Treatment Of Child Sexual Abuse, Part 2

by Child Welfare Information Gateway

(Page 2 of 11)

There is also increasing consensus that criminal charges should be filed, even though the offender appears treatable. Some professionals feel that even treatable offenders should do some jail time, while others see the criminal process as a means of ensuring that the treatable offender will take responsibility for his behavior and/or enter into treatment. However, criminal prosecution is especially important in cases categorized as case types 2 and 4 to offer some protection to both the family and society from the offender.

In addition, factors related to the child should also be considered. These include the child's wishes. To be more precise, if the child does not wish for a reunified family, that desire should be given a great deal of weight. A child's wish for the offender not to leave the home, however, should generally not be granted. In addition, some sexually abused children are so damaged, because of the abuse and other conditions, that they require specialized care outside the home.

The same assumption is made here as in earlier chapters, that there is a single offender, usually a father figure, and a nonoffending parent, usually a mother figure. If that is not the case, and there is more than one offender, especially within the family, prognosis is much poorer. Even more problematic are cases in which both parents are offenders; in such instances, family reunification is extremely unlikely to be in the child's best interest.

The Role of the Courts

Two or three courts are potentially involved in a sexual abuse case - the Juvenile Court, responsible for child protection; the Criminal Court, responsible for offender prosecution; and the Divorce Court, if either parent decides to pursue divorce.

Court involvement can be either a help or a hindrance to therapeutic goals. The challenge is to integrate court involvement into the overall intervention. Early decisions about the role of the court can facilitate its role in the therapeutic process.

The court can be helpful in compelling family members, especially offenders, into treatment; in protecting victims and families from offenders; and in effecting alternative living situations for offenders (or victims, if necessary).

Court involvement can be problematic because legal safeguards for the defendant may prevent certain evidence from being admitted; because the adversarial process may interfere with the therapeutic process, including disruption of offender treatment by incarceration; and because it allows procedural delays that may prevent timely intervention.

Finally, testifying in court may have a positive or negative effect on the child. The effect, in part, depends on its outcome. That is, if the case is won, the impact of court testimony is more likely to be positive.

Victims may gain a sense of mastery over the sexual abuse from testifying. If they are believed, they may derive a degree of vindication when they see that the offender has to pay for what he did. Completing the court process may also engender a sense of closure for the victim.

On the other hand, victims may experience court testimony as additional trauma. Some are required to confront their abusers, endure lengthy cross-examination, and reveal shameful experiences to an audience. If possible, the courtroom should be cleared during the child's appearance. Testifying in court, which rarely entails a single appearance, may enhance the child's perception of him/herself as a victim, rather than a normal child. Moreover, because the court process tends to be protracted, it may delay resolution of the victim's treatment issues. For more detailed information on the role of the court in child abuse and neglect cases, the reader is referred to another manual in this series entitled Working With the Courts in Child Protection.

Visitation

As noted previously, in most cases it is appropriate for the offender to leave the home and for the victim to remain. In other cases, the victim should be removed to protect her/him from further sexual abuse and/or emotional abuse. (In a very small number of cases, it will be appropriate to leave the family intact after disclosure.) Obviously what constitutes visitation will vary depending on the living arrangements.

However, there are some guidelines to be used by the court and the professionals in making decisions about visitation. Many professionals recommend no contact between the victim and the offender, if the child is to appear in court, until after her/his testimony. If the mother and/or other family members are unsupportive of her/his testifying, they may be prohibited from seeing her/him until after her/his testimony.

If the child genuinely does not wish visitation, there should be none. There should be no unsupervised visitation until the child feels she/he will be safe and the offender has been assessed and found not at risk to reoffend. In some cases, the child may want visitation or unsupervised visitation when it is not deemed in her/his interest by the professionals. In such a circumstance, professional opinion should prevail.

Assuming all parties want visitation, as the offender (and other family members) make progress in treatment, visitation is initiated and becomes progressively more liberal (i.e., more frequent, for longer time periods, and with less supervision). As successive steps are taken to make visitation more liberal, it is important to make sure the victim (and her/his caretaker) want this change. The multidisciplinary team or the child's therapist needs to make these decisions.

About the Author

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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.