EVALUATING CLAIMS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN CHILD CUSTODY CASES

1
EVALUATING CLAIMS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN CHILD
CUSTODY CASES PRESENTED BY KATHRYN KUEHNLE,
PH.D. FOURTH FAMILY LAW CONFERENCE BEND,
OREGON APRIL 8, 2006
2
KATHRYN KUEHNLE, PH.D. 19810 GULF BLVD. 6 INDIAN
SHORES, FL 33785 [phone] KKUEHNLE_at_AOL.COM
3
(No Transcript)
4
Myths and Realities Child
Sexual Abuse (CSA) Myth Forensic Evaluators
are Competent at Identifying False CSA Claims
Reality According to Herman (2005),
approximately 1/4 of CSA decisions made by
forensic mental health evaluators involve either
false negative (incorrectly identifying the child
as not sexually abused) or false positive errors
(incorrectly identifying the child as sexually
abused)
5
Herman (2005) provided evidence that many
practitioners lack adequate levels of training,
knowledge, and skills to perform high quality
forensic interviews of children or to adequately
describe to legal decision-makers the complexity
in distinguishing true from false allegations of
sexual abuse (Benedek et al., 1998
Berliner, 1998 Lawlor, 1998 Warren Marsil,
2002).
6
Although few mental health professionals have
expertise in evaluating or treating both child
sexual victims and adult perpetrators, forensic
evaluators may plunge in and conduct the entire
evaluation of child custody with allegations of
child sexual abuse when they do not have the
expertise to do so
7
Each forensic evaluator should contemplate
whether the potential for false positive or false
negative conclusions may increase if he/she
conducts a complicated custody evaluation with
allegations of child sexual abuse when acting as
a sole evaluator.
8

• Appraisal of the evaluators competencies
• The forensic evaluator may
• Complete the full evaluation as the sole
  evaluator
• Complete the full evaluation with consultation
• Send CSA portion for the alleged victim out for
  separate evaluation
• Send CSA portion for alleged perpetrator out
• Refuse case

9
Prior to Collection of Data the Evaluator
develops multiple hypotheses in order to remain
unbiased, open to a number of competing
conclusions, and to organize the evaluation data
10

• An example of potential hypotheses
• The child is not a victim of sexual abuse, but a
  sincere, hyper-vigilant parent inaccurately
  believes her/his child is the victim of sexual
  abuse
• The child is not a victim of sexual abuse but a
  parent is using the allegation of sexual abuse to
  manipulate the court system during child custody
  litigation
• The child is a victim of sexual abuse, but due to
  misguided loyalty will not disclose his/her
  abuse
• The child is not a victim of sexual abuse and is
  credible, but is estranged from the identified
  parent perpetrator and has misperceived an
  innocent or ambiguous interaction
• The child is a victim of sexual abuse and is
  credible
• (modified from Kuehnle, 1996).

11
Reliable Estimates do not Exist on
the Rate of CSA embedded in Child Custody
Evaluations in the U.S. Reality Estimates are
not based on reliable empirically derived data,
but on conjectures.
12
Several preliminary empirical studies have found
approximately 1 to 2 of contested custody cases
involved an allegation of CSA (McIntosh Prinz,
1993 Thoennes Tjaden, 1990). This 1 to
2 estimate appears to be a gross underestimate
of the actual occurrence of CSA allegations
embedded in contested CCC.
13
Myths and Realities Child Sexual Abuse
(CSA) Myth Only a Minority of Children Avoid
Disclosure of their Sexual Abuse Reality
Current research shows low disclosure rates for
children who are sexually abused
14
A review of CSA disclosure retrospective studies
from 1990 forward concluded that 2/3 of the
adults alleging CSA did not make a disclosure
during childhood. The disclosure rates were
similar for studies Studies using sexually
abused child subjects were consistent with the
retrospective findings showing significant delays
in disclosure by the majority of children
(Elliott Briere, 1994 Goodman et al.,
1992 Henry, 1997 London et al. Sas
Cunningham, 1995).
15
Myths and Realities Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)
Myth Coercion/Threats and Fear of Harm Decrease
the Likelihood of Disclosure Reality London et
al (2005) found in a review of empirical studies
either higher disclosure rates associated with
incidents that were life threatening and involved
physical injury to child victims or disclosure
rates that lacked any significant relationship to
method of coercion and threat of harm (Hanson,
et al., 1999 Kellogg Hoffman, 1995 Lamb
Edgar-Smith, 1994 Roesler Wind, 1994
Saunders, Kilpatrick, Best, 1999 Smith et al.,
2000).
16
Myths and Realities Child Sexual Abuse
(CSA) Myth Substantial Numbers of CSA
Victims Recant after Making a Disclosure
Reality Most children, when they disclose,
stick to their disclosure, though this does not
necessarily hold true for young preschool-age
children.
17
When examining recantations of disclosures,
although research is limited, several studies
found that once children have made an abuse
disclosure, they are likely to maintain their
allegations during formal assessments
(DeVoe Faller, 1999 DiPietro, Runyan,
Fredrickson, 1997).
18
London et al. found that in the studies with the
highest recantation rates, the alleged CSA
subjects in this research had the least certain
diagnoses of sexual abuse compared to other
studies (for analyses of these studies, see
London et al., 2005).
19
Quiz Yourself The majority of CSA children
retract their accusation of abuse
20
False -Older children and adolescents rarely
recant -Recantation is more likely with
preschool-age children, but not with the majority

21
Quiz Yourself Over half of all victims of child
sexual abuse delay disclosure and may not
disclose their abuse until they are adults
22
True
23
Quiz Yourself Child victims of sexual abuse who
are threatened by the perpetrator with harm have
the highest rates of non-disclosure
24
False
25
(No Transcript)
26
Child Sexual Abuse cannot be identified based on
a symptom pattern
27
The view of sexual abuse as a trigger that sets
off an internal process in the child, which then
surfaces as predictable behavioral and emotional
symptoms, is not supported by research
28

• Factors
• Personality differences
• Personal interpretation of the event
• Identity of the perpetrator
• Characteristics of the sexual acts
• Co-occurring forms of family violence
• Family stability
• Parents response following disclosure

29
No one symptom has been found to be displayed by
the majority of sexual abuse victims Although
sexually abused children have higher rates of
abnormal sexualized behaviors, sexual behaviors
are not specific to sexual abuse
30
Quiz Yourself All sexually abused children
exhibit symptomatic behavior as a result of their
sexual abuse
31
False Not all sexually abused children
are traumatized or distressed by engagement in
sexual activity that is defined as
criminal One-fourth to one-half of sexually
abused children are asymptomatic
32

• Cognitive Mediations
• Toddlers and preschoolers may be at less risk
  than older children to experience sexual
  victimization as traumatic when physical violence
  is absent and they do not understand the meaning
  of the sexual events
• Allegation may be questionable when parent claims
  3 year old child has alleged sexual abuse
  involving vaginal fondling, child kept from
  seeing father, and previous close nurturing
  relationship with father has changed to fear of
  father, nightmares about father, and panic when
  child sees anything related to father

33
Quiz Yourself What behavior problems do
presumably non-sexually abused children exhibit
as part of normal development?
34
High percentages of preschool and school-age
children in the general population exhibit
problems such as

• nightmares
• sudden changes in mood
• poor concentration
• fearfulness
• disobedience
• temper tantrums
• (Achenbach, 1991)

35
Quiz Yourself If a child alleges that he/she
is the victim of sexual abuse but does not show
any psychological symptoms, the child most likely
is not a victim of sexual abuse.
36
False The occurrence of child sexual abuse
cannot be determined on the presence or absence
of behavioral symptoms
37
Children are sexual beings
38
What is approximately the youngest age that a
child can masturbate and reach a climax?
39
Early climaxes are typically the result of
masturbation which begins at approximately 8
months old
40

• Over 40 of parents of nonsexually abused 2 to 6
  year old male and female children reported their
  children engaged in the following behaviors
• touches or tries to touch their mother's or
  another woman's breasts - 48
• touches sex parts when at home - 54
• undresses self in front of others - 62
• (Friedrich, 1993)

41

• The most commonly occurring sexual behaviors
  observed by preschool teachers include
• Limited looking at and touching
• by preschoolers of each others genitals
• Simulated sexual intercourse
• Drawing genitalia
• (Davies, Glaser, Kossoff, 2000 Ryan, Miyoshi,
  Krugman, 1988, cited in Ryan, 2000)

42
Quiz Yourself Can a victim of sexual abuse be
identified by a child exhibiting sexually
aggressive behavior?
43

• No
• 5 clusters of sexually aggressive children were
  identified
• The lowest incidence of prior sexual abuse was
  found with the cluster of children diagnosed as
  Conduct Disorder or
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• Gray (1996)

44
Quiz YourselfWhich of these Symptoms are Shown
by Most Sexually Abused Children?

• Increase in fearful behavior
• Increase in worrying nervousness
• Nightmares
• Withdrawn/Introverted
• Decreased school performance
• Acting sexual with dolls/toys

45
NONE
46
Quiz Yourself When a preschool-age child
masturbates at home or at daycare, it should be
concluded that the child has been sexually abused
47
False
48
What Can Children Remember?
49
Can 2 year old children remember events from when
they were 18 months old? Yes- but this memory
will be lost over time Can 4 year old children
remember events from when they were one year
old? No Can adults regain memories from when
they were 18 months old? Probably Not
50
There is little scientific support that memories
from the first two years of life can be
consciously recollected later in child- or adult-
hood as experiences that happened to oneself
51

• Since memory for experience is reconstructive and
  subject to suggestibility and the construction of
  inaccurate recollections
• Recall is filtered through ones
• current beliefs
• knowledge
• expectations
• motivations
• (see Ceci Bruck, 1993,1995 Brainerd Reyna,
  1996 Howe, 1997, 2000).

52
Quiz Yourself Children who are abused as
infants can remember the abuse when they are older
53
False
54
(No Transcript)
55
A foundation of child development serves as a
guide for assessment techniques and interpretation
56

• Prior to age 6 or 7 years old
• children cannot count events which are abstract
  and do not have discrete boundaries
• children cannot determine something happened
  before or after something else
• children have difficulty taking another person's
  perspective and cannot answer questions of
  intention

57

• Prior to 8 years old
• children have difficulty reporting events in
  chronological order
• legal terms may be misinterpreted by children
• children often assume a familiar definition is
  the only definition of a word
• children may confuse unfamiliar words with words
  that sound similar

58
Quiz Yourself A 3 year old child can accurately
answer if the abuse occurred before or after
Christmas
59
False
60
Quiz Yourself When asked a mildly leading
question, such as Did it happen more than one
time?, young childrens answers are usually as
accurate as those of adults.
61
False
62
In most states, proper understanding rather than
age is the basis of competency to testify
63
The legal test of a childs competency in most
jurisdictions derives from Wheeler v United States
64

• Based on Wheeler v United States, a child of any
  age who posses the following capacities may
  testify
• Appreciate the difference between truth and
  falsehoods
• Understand the obligation to tell the truth
• Accurately perceive and recall events witnessed
• Relate facts accurately

65
Factors to consider when evaluating the childs
ability to appreciate the difference between
truth and falsehoods
66

• Identification is easier than definition
• By age 4, can identify if statement is truthful
  but have more difficulty identifying if statement
  is a lie
• By age 4, knows a lie is wrong
• Not until age 7 can most children define truth
• Not until age 10 can most children explain the
  difference between lies and truth

67
The bad gnus researchers have shown that
children who correctly answer truth/lie questions
are not more accurate or less suggestible than
same age peers who are unable to do so
(Huffman, Warren, Frazier, 1997 Pipe
Wilson, 1994)
68

• The strongest internal factor associated with
  suggestibility is the age and developmental level
  of the child.
• 3 and 4 year olds are most vulnerable to
  suggestive interviewing
• 6 and 7 year olds show significant increases in
  resistance to misinformation
• (Ceci Bruck, 1993 Goodman, Quas,
  Batterman-Faunce, Riddlesberger Kuhn, 1997)

69

• The age at which children reach adult levels of
  resistance is debated, with
• some studies finding children as young as age 10
  to show this level of resistance (Saywitz
  Dorado, 1998)
• other research finding early adolescence as the
  marker (Warren Lane, 1995)

70
Less is known about internal characteristics of
children that create individual differences in
childrens susceptibility to suggestibility
(Bruck, Ceci, Melnyk, 1997 Eisen,
Goodman, Qin, Davis, 1998)
71
What Factors Influence Childrens Accuracy in
Narrating Information?
72
Researchers are in agreement that if adults do
not do anything to contaminate the memories of
children or pressure children for certain
answers then even very young preschool
children can provide highly accurate accounts of
their prior experiences
73
Many custody evaluators/mental health
professionals are not trained in interviewing
children Many custody evaluators/mental health
professionals do a poor job of interviewing
children
74

• structure of the questions influence childrens
  accuracy
• Repeating closed-ended or specific questions
  tends to elicit speculation from children who
  have not experienced an event (e.g., yes-no)
• When interviewers ask numerous specific questions
  and the format involves yes-no question pairs
  childrens accuracy can be compromised. This
  elicits speculation by the child
• e.g., a yes-no question followed by a request to
  describe the event Did Uncle Joe touch you?
  Tell me about that

75

• repeated questions
• When children are asked a question requiring a
  yes-no response they are at risk to change their
  answer if asked the same question more than once
  during a single interview

76

• specificity of details
• Children may provide unreliable and inaccurate
  information when asked for details that are
  beyond their developmental knowledge
• Children may guess and give social desirability
  responses to questions that are beyond their
  developmental capacity to answer accurately

77
Quiz Yourself If an interviewer believes that
abuse occurred, then it is okay for the
interviewer to ask the child suggestive questions
(e.g., Did he touch your private parts?)
78
No
79
What factors affect childrens Suggestibility?
80

• Information that is false
• Social pressures
• (Ceci Bruck, 1993)

81
When children are presented false information
about an experience children may be more
vulnerable to incorporating the false information
into their memory as accurate because they
experience problems with their source monitoring.
82

• Source monitoring is the ability to remember and
  distinguish whether you
• Actually engaged in the activity
• Heard about it
• Saw it
• Thought about it

83
Young children are more likely than older
children and adults to have difficulty in
determining whether they have obtained
information from their own experiences or from
other sources (Poole Lindsay, 1995)
84

• Suggestibility also increases with external
  factors such as
• With the passage of time
• (time can affect both memory and suggestibility)

85

• Suggestibility also refers to errors that arise
  when children are exposed to
• Social pressures that encourage particular types
  of answers
• The context of the interview is accusatory (e.g.,
  the identified person does bad things)
• The characteristics of the interviewer are
  coercive and intimidating
• (Ceci Bruck, 1993)

86

• Pressures that increase errors include
•  
• stereotyped or accusatory comments tell me
  about the bad manor tell me about the bad
  things he did
•  
• intimidating and coercive comments you can go
  to the bathroom after you answer just one more
  question

87

• influencing comments
• your parents believe something happened and so
  do I (when child denies) or
• think real hard about what might have happened
  (when child denies)
• motivating instruction
• I want you to try real hard to answer all of my
  questions
•  
• rephrasing childs answer and adding new,
  possibly inaccurate information

88
Quiz Yourself When asked a strongly leading
question, such as He told you to keep it a
secret, didnt he?, young childrens answers are
usually as accurate as those of adults.
89
False
90
Quiz Yourself It is necessary to ask leading
questions to get young children to disclose
abuse, because they are too afraid or embarrassed
to report it.
91
False
92

• The funnel approach is the most widely accepted
  approach for gaining reliable information from
  children
• interviewers begin with open-ended questions
• proceed to more direct questions with caution
• then move the interview back to open-ended probes
  that again elicit narrative information

93
Quiz Yourself What is the strongest child
factor associated with childrens suggestibility?
94
The strongest internal factor associated with
suggestibility is the age and developmental level
of the child.
95
Quiz Yourself When asked an open-ended
question, such as What happened next?, young
children's answers are usually as accurate as
those of adults
96
True
97
Quiz Yourself If a young child does not report
or does not seem to remember much information, it
is okay for an interviewer to ask the child what
might have happened or what they think happened
98
False Children may provide unreliable and
inaccurate information when asked for details
that are beyond their developmental knowledge or
when asked to speculate
99
Interview Instruments
100

• anatomical dolls
• Some findings indicate that the anatomical dolls
  used with pre-school children
• Do not enhance the narrations of children
• Diminish the number of details reported
• Increase the number of false statements elicited
  during childrens interviews
• (Bruck, Ceci, Francoeur, Renick, 1995 DeLoache
  Marzolf, 1995 Steward Steward, 1996).

101
(No Transcript)
102
Childrens artwork cannot be used to identify
whether a child has been sexually abused
103
Significant differences have not been found
between sexually abused and non-sexually abused
childrens frequency of drawing of genitalia on
human figures
104
While the use of anatomical drawings to prompt
the labeling of body parts provides the
interviewer with the childs words for these
parts and functions, The timing of this inquiry
appears to be important (Poole Lamb, 1998)
105

• One study found when the interviewer pointed to
  the body part on the drawing and asked
  specifically about touching
• 12 of three- to six-year-old child subjects
  falsely reported touching on their buttock
• 7.5 falsely reported touching of their genitals
• (Steward Steward, 1996)

106
None of the children falsely reported touching
of their buttock or genitals when simply shown an
anatomical drawing and not verbally queried about
touching
107
Quiz Yourself Using anatomically detailed dolls
(dolls with genitals) increases the amount of
accurate information that young children report
108
False
109
People (KY) vs. CastileMarch 2005Judge Craig
Clymer

• you dont need expert opinion and theory on
  those things, weve got twelve people in the jury
  box who have life experiences and the abilities
  to see that if youre coaching a person and if
  youre suggesting answers, that a child may well
  not be telling the truth.

110
The Queen v. Linda Sterling (1994)

• Now, Im sitting here wondering how much
  importance any of this testimony is to the issues
  the jury is going to discuss. You see this is
  exactly the problem with almost all the expert
  evidence. These ladies and gentleman and I dont
  have to be alerted to the risks and problems that
  theyre going to have in dealing with the
  testimony of these children and all the expert
  evidence in the world is not going to help them
  out.

111
Interventions 1.) Dont put children in therapy
to gain a disclosure of sexual abuse 2.) Dont
terminate visitation between an alleged victim
and an alleged perpetrator 3.) Design innovation
visitation plans when it cannot be determined if
the child has experienced sexual abuse
perpetrated by the identified parent
112
REFERENCES Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for
the Child Behavior Checklist/4-18 and 1991
profile. Burlington, VT University of Vermont,
Department of Psychiatry. Ahrons, C. R. (1994).
The good divorce Keeping your family together
when your marriage comes apart. New York Harper
Perennial. Benedek, E. P., Derdeyn, A. P.,
Effron, E. J., Guyer, M. J., Hayden, K. S.,
Jurow, G. L., et al. (1998). Legal and mental
health perspectives on child custody law A
deskbook for judges. St. Paul, MN West Law
Group. Berliner, L. (1998). The use of expert
testimony in child sexual abuse cases. In S. J.
Ceci H. Hembrooke (Eds.), Expert witnesses in
child abuse cases (pp. 11-27). Washington DC
American Psychological Association. Brainerd,
C.J., Reyna, V.F. (1996). Mere memory testing
creates false memories in children.
Developmental Psychology, 32, 467-478. Bruck, M.,
Ceci, S.J., Francoeur, E., Renick, A. (1995).
Anatomical detailed dolls do not facilitate
preschoolers reports of a pediatric examination
involving genital touching. Journal of
Experimental Psychology Applied, 1,
95-109. Bruck, M., Ceci, S. J., Melnyk, L.
(1997). External and internal sources of
variation in the creation of false reports in
children. Learning and Individual Differences,
9, 289-316.
113
Ceci, S. J., Bruck, M. (1993). Suggestibility
of the child witness A historical review and
synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 113(3),
403-439. Ceci, S. J., Bruck, M. (1995).
Jeopardy in the courtroom A scientific analysis
of childrens testimony. Washington DC American
Psychological Association. Childrens Defense
Fund. (2002). The state of children in Americas
Union 15. Washington, DC Author. Davies, S.,
Glaser, D., Kossoff, R. (2000). Childrens
sexual play and behavior in pre-school settings
Staffs perceptions, reports, and responses.
Child Abuse Neglect, 24, 1329-1343. DeLoache,
J.S., Marzolf, D.P. (1995). The use of dolls
to interview young children Issues of symbolic
representation. Journal of Experimental Child
Psychology, 60, 155-173. DeVoe, E. R., Faller,
K. C. (1999). The characteristics of disclosure
among children who may have been sexually
abused. Child Maltreatment, 4,
217227. DiPietro, E. K., Runyan, D. K.,
Fredrickson, D. D. (1997). Predictors of
disclosure during medical evaluation for
suspected sexual abuse. Journal of Child Sexual
Abuse, 6, 133142.
114
Eisen, M.L., Goodman, G.S., Qin, J., Davis, S.
(1998). Memory and suggestibility in maltreated
children New research relevant to evaluating
allegations of abuse. In S.L. Lynn K. McConkey
(Eds.), Trauma and memory. New York Guilford
Press. Elliott, D. M., Briere, J. (1994).
Forensic sexual abuse evaluations of older
children Disclosures and symptomatology.
Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 12,
261277. Ghetti, S., Goodman, G. S., Eisen, M.
L. (2002). Consistency in childrens reports of
sexual and physical abuse. Child Abuse
Neglect, 26, 977995. Goodman, G.S., Quas, J.A.,
Batterman-Faunce, J.M., Riddlesberger, M.M.,
Kuhn, G. (1997). Childrens reactions to and
memory for a stressful event Influences of age,
anatomical dolls, knowledge, and parental
attachment. Applied Developmental Science, 1,
54- 75. Goodman, G. S., Taub, E. P., Jones, D.
P., England, P., Port, L. K., Rudy, L., et al.
(1992). Testifying in criminal court Emotional
effects on child sexual assault victims.
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child
Development, 57(5), 1-142. Hanson, R. F.,
Resnick, H. S., Saunders, B. E., Kilpatrick, D.
G., Best, C. (1999). Factors related to the
reporting of childhood rape. Child Abuse
Neglect, 23, 559569.
115
Heilbrun, K. (2001). Principles of forensic
mental health assessment. New York Kluwer
Academic Plenun Publishers. Henry, J. (1997).
System intervention trauma to child sexual abuse
victims following disclosure. Journal of
Interpersonal Violence, 12, 499 512. Herman, S.
(2005). Improving decision making in forensic
child sexual abuse evaluations. Law and Human
Behavior, 29, 87-120. Howe, M. (1997).
Childrens memory for traumatic experiences.
Learning and Individual Differences, 9,
153-174. Howe, M. (2000). Fate of early
memories. Washington DC American Psychological
Association. Keary, K., Fitzpatrick, C. (1994).
Childrens disclosure of sexual abuse during
formal investigation. Child Abuse Neglect, 18,
543548. Kellogg, N. D., Hoffman, T. J. (1995).
Unwanted and illegal sexual experiences in
childhood and adolescence. Child Abuse
Neglect, 19, 14571468. Kuehnle, K., Sparta,
S. (2006). Evaluating child sexual abuse
allegations. In S. N. Sparta G. P. Koocher
(Eds.), Forensic assessment of children and
adolescents Issues and applications. New York
Oxford University Press. Kuehnle, K.,
Kirkpatrick, H.D. (2005). Conducting complex
custody evaluations with allegations of child
sexual abuse. Journal of Child Custody 2(3),
3-39.
116
Kuehnle, K., Greenberg, L., Gottlieb, M.
(2004). Incorporating the principles of
scientifically based child interviews into family
law cases. Journal of Child Custody, 1(1),
97-114. Kuehnle, K. (2002). Child sexual abuse
evaluations. In A. M. Goldstein I.B. Weiner
(Eds.), Comprehensive handbook of psychology,
Volume Eleven Forensic Psychology (pp.
437-460). New York Wiley Sons. Kuehnle, K.,
Coulter, M., Gamache, M. (2000). Incest.
In V.B. VanHasselt M. Hersen (Eds.),
Aggression and violence An introductory text
(pp 92-115). Boston, MA Allyn Bacon. Kuehnle,
K. (1996). Assessing allegations of child sexual
abuse. Sarasota, FL Professional Resource
Press. Kuehnle, K. (1998a). Child sexual abuse
evaluations The scientist- practitioner model.
Behavioral Sciences the Law, 16, 5-20. Kuehnle,
K. (1998b). Ethics and the forensic expert A
case study of child custody involving
allegations of child sexual abuse. Ethics and
Behavior, 8(1), 1-18. Kuehnle, K. (1998c). Child
sexual abuse Treatment issues. In. G. P.
Koocher, J. C. Norcross, S. S. Hill, III
(Eds.), The psychologist's desk reference (pp.
252-256). Boston, MA Oxford University Press.
117
Lamb, M.E., Edgar-Smith, S. (1994). Aspects of
disclosure Mediators of outcome of childhood
sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence,
9, 307326. Lamb, M. E., Sternberg, K. J.,
Thompson, R. A. (1997). The effects of divorce
and custody arrangements on childrens behavior,
development, and adjustment. Family and
Conciliation Courts Review, 35, 393-404. Lawlor,
R. J. (1998). The expert witness in child sexual
abuse cases A clinicians view. In S. J. Ceci
H. Hembrooke (Eds.), Expert witnesses in child
sexual abuse cases What can and should be said
in court (pp. 105122). Washington, DC American
Psychological Association. London, K., Bruck,
M., Ceci, S., Shuman, D. (2005). Disclosure of
child sexual abuse What does the research tell
us about the ways that children tell?
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 11,
194-226. McIntosh, J. A., Prinz, R. J. (1993).
The incidence of alleged sexual abuse in 603
family court cases. Law Human Behavior, 17,
95-101. Poole, D.A., Lindsay, D.S. (1995).
Interviewing preschoolers Effects of
nonsuggestive techniques, parental coaching, and
leading questions on reports of nonexperienced
events. Journal of Experimental Child
Psychology, 60, 129-154.
118
Roesler, T. A., Wind, T. W. (1994). Telling the
secret Adult women describe their disclosures
of incest. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 9,
327338. Ryan, G. (2000). Childhood sexuality A
decade of study. Part I- Research and curriculum
development. Child Abuse Neglect, 24, 33-48.
Sas, L. D., Cunningham, A. H. (1995). Tipping
the balance to tell the secret The public
discovery of child sexual abuse. London,
Ontario, Canada London Family Court
Clinic. Saywitz, K. J. Dorado, J. S. (1998).
Interviewing children when sexual abuse is
suspected. In G. P. Koocher, J. C. Norcross,
S. S. Hill (Eds.), The psychologists desk
reference (pp. 503-509). New York Oxford
University Press. Smith, D., Letourneau, E. J.,
Saunders, B. E., Kilpatrick, D. G., Resnick, H.
S., Best, C. L. (2000). Delay in disclosure of
childhood rape Results from a national survey.
Child Abuse Neglect, 24, 273 287. Steward,
M.S., Steward, D.S. (1996). Interviewing young
children about body touch and handling.
Monograph of the Society for Research in Child
Development, 61 (4-5, Serial No. 248). Thoennes,
N., Tjaden, P. (1990). The extent, nature, and
validity of sexual abuse allegations in
custody/visitation disputes. Child Abuse and
Neglect, 14, 151163.
119
U.S. Department of Health Human Services.
(1991, May). Monthly vital statistics report
Final data from the National Center of Health
Statistics. Washington, DC Author. Warren,
A.R., Lane, P. (1995). Effects of timing and
type of questioning on eyewitness accuracy and
suggestibility. In M.S. Zaragoza, J.R. Graham,
G.C. N. Hall, R. Hirschman, Y.S. Ben-Porath
(Eds.), Memory and testimony in the child
witness (pp 44-60). Thousand Oaks, CA Sage.
Warren, A. R., Woodall, C. E., Hunt, J. S.,
Perry, N. W. (1996). "It sounds good in theory,
but..." Do investigative interviewers follow
guidelines based on memory research? Child
Maltreatment, 1, 231-245.