NCJ Number
152553
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 18 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1994) Pages: 1021-1028
Date Published
1994
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This interdisciplinary consensus statement on the investigation of child sexual abuse first presents a synthesis of existing knowledge on the subject and then identifies areas where additional research is needed.
Abstract
A group of experts from Europe, North America, and the Middle East met at a conference center in Satra Bruk, Sweden, from September 26-29, 1993, under the joint sponsorship of the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Swedish Allmanna Barnhuset Foundation, and the Swedish Social Science Research Council. The group's mandate was to evaluate existing knowledge on the ways in which child sexual abuse allegations could be investigated most productively. This document is a statement co-signed by 20 of the participants. The report is designed to guide State and local officials, professionals, and advocates seeking to investigate child sexual abuse. The areas of existing knowledge synthesized are behavioral indicators manifested by child sexual abuse victims, child-victim interviews, the use of dolls and other props, and medical examinations. One area that needs additional exploration involves developmental, subcultural, and cultural variations in sexual knowledge and sexualized behavior. Another area that requires additional work is the degree to which accusatory, suggestive, or leading interviews distort children's accounts. Regarding the use of anatomically detailed dolls, more information is needed on the appropriate interpretation of various sexualized behaviors, and little is known about the effects of dolls and other props on the quality and richness of children's verbal reports of their abusive experiences.