Discusses issues in the adjudication of child sexual abuse allegations and reviews research about the believability of child witnesses. It also examines accommodations for children that could assist the child witness and encourage accurate testimony, while continuing to protect the rights of the accused. Criminal, juvenile, and divorce court…

Reviews what is known about child sex offenders and their treatment. The author discusses the role of paraphilia in child molestation and reviews what is known about juvenile and incest offenders and recidivism rates. What is known about recidivism of untreated offenders and treatment practices is also summarized. Recommendations conclude the…

Identifies and analyzes central tensions and themes that characterize child protection policy in England and Wales. Outlines conflicting messages that have been prevalent in debates about child abuse since the early 1980s. Analyzes in detail the 1989 Children Act, the 1991 Criminal Justice Act, Working Together (1991), and the Memorandum of Good…

Client (n=24) and staff (n=21) satisfaction with the workings of a multidisciplinary child protection agency in Australia was investigated using interviews and standard questionnaires. Clients expressed a great deal of satisfaction with the staff and services. Agency staff expressed relative satisfaction with their jobs and showed little evidence…

Presents a model training protocol for case management of child sexual abuse cases and a training protocol for the development of case planning skills. Findings from an evaluation of case management skills suggest that child protective service workers need training in formulating goals and objectives and negotiating contracts with sexually abusive…

Seventeen convicted male child sexual offenders underwent brief structured group treatment to reduce denial of sexual offenses. Treatment consisted of victim empathy, cognitive restructuring, assertiveness and social skills, education about sex offender therapy, and other elements. Following treatment, the majority of offenders came out of denial…

Increasingly, when children are not safe in their homes, they are placed with relatives. This article discusses how factors such as availability of foster care, attitudes toward extended families, and policies regarding payment for care costs have contributed to the growth in kinship care. Research on kinship care is reviewed, and needed policies…

Participants of family preservation and family support programs (n=1601) were followed over time for future child maltreatment events. A total of 198 had at least one defined failure event over 1.6 years. Program designed to help families meet basic needs and programs using mentoring approaches were more effective. (Contains references.)…

To date, few studies have sought to investigate the effects of child maltreatment and processes influencing maladaptation and resilience in Latino children. In the current investigation, multiple aspects of functioning, personal resources, and relationship features were examined in school-age maltreated and nonmaltreated Latino children.…

The present study examines the effects of early emotional experiences on children's regulation or strategic control of attention in the presence of interpersonal hostility. Abused children's reactions to the unfolding of a realistic interpersonal emotional situation were measured through multiple methods including autonomic nervous system changes…

The impact of 2 types of learning experiences on children's perception of multimodal emotion cues was examined. Children (aged 7-12 years) were presented with conflicting facial and vocal emotions. The effects of familiarity were tested by varying whether emotions were presented by familiar or unfamiliar adults. The salience of particular…

This study examines the experiences of loss among parents whose children were in child protective custody that resulted from false accusations of abuse or neglect. In practice, child protective service assessments more times than not clear parents of charges of wrongdoing, however the impact of these investigations on parents has not yet been…

This study addresses the prediction that dropout from a UK specialized residential treatment program for adolescent sexual abusers can be determined from pre-treatment variables. Participants were 49 adolescents aged 12-16 years, who had sexually abused children, peers/adults or both. Of the variables examined, 25 showed a significant association…

"Kids Count in Colorado!" is an annual publication of the Colorado Children's Campaign, which provides the best available state- and county-level data to measure and track the education, health and general well-being of the state's children. "Kids Count in Colorado!" informs policy debates and community discussions, serving as…

New York City has for far too long tolerated a severe imbalance in the delivery of legal services in child welfare cases. Although the Administration for Children's Services (ACS), the Legal Aid Society and Lawyers for Children all are given a significant annual budget which allows these agencies to represent petitioners and children in Family…