Publisher's Synopsis
A thorough guide offering mental health and legal professionals a research–based approach to the evaluation and assessment of child sexual abuse allegations
The Evaluation of Child Sexual Abuse Allegations: A Comprehensive Guide to Assessment and Testimony is the most in–depth and practical guide available for forensic psychologists and other mental health professionals working on child sexual abuse cases. It reflects the current knowledge in this field through contributions written by nationally and internationally recognized experts in applied research and practice.
Applying empirically based clinical decision–making to child sexual abuse evaluations, this timely book orients readers to the extraordinary catastrophes that can unfold when children are interviewed with faulty techniques and provides vital assistance to understanding the research that guides the work of all well–trained clinicians.
This thorough yet accessible guide explores:
-
Well–established empirical findings on decision–making and the relationship to false negative and positive errors in cases of alleged child sexual abuse
-
The difficulties in conducting reliable and meaningful research
-
Children′s behavior and the fallacy of symptoms as markers when child sexual abuse is suspected
-
The impact of Megan′s Law on children with sexual behavior problems
-
The literature concerning children′s susceptibility to suggestibility
-
Controversies within the field including repeated interviews, inconsistencies in children′s statements, and recantations of sexual abuse allegations
-
The effectiveness of using props, including dolls, drawings, and photographs, to make memory more accessible for verbal reporting
Providing essential guidance for all mental health professionals working to protect children, The Evaluation of Child Sexual Abuse Allegations: A Comprehensive Guide to Assessment and Testimony offers practical and important measures for the accurate and thoughtful evaluation and assessment of children who are possible victims of sexual abuse.
