaker attitude and support emerges as a critical variable in the child's disclosure process. The fact that many of these abused children presented as free from any specifically suspicious abuse symptoms, aside from their sexually transmitted disease, suggests that reliance on single interviews and identification of red-flag indicators fails to identify many victims. 7 notes, 4 figures, 1 table, and 25 references