The researchers describe a study conducted to explore how child protection practitioners negotiate their way through ambiguous and contradictory evidence when working with families under a "suspicion" of neglect. In depth interviews were conducted in order to understand the processes of discernment that practitioners used to determine how to…

Objective: This study uses the developmental-ecological framework to examine a comprehensive set of paternal factors hypothesized to be linked to risk for paternal child abuse (PCA) among a diverse sample of fathers. Attention was given to fathers' marital status and their race/ethnicity (White, African American, and Hispanic). Methods: Interviews…

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, describes the latest activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW). Typically featured are: news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and much more.…

Objective: Our goal was to examine children's expressed emotions when they disclose maltreatment. Little scientific research exists on this topic, and yet children's emotional expressions at disclosure may inform psychological theory and play a crucial role in legal determinations. Method: One hundred and twenty-four videotaped forensic interviews…

When interviewed to elicit responses to sexually anatomically correct dolls, sexually abused two- to six-year-olds (N=25) demonstrated more sexually related behaviors, while nonabused children (N=25) revealed few behaviors indicative of sexual abuse. Three-year-olds were the most responsive to the dolls, while older children either revealed their…

This study of 136 children (aged 2 to 10 years) found that children referred for medical evaluation of sexual abuse will use sexually explicit behavior to demonstrate what has happened to them with nonanatomical dolls as frequently as when they are interviewed with anatomically detailed ones. (Author/DB)

This article is designed to help school psychologists: (1) identify victims of child abuse; (2) interview a victim and the victim's parents; (3) know who to notify when sexual abuse is suspected; and (4) identify suggested intervention and treatment approaches that are appropriate in the practice of school psychology. (Author/PN)

Interviews with 130 Dutch professionals helping incest victims and 50 adult women who were incest victims as children found that assistance was hampered by institutional distrust, inability of professionals to stop ongoing incest, frequent breaking off of contact by the young girls, professionals' shortcomings in knowledge and skills, and…

When 69 young adults who had been incarcerated as youth were interviewed, 26 gave histories of abuse discrepant with data from records and interviews conducted in adolescence. In clarification interviews with 11 subjects, it was found that all had been abused despite either their adolescent records or follow-up interviews being discrepant.…

Educators' roles in identification of abused/neglected children, subsequent reporting, and techniques for interviewing suspected abused children are discussed. Educators' expanded role in abuse prevention, involving such activities as offering courses in parenting, child safety/protection, and human sexuality, is examined, followed by a…

This booklet is designed to help Virginia special educators, law enforcement, and child protective service professionals recognize and understand abuse and neglect of children with disabilities; improve the reporting accuracy when there is suspicion of child abuse/neglect; and provide strategies for interdisciplinary collaboration that will…

Analysis of interactions during 55 videotaped interviews of high-risk sex abuse cases found no support for the assumption that a credible disclosure of abuse must include the display of emotion by the child. Some behavioral differences between preschool and school-age children were found, but no gender differences. (Author/DB)

This manual describes professional practices in intervention and treatment of sexual abuse and discusses how to address the problems of sexually abused children and their families. It makes an assumption that the reader has basic information about sexual abuse. The discussion focuses primarily on the child's guardian as the abuser. The manual…