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Should children be believed when they disclose
sexual abuse?

• Katrina Belliveau

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Background Information

• Sexual abuse is often a hidden crime (often
  goes unreported)
• 1 in 10 abuse investigations in Canada involves
  suspected sexual abuse of children
• Child often the only witness to the crime
• Person accused is often a family member or
  someone close to the child

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Impact of allegations

• Families torn apart by false allegations
• Children (re-)victimized by having to testify
  against an accuser
• Wrongful convictions

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Controversy

• Some say that any disclosure of sexual abuse by a
  child should be treated as valid
• Others contend that children rarely disclose
  sexual abuse on their own and any disclosure
  should be treated as highly suspect

5
Supporting Views

• Children can be resistant to suggestion
• Children lack the sexual experience needed to
  make up stories of abuse
• Disclosure of sexual abuse of any kind should be
  taken seriously, no matter what circumstance
  leads to the disclosure

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Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS)

• Summit (1983)
• 5 component model for how children disclose
  sexual abuse in stages
• 1)secrecy
• 2)helplessness
• 3)entrapment and accomodation
• 4)delayed, conflicted and unconvincing
  disclosures
• 5)retraction of disclosure
• -Disclosure can have a dramatic start or be a
  slow gradual process
• (as cited in London et al.)

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Research

• Sauzier (1989)
• Longitudinal study on 156 (documented) sexually
  abused children
• -looked at both effects and types of disclosure
  from children

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Findings

• 56 voluntary disclosures
• More likely to disclose to a parent (except in
  cases where parent was perpetrator)
• Accidental disclosure (involuntary disclosure)
  puts less stress on children than voluntary
  disclosure

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Research

• Greenstock Pipe (1999)
• Peer support decreases suggestibility in children
• 48 children 5-10 years of age
• School dental visit/invasive procedure
• Interviewed 4 days later
• Children interviewed alone, with an informed
  peer, and an uninformed peer (no dental visit)
• Younger children (5-7) were less likely to be
  misled by incorrect information when interviewed
  in the presence of a peer (informed or
  uninformed), even when the peer contributed
  nothing to the conversation
• Evidence that even highly suggestible children
  (preschool age) can resist suggestion in some
  cases

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Reasons For False disclosure

• Custody battles
• Parent/authority figure can influence the child
• Suggestive/leading questions can lead to
  implanted memories/false allegations
• Children often make up stories (fantasy vs.
  reality) especially younger ones

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Research for suggestibility

• Poole Lindsay (2001)
• 3-8-year olds
• Participation in science experiments
• Parents read them a story (experienced/non-experie
  nced events
• follow up interview by researchers
• despite age reported the non-experienced events
  when given open-ended questions
• Importance of exposure to misinformation from
  authority figures

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Suggestibility

• Saywitz, Goodman, Nicholas, and Moan (1991)
• Questioned 5-7 year old girls about details of a
  medical exam
• Regular medical examination/genital examination
• Open-ended, direct, and misleading questions
  about the touching from examinations and to
  demonstrate using dolls
• Immediate testing and three month delay
• -children questioned immediately after and three
  months later
• Results showed
• As cited in Bruck et al. (1998).

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Suggestibility

• Results indicated that in immediate recall and
  after a 3 month delay
• -Children make errors in omission (leave out
  events) and commission (falsely claim to have
  experienced an event)

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Interview Techniques

• Bruck et al. (1998)
• Biases
• Stereotype Inducement (e.g. did the bad man do
  that?)
• Atmosphere of the interview (pressure on the
  child lack of a neutral environment)
• Use of anatomically correct dolls (these are also
  highly debated)
• Repeated questioning
• Context of disclosure

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Voluntary disclosure suspect

• Research suggests that children rarely disclose
  sexual abuse
• Paine Hansen (2001)
• Adult self-report data from an archival study
  revealed
• -50 of participants who experienced attempted
  sexual activity or non-contact sexual experiences
  did not disclose
• -54 of children subjected to intercourse did
• not disclose
• -inverse relationship between disclosure and
  severity of abuse

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Research

• Sorenson Snow (1991)
• Adult self-report data
• Nearly 75 of abuse victims initially deny abuse
• 75 did not disclose within one year of abuse
• 18 waited more than 5 years to disclose
• 7-10 recant confession due to pressure

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Age differences

• Ceci Bruck (1993)
• Meta-analysis
• 88 of the studies (14/16)
• Preschoolers are the most suggestible
• Even older children can be vulnerable to
  suggestive interviewing techniques
• Older children do not reach adult level of
  resistance to suggestion until early adolescence

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Credibility of children

• Bruck et al. (1998)
• Need for
• -Unbiased neutral interviews
• -Limit the number of interviews
• -Avoid leading questions
• -Avoid bribes, threats
• -TRAINING

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Important to consider

• Context in which the child discloses
• Corroborating evidence of any kind
• Need to increase the responsiveness of adults to
  children

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Limitations to Research

• Retrospective research data from adults in most
  cases
• Longitudinal research is dated
• False denials self-report data only
• Children being looked at may have made false
  allegations of abuse

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Conclusions

• Children need to be treated as a special
  population when it comes to sexual abuse
  allegations
• Need to increase community awareness
• Training for people who work with children
• More longitudinal research is needed

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The legal system

• How do they handle this issue in the legal system
  in Canada?
• Children treated as a special population
• Children can be accompanied by a support person
  in court
• Awareness that childrens testimony is vulnerable
  to suggestibility and influence from adults
• Can no longer be cross-examined by the accused
• It is the law to report suspected sexual abuse of
  children

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Graduate Programs in Canada USA

• Dr. Barry Trute or Dr. Diane Hiebert-Murphy
• University of Manitoba
• http//www.familystrengths.ca/team.htmlContactDrB
  arryTrute
• Sandy K. Wurtele, Associate Professor, Ph.D.,
  University of Alabama, 1983. Clinical interests
  Child sexual abuse and pediatric psychology.
  Therapy orientation Behavioral.
• Janis Wolak (Crimes against Children Research
  Center, University of New Hampshire, US)

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Discussion Questions

• What would you do if a child disclosed to you
  that they were being sexually abused?
• What factors would you consider in deciding on a
  course of action?

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References

• Bruck, M., Ceci, S. J., Hembrooke, H. (1998).
  Reliability and credibility of young childrens
  reports From research to policy and practice.
  American Psychologist, 53 (2), 136-151.
• Bruck, M., Ceci, S. J., Hembrooke, H. (2002).
  The nature of childrens true and false
  narratives. Developmental Review, 22 (3),
  520-554.
• Goodman, G.S., Taub, E. P. (1992). Monographs of
  the Society for Research in Child Development,
  57(2).
• Greenstock Pipe (1999). Are two heads better
  than one? Peer support and childrens eyewitness
  reports. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 11 (6),
  461-483.
• London, K., Bruck, M., Ceci, S. J., Shuman, D.
  W. (2005). Disclosure of child sexual abuse What
  does the research tell us about the ways that
  children tell? Psychology, Public Policy, and
  Law, 11 (1), 194-226.
• Paine, M. L., Hansen, D. J. (2002). Factors
  influencing children to self-disclose sexual
  abuse. Clinical Psychology Review, 22, 271-295.
• Poole, D. A. Lindsay, D. S. (2001). Childrens
  eyewitness reports after exposure to
  misinformation from parents. Journal of
  Experimental Psychology, 7 (1), 27-50.
• Sauzier, M. (1989). Disclosure of child sexual
  abuse For better or for worse. Psychiatric
  Clinics of North America, 12 (2), 455-469.