Sexual abuse at a Swedish daycare centre: allegations, confessions and evaluations

Abstract

In September 1997, sexual abuse at a Swedish daycare centre was disclosed. The suspect, a male member of the staff, admitted having abused six children. A total of 30 children were included in the police investigation. In this study, these cases were evaluated individually using a child psychiatric method. Information was collected from the police investigation and from interviews with parents. The conclusions–categorized as “abuse likely”, “abuse conceivable” or “abuse uncertain”–were compared with the children's own reports, the legal evaluations and the confessions of the suspects. Conclusions: The correspondence of child reports with child psychiatric evaluations was fairly high, indicating that child reports may serve as a good screening indicator of abuse. There was little agreement between child psychiatric evaluations and legal decisions, which were based on the reports of suspects. Some differences may be explained by varied methodology, definitions and criteria. Others reflect real differences in opinion. Our study illustrates the need to establish legal criteria for statements from pre‐schoolers if such evidence is to constitute the basis of a ruling without a confession. Studies comparing professional psychological assessments of children's statements about sexual abuse with independent data stand out as an important line of research for the future.

Determınatıon Of The Causes That Force The Elders To Choose Nursıng Home Lıves

“…Kadınların çoğu vaginal olarak saldırıya uğrarken, erkeklerin %75'i anal olarak saldı-rıya uğramıştır. Amerika'da yayınlanan cinsel suçlar ve suçluları raporuna göre cinsel istismar uygulayan kişiler, genel olarak işsiz ve yetersiz eğitim almış kişi-ler olup, istismarcıların %92'sinin ise daha önceden suç öykülerinin var olduğu saptanmıştır (17) .…”

Child witness statements about sexual abuse in day-care: reports from a case with confessions from the suspect

“…The interaction among adults, however, was more easily described (Lindblad & Kaldal, 2000). The parents said that they had chosen to refrain as much as possible from talking with their children about the abuse events.…”

“…In April 1997, a boy told his parents that he had been exposed to sexual abuse at his daycare centre in a middle-sized Swedish town (Lindblad, Holm & Kaldal, 1999;Lindblad & Kaldal, 2000). The parents reported this to the manager, and the man singled out as the Child witness statements: abuse in day-care 167 guilty person was dismissed without any information about the abuse being presented to the parents.…”

“…Conceivable hypotheses in each individual case were tested against the data available-including the children's abuse statements-according a previously described model (Lindblad, 1989;Lindblad & Kaldal, 2000). For the purpose of the scientific presentation, the cases were categorised as follows:…”

“…All the cases were evaluated for scientific purposes (Lindblad & Kaldal, 2000). Conceivable hypotheses in each individual case were tested against the data available-including the children's abuse statements-according a previously described model (Lindblad, 1989;Lindblad & Kaldal, 2000).…”