The Evaluation of Child Sexual Abuse Allegations: A Comprehensive Guide to Assessment and Testimony

“An excellent volume this is, but it is also a disturbing one. We have had some of the best minds working on the psychology of child sexual abuse consistently telling us that we know little. We don’t know the extent of child sexual abuse (American Psychological Association, 2001b). We don’t know of any psychological indicators that are both valid and practically useful for substantiation of child sexual abuse in specific cases (American Psychological Association, 2001a). We do not have significant data supporting the repressed and/or recovered memory of traumatic events (McNally & Geraerts, 2009). But thanks to the many contributors to The Evaluation of Child Sexual Abuse Allegations: A Comprehensive Guide to Assessment and Testimony, we see that there is much we do know and how we may begin to know more…. I conclude that this volume sets a standard with which future work will be compared, and it will serve a huge heuristic function.”
Richard M. Bloom (PsycCRITIQUES (Journal of the American Psychological Association) July 2009)

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.