How To Interview Sexual Abuse Victims

The appropriate and sensitive use of anatomical dolls is one of the topics explored in this comprehensive introduction to the process of interviewing child sexual abuse victims. Co-creator of the dolls, Marcia Morgan, takes readers through an interview from beginning to end. She provides guidelines on how to create an environment intended both to minimize a child's trauma and to enhance the amount, quality and validity of information obtained. She examines problems practitioners might encounter with young children and provides material on pre-interview preparation, training exercises and a listing of audio-visual resources.

This study presents a unique overview of the cultural, social and practical aspects of interviewing rape victims. Exploring a range of issues that affect rape cases including discourse, gender, attitudes and victim's rights, Rich reveals the complexities of sexual assault and looks to how communities can work to respond to and combat such violence.

This guide provides practical information for law enforcement officers, child protection workers, child abuse investigators, and others faced with the need to obtain information from children who may be victims or witnesses of child sexual abuse. The approaches and techniques described are designed to be legally defensible while minimizing further trauma to the child. The techniques emphasize the maintenance of an objective perspective by the interviewer by avoiding leading questions, especially with young children, who may be susceptible to the suggestions of adults. Some suggestions for an interviewer's approach are to be sensitive to the child's level of development, to be flexible, to be objective, and to be empathetic. In talking to children, some guidelines are to phrase the question so the child understands; talk about what children understand; help children deal with questions they do not understand; be objective and avoid suggesting answers; provide a nonjudgmental atmosphere; begin the interview with broad, open-ended questions; avoid leading questions; help children overcome their anxieties; and understand children's emotional reactions. The phases of an interview discussed are preparation, setting and context, rapport-building and developmental observations, information exchange, and closure. Specific guidelines for interviewing children who may have been sexually abused focus on level of likelihood of the abuse, preparation for the interview, questioning, and the use of anatomical dolls and other media. 19 suggested supplemental readings, 5 organizations, and 15 additional resources.

These guidelines cover a number of areas considered to be of key importance in conducting an investigative interview, including: the feelings of the child and the interviewer; checklist; preparing for the interview; seating arrangements; establishing trust; a neutral location; background information; getting started; children's sense of time; children's language; use of aids such as drawings and dolls; validating the child's credibility; and concluding the interview.

A beautiful foreword by Eliana Gil and a very helpful preface and introduction by the editor, Lisa Aronson Fontes, elucidate the many ways in which culture is relevant to sexual abuse. They set the personal tone and the fresh scholarly information that characterizes the chapters. The reader is treated to an impressive, state-of-the-art array of ideas on culture that opens new avenues for inquiry. The book also offers a new repertoire of rituals and healing practices, such as ′sitting shiva′ to deal with the losses of sexual abuse for the Jewish family, or a version of ′dusmic′ (a term coined by Nuyorican poets) strength to empower Puerto Rican clients. . . . From a practical point of view, this book belongs on the office shelf of all individual and family therapists. They will obtain rich guidance about treatment approaches, therapist-client cultural matching, and prevention strategies that are both more humane and more effective because they are culturally attuned and deepen the knowledge of the cultural context of abuse. --Celia Jaes Falicov in Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy (forthcoming issue) "The overall effect of this edited volume reflects a sense of unity and teamwork. The writing is thorough and thought-provoking. It maintains consistency and originality, while presenting individual issues about the influence of unique cultural factors in working with abuse survivors." --Paula T. McWhirter in Contemporary Psychology "This volume of original chapters is an important contribution to understanding the relationship between culture and child sexual abuse. Lisa Aronson Fontes has edited a thought-provoking collection of papers along with an excellent foreword by Eliana Gil. . . . This book has much to recommend it, not only to the clinician to whom it is geared, but also to the researcher, the policy maker, and the wider community concerned with child sexual abusee." --Jill E. Korbin in Child Abuse & Neglect "The book makes an important contribution to cross-cultural awareness and widens the limited knowledge base about child sexual abuse within the cultural groups concerned. . . . The text promotes ′an ecosystemic approach to sexual abuse′ that takes into account individual, familial, cultural, and societal factors. Therapists, protective workers, and law enforcers, as well as legal, medical, and school personnel and policymakers should find this book a useful tool." --Fred Seligman in READINGS: A Journal of Reviews and Commentary in Mental Health How can we best prevent and treat sexual abuse in diverse populations? Cultural and linguistic misunderstandings, racism, and even homophobia sometimes lead professionals to mishandle issues of sexual abuse. This volume breaks new ground in suggesting ways in which cultural norms can be used to protect children and promote recovery from sexual abuse. It contains information that can be applied to people from all groups as well as nine solution-focused chapters on sexual abuse in the following specific groups: African Americans, Asian Americans, Anglo Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cambodians, Seventh Day Adventists, Jews, gay men, and lesbian women. Sexual Abuse in Nine North American Cultures is the first major work to address cultural issues in family violence. It is essential reading for advanced students, therapists, protective workers, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, attorneys, police, educators, and others interested in adults and children who have been sexually abused. "Sexual Abuse in Nine North American Cultures has been masterfully sculpted to give us individual perceptions of cultures by professionals who were influenced by and who currently provide services to families and communities in distress. . . . This volume is provocative, personal, and professional; it is both abstract and concrete. It struggles with how to discuss the diversity within cultures without wavering from its overall goal of providing basic historical premises for diverse cultures. . . . It also provides an uncharacteristic view of culture that reaches beyond race and ethnicity. . . . The contribution of the book is not only in the information it so aptly presents but also in the way it encourages the reader to think and in the assertion that clinicians must enlighten and empower themselves when working cross-culturally, approaching issues of culture with rigorous attention and sensitivity." --from the Foreword by Eliana Gil "By drawing on these resources, clinicians optimize their chances of meeting their stated goal: to be of assistance to families so that the quality of their lives is improved and children are safe and nurtured." --from the Foreword by Eliana Gil

Investigation of child abuse is often hampered by doubts about the reliability of children as only sources of information. Over the last decade, consensus has been reached about children's limitations and competencies. New for the Wiley Series in the Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law, Tell Me What Happened summarizes key research on children's memory, communicative skills and social tendencies, describes how it can be incorporated into a specific structured interview technique and reviews evidence involving more than 40,000 alleged victims.

This wide-ranging volume combines the current findings and frontline knowledge working practitioners need to know about forensic interviewing of children in sexual abuse cases. Coverage begins with the basics: legal and ethical principles, interview planning and procedure, psychometric and cultural issues, pitfalls and how to avoid them. Perspectives from a trial lawyer and a district attorney lend real-life details on criminal court procedure, interview procedure, legal standards, and what is expected of expert witnesses. Not only is developmental understanding of salient issues concerning children's competency and suggestibility offered here, but also vital guidance on the controversies surrounding false memories and untrue accusations. Included in the coverage: Working with the multidisciplinary team. Childhood memory: an update from cognitive neuroscience. Disclosure failures: statistics, characteristics, and strategies to address them.Child abusers' threats and grooming techniques. Review of psychometrics of forensic interview protocols with children. Assessing the quality of forensic interviews with child witnesses. Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse brings a wealth of robust practical information to professionals working with children, including clinical and child psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers.