Child Sexual Abuse Interview : Child Witnesses, Part 2

by Child Welfare Information Gateway

(Page 8 of 8)

An Emotional Reaction Consistent With the Abuse Being Described

Children may have a variety of emotional reactions to sexual abuse, depending on the characteristics of the child and the abuse. The following are common emotional reactions and associated child or abuse characteristics:

• reluctance to disclose: characteristic of most children except possibly for very disturbed or very young children;
• embarrassment: a rather mild response often found in disturbed and young children;
• anger: more characteristic of boy victims (but not always evident);
• anxiety: noted frequently in adolescent girls;
• disgust: a typical reaction to oral sex;
• depression: often present in victims who care for the abuser or feel they are responsible;
• fear: typical of cases in which the child has been injured or threatened during the course of the victimization; and
• sexual arousal: another response sometimes found in disturbed and young children.

Situations In Which the Clinical Criteria May Not Be Found

The small number of studies that examine clinical criteria in proven cases (which are usually substantiated with offender confession) find that a substantial number of children's accounts lack the expected criteria. For example, in Faller's study, only 68 percent of accounts contained all three criteria. Young age of the victim and being a boy were associated with not satisfying the expected criteria. Younger children were less likely to provide contextual detail and to evidence an emotional response consistent with the account. Similarly, boy victims were less likely to describe the abuse and to exhibit affect.

There can be other good reasons why children fail to manifest the expected clinical criteria. Affect may be absent because the child dissociates, the child has told about the abuse many times, or the trauma has already been addressed in treatment. In addition, emotionally disturbed children, who have suffered many other traumas, may not become upset about sexual abuse because, compared to their other life experiences, it is not as bad. Detail may be absent because the abuse has been repressed or because it happened long ago and has been forgotten.

It is legitimate to substantiate a case with only a description of the sexual abuse.

Moreover, it is important for interviewers to appreciate that a child's inability to describe sexual abuse does not mean it did not happen. It means that sexual abuse cannot be confirmed, but that is different from it not having happened. Research on adult survivors indicates that many victims never tell.

Criteria for Confirming an Allegation From Other Sources

There are other sources of information that can support a finding of child sexual abuse.

Suspect's Confession

The most definitive finding is the suspect's confession. Unfortunately it is uncommon, particularly at the point of investigation, when the alleged offender may be very frightened and concerned primarily with his own well-being.

An operational definition of a full confession is that the alleged offender admits to all or more sexual activity described by the child. As a partial confession, the suspect may make "incriminating" statements by admitting to some but not all of the child's allegations. Alleged offenders may minimize their behavior by admitting to "just touching," may deny acts involving severe penalties, or may not admit to certain behavior they find particularly shameful. These incriminating statements deserve attention because they may be found in cases in which the suspects are frightened to admit. There appear to be several types:

The alleged offender may claim diminished capacity. "I don't remember what I do when I've been drinking."

The suspect admits to the behavior but says it was not intended to be sexually abusive. There are actually two types of cases that fall within this category, those in which the suspect says the mistake was on his part and those in which he insists his behavior has been misinterpreted. Examples follow:

• "I forgot my daughter was in the bed with me. I thought she was my wife."
• "I was only trying to show her the difference between men's privates and little girls'."

The evaluator must use common sense in assessing the probability that the alleged offenders' explanations are likely and feasible. There will be cases, especially those involving child care activities, where this is quite difficult.

In addition, the suspect may admonish professionals to attend to the accounts of others. "My daughter would never lie about a thing like that."

Finally, the alleged offender may say that he didn't abuse the child, but he is confessing to it to get on with treatment or to keep his daughter from having to testify against him in court.

Medical Evidence

As noted in the previous chapter, there has been considerable progress in the documentation of physical findings from sexual abuse.

Other Physical Evidence

In some cases, the police and sometimes others will have obtained physical evidence such as pornography or instruments used in the abuse.

Eyewitnesses

Occasionally, there will be eyewitnesses to sexual abuse. These may be other children who were also abused or who observed abuse. They may also be adult eyewitnesses, sometimes the spouse of the offender.

Forming a Conclusion About Sexual Abuse

In order to arrive at a conclusion about the likelihood of sexual abuse, the professional weighs the clinical findings from the child's interview as well as confirming evidence from other sources. Rarely is the professional 100-percent sure that the abuse occurred as described, with absolutely no room whatsoever for doubt. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to determine without any doubt that the sexual abuse did not occur. In this regard, Jones has developed a useful concept, a continuum of certainty. Cases fall somewhere along a continuum from very likely to very unlikely.

About the Author

www.childwelfare.gov
Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.