Interaction of Normal Children with Anatomical Dolls

• NCJ Number: 113651
• Journal: Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: (1988) Pages: 295-304
• Author(s): A B Sivan; D P Schor; G K Koeppl; L D Noble
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 10 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Iowa Dept of Human Rights
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD, April 25, 1987.

Annotation

Because clinical studies have shown that play with sexually-explicit rag dolls reflects accurately the experiences of a young child, evidence of the play has been accepted as evidence by courts. To test the validity of this evidence, this study examined how 144 children between the ages of 3 to 8 who had not been sexually abused interacted in their play with anatomical dolls.

Abstract

The children were observed in a playroom containing the special dolls during three conditions: (1) with an adult present, (2) without an adult, and (3) with the dolls undressed. Nonabused children found the sexually explicit dolls no more interesting than other toys and exhibited little aggression and no explicit sexual activity. The study reinforces the need to take the aggressive and sexually explicit play of abused children seriously. 5 references. 6 tables.