Meeting the Challenge: Legal Dilemmas and Considerations in Working With the Perpetrator (From Incest Perpetrator: A Family Member No One Wants To Treat, P 29-40, Anne L. Horton, Barry L. Johnson, et. al, eds. -- See NCJ-121328)

• NCJ Number: 121330
• Author(s): S R Bolton; F G Bolton Jr
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Clinicians trying to work with the perpetrator in sexual abuse or incest situations must function both as partners and as opponents of the criminal justice system if justice is to be served.

Abstract

Thus, they should recognize that they are responsible to all members of the perpetrator's family, to the victim's family if separate, and to the community at large. Their role is that of both empathic evaluator and forensically-sophisticated investigator. The issue they address is simultaneously a criminal, social, behavioral, and medical problem. However, they have a duty to report the sexually aberrant behavior and must recognize that courts often give broad interpretations to reporting statutes. Thus, the information that clinicians gather becomes evidence, and confidences can become public record. In addition, the trend toward criminal prosecution of incest perpetrators often results in the involvement of clinicians in determinations of the potential outcomes and impacts of criminal prosecutions. They must also face issues regarding the use of child witnesses in the courtroom. All these factors make the privacy of the clinician's questions and answers the subject of scrutiny by other clinicians, by the media, and by the public. Nevertheless, clinicians who are the most loyal to the law most often produce the most positive outcome for all concerned. 20 references.