The credibility of children's allegations of sexual abuse

Quinn, Kathleen

doi:10.1002/bsl.2370060204

Cited by 22 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…(1 987), Paradise, Rostain, andNathanson, 1988, andQuinn (1988) observe that unsubstantiated is not the same as false. It can always be argued that a different approach or more information would have allowed the allegation to be substantiated.…”

Section: Definitional Issuesmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Professionals therefore should learn possible indicators of a false accusation of child sexual abuse. Although there is no checklist or test, there is a growing body of literature on the criteria for assessing the validity of an allegation of sexual abuse (see e.g., Benedek & Schetky, 1985a;Berliner, 1988;Bresee et al, 1986;Brooks & Milchman, 1991;de Young, 1986;Faller, 1988;Gardner, 1987aGardner, , 1987bGreen & Schetky, 1988;Jones & McGraw, 1987;Kohnken & Steller, 1988;Mantell, 1988;Paradise et al, 1988;Quinn, 1988;Raskin & Esplin, 1991;Raskin & Yuille, 1989;Rogers, 1990;Sink, 1988aSink, , 1988bSteller, Raskin, & Yuille unpublished;Wakefield & Underwager, 1988;Yates, 1988).…”

Section: Differentiating Between Real and False Allegationsmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Sexual abuse allegations in divorce and custody disputes

Wakefield

Underwager

1991

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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Child sexual abuse allegations arising during divorce and custody conflicts are complicated and difficult. Most professionals believe that the highest percentage of false allegations occurs in this circumstance, but there is disagreement over just how many of these allegations are false. In evaluating cases of suspected sexual abuse, the professional must remain open and objective, carefully examine each case, and take an empirical stance. Assessment and evaluation must be done with rigorous adherence to the highest standards of the profession, and professionals must attend to the characteristics of real versus false allegations. They must not immediately dismiss an allegation as false because the parents are in the midst of a divorce but must also guard against presuming guilt and aligning themselves with the reporting parent's agenda.Child sexual abuse allegations arising during a divorce and custody dispute present unusual difficulties. Any professional response to the accusations is complicated by the young age of the children involved, possible motivations of adults, and the need to protect the rights, interests, and welfare of the child and the accused parent. Mantel1 (1 988) observes that child sexual abuse allegations tend to develop a life of their own that resist satisfactory resolution. He suggests that the process of evaluating an accusation may result in more damage to the interests of the child and to the child's primary relationships than the original act in question. The potential consequences to child, parents, family and society are massive, long-lasting, and may be either beneficial or devastating. At all stages of the process accurate and correct decisions are imperative.Mental health professionals and attorneys report seeing more accusations during marital conflict in the past few years although the increase may be no greater than the dramatic increase in sexual allegations in general over the past 10 to 15 years. Many professionals believe that false accusations of sexual abuse are also increasing. Although there is a disagreement as to the frequency and nature of false claims, many believe that false accusations have become a serious problem in vindictive, angry custody and visitation battles. Consequently, false accusations in divorce have received extensive media and professional attention (see for example,

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Section: Definitional Issuesmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Differentiating Between Real and False Allegationsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Sexual abuse allegations in divorce and custody disputes

Wakefield

Underwager

1991

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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“…Reports of abuse have been increasing rapidly (Raskin & Yuille, 1989). With estimates of false statements varying from less than 3% in general to as much as 75% in certain circumstances such as custody disputes (Quinn, 1988), at some point the truthfulness of a child's statement will be called into question by the legal system. Therefore, the issue of assessing the validity of achild's statement is of immediate interest to those involved in the legal system, such as clinicians who make suchevaluations.…”

Section: Experiments 2 Assessing Child Witness Credibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Willingness of Children to Lie and the Assessment of Credibility in an Ecologically Relevant Laboratory Setting

Tye¹,

Amato²,

Honts³

et al. 1999

Applied Developmental Science

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A series of 4 experiments were conducted to (a) determine the willingness of children to lie in a realistic setting, (b) compare judgments of credibility from both lay evaluations and Criterion-Based Content Analysis (CBCA), and (c) examine the effects of expert testimony regarding Statement Validity Assessment on mock jurors who were asked to make evaluations of the children\u27s statements. In Experiment 1, 81% of children who witnessed a research assistant steal a textbook made accusations against the thief (truthful), 69% of children who did not witness the theft accused the research assistant of the theft following prompting by significant others, and 56% of the children who witnessed a significant other steal the textbook incorrectly accused the research assistant following a request from their significant other. Using the statements obtained from the children in Experiment 1, Experiments 2 and 3 found that classification accuracy of lay evaluators was significantly poorer than expert application of CBCA, which resulted in 89% classification accuracy. Finally, brief exposure to CBCA expert testimony appeared to have no benefits on mock jurors\u27 assessments of credibility of the children\u27s statements in Experiment 4. Implications for North American legal systems are discussed

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“…In summary, there is obvious public interest in determining the credibility of sexual assault. Historically however the law in general, sexual offence laws in particular, and public stereotypes surrounding both women (Jordan 2004) and children (Quinn 1988;Yates and Musty 1988) have led to the perception of these groups of complainants as not to be trusted and to be observed largely as storytellers. These cultural stereotypes inform more than criminal justice practice important as this is.…”

Section: Thinking Differently About the Search For Truthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thinking Differently about ‘False Allegations’ in Cases of Rape: The Search for Truth

Wheatcroft¹,

Walklate²

2014

Int. J. Criminol. Sociol.

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The myth 'cry wolf' continues to pose particular problems for campaigners, policy makers and practitioners. This paper subjects this myth, and the way in which it has been debated, to critical scrutiny with a view to suggesting an alternative and better way of challenging the presumption both in theory and in practice that women 'cry wolf'. In reflecting on lessons learned that presume believability in establishing rapport from the treatment of children in sexual offence cases the paper suggests that such practices can maximise efficacy in the treatment of women in cases of rape. It concludes that by leaving accusatory language behind, complainants, practitioners and judicial parties may experience more successful pathways to truth.

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The credibility of children's allegations of sexual abuse

Cited by 22 publications

References 50 publications

Sexual abuse allegations in divorce and custody disputes

Sexual abuse allegations in divorce and custody disputes

The Willingness of Children to Lie and the Assessment of Credibility in an Ecologically Relevant Laboratory Setting

Thinking Differently about ‘False Allegations’ in Cases of Rape: The Search for Truth

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