Child Sexual Abuse : Nonoffending Parent and Alleged Offender Interview

by Child Welfare Information Gateway

(Page 3 of 4)

Many mothers do believe their child's allegation and provide corroborating information. There are also situations in which doubting mothers corroborate the child's statements, even if inadvertently.

A major purpose of the initial interview with the mother is to assess her ability to provide support for the child. Mothers whose children have been sexually victimized by someone who is close to them, such as a spouse, are placed in a very difficult position. Often they have no inkling of the abuse until confronted by a professional. Mothers who are consciously aware of the victimization and condone or accept it are extremely rare. However, some mothers ignore signs of sexual abuse, for a variety of reasons, or are preoccupied with matters other than their children's well-being.

As already noted, initial denial is common. However, a mother can decide her child's well-being takes priority and provide protection, even as she struggles to integrate the allegations with her perceptions of the alleged offender and the child. Mothers should not be disparaged because they require time and sometimes treatment to believe their children have been sexually abused. Only when denial persists for months in the face of compelling evidence, and the victim is blamed, should the mother be considered unworkable.

The following factors should be examined to determine whether the mother will act in the child's best interest:

• the quality of her relationship with the child, which may be mostly positive, ambivalent, or mostly negative;
• her level of dependency, particularly on the offender; and
• her willingness and/or ability to protect the victim, whether or not she has lingering concerns about the veracity of the allegations.

In addition, it is important to appreciate that mothers may not be steadfast. They often vacillate regarding their belief about the abuse and their support of the victim. For example, a mother may initially align herself with the child and later change her position when confronted by the alleged offender or with the practical and psychological consequences of a provictim stance. Alternatively, she may appear supportive of the child with the professionals but behave otherwise away from their presence.

A very different issue may need to be pursued in the mother's interview in some circumstances in which there is an antagonistic relationship between the mother and the alleged offender. Such may be the case when the mother is in the process of divorcing the offender, or they are already divorced, and there are disputes regarding custody or visitation. That issue is whether the mother is making, is supporting, or has induced a fabricated allegation of sexual abuse. The research indicates that between 50 and 75 percent of allegations that arise in the context of divorce are "likely" or "substantiated" and that consciously made false allegations are quite rare.

Finally, the interview with the mother can be used to gather information about the causes or dynamics of the sexual abuse. CPS caseworkers will explore this in less depth than mental health professionals.

The Interview With the Alleged Offender

Jurisdictions vary as to whether law enforcement or CPS conduct the initial interview with the alleged offender. It may be preferable for law enforcement to take the lead role in order to obtain a legally admissible confession. In addition, the law enforcement officer can obtain a warrant to search the premises and seize relevant physical evidence and has the capacity to "preserve the chain of evidence," so that the physical evidence will be admissible in court. Police officers are also the only professionals who can make arrests.

There are parallels in the expectations the investigator has for interviews with the alleged offender (father/father figure) and with the mother. The interviewer seeks additional information regarding the allegations, tries to assess the quality of the offender's relationships with the victim and other family members, and attempts to understand the causes of the abuse.

There is a possibility that the alleged offender will provide information that either refutes or supports the allegation. However, the interviewer must appreciate that the alleged offender has a substantial vested interest in convincing professionals and others, including his wife, that the child is either lying, fantasizing, mistaken, or emotionally disturbed, when in fact the child's allegations are true. Consequences for him are dire, including loss of his child, his family, and perhaps his job, and the prospect of prison.

Information the alleged offender provides regarding the abuse must be viewed with this understanding. Nevertheless, there are cases in which the accused provides a reasonable alternative explanation for the child's statements. This may be the case when the child's statements are rather vague or relate to possible child care behaviors.

Some offenders will confess when confronted with the allegations. The probability of confession is substantially increased when the offender knows that treatment is available, even when accompanied by some punishment (i.e., jail time).

It is always important to assess the quality of the alleged offender's relationship with the victim and others in the family. Such information is helpful in determining risk and whether it is advisable to work later toward some relationship or reconciliation between victim and offender, if abuse is established.

One of the significant dilemmas of diagnosis of sex offending is that there is no psychological test(s) or series of responses to interview questions that can rule out sexual abuse. Similarly, the only response from the alleged offender assessment that is an absolute is the confession. In most instances, the interviewer elicits information from the alleged offender that could imply a history of sexual offending but might also be explained in other ways.

As a further complication, there are many different types of sex offenders. For example, some offenders present with pervasive dysfunction, and others function reasonably well, except for their sexual deviance. The sexual orientation of some offenders is primarily toward children, whereas others may be primarily aroused by peers and under certain circumstances show a sexual response toward children.

The general areas for assessment are the same for mothers and offenders; however, the rationale for exploring them may be different or have a different emphasis. For example, the ability to exercise impulse control and the willingness to be held accountable for own behaviors are major areas of assessment with alleged offenders, requiring more thorough exploration.

It is important to appreciate that offenders and sometimes mothers have a vested interest in concealing certain information and/or presenting themselves in a favorable light. Therefore, it is essential to gather additional information from other sources, including other family members, the family's informal social network, and professionals, particularly past or current therapists.

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