This article provides the story--from the outside and the inside with a before and after--of an award-winning school psychologist, Rosario Pesce, who faced a professional dilemma midway in his career that led to litigation that went all the way to the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The article consists of (1) the facts of the case,…

Our series of three chapters (Faust, Bridges, & Ahern, 2009a, 2009b; Bridges, Faust, & Ahern, 2009) on the methodology of identifying sexually abused children elicited a number of comments, both supportive and critical. The criticisms appear related to three primary issues or apparent misconceptions of our work, perhaps due in part to incomplete…

Everson and Faller's (2012) article on the significance of sexualized behavior in child sexual abuse assessments critiques a chapter by Poole and Wolfe (2009), but their objections assumed conclusions and practice implications that were not contained in that chapter. In this comment, I reiterate the value of educating adults about normative sexual…

By means of an ethnographic project, Sarah Goode's Understanding and Addressing Adult Sexual Attraction to Children aspires to better understand the self-conception and self-identification of pedophiles, with the ultimate aim of deconstructing the phenomenon by which culture demonizes pedophiles in order to better protect children. However, the…

Cross, Fine, Jones, and Walsh (2012) provided a thoughtful review and critique of a book chapter describing the interview process at Child Advocacy Centers. They observed some of the ways that concerns raised in that chapter are being addressed and described revised guidelines that further clarify issues. Ongoing research and examination of the…

Determining whether a child was sexually abused is a tremendous clinical and legal challenge. In litigation, abuse is established--proven--with evidence. Evidence includes testimony from witnesses, hearsay statements, documents, and physical evidence such as semen, genital injury, and fingerprints. There are two types of witnesses: lay witnesses…

This paper is informed by a UK based Economic and Social Research Council funded research project which developed and deployed a case-study approach to issues of touch between children and professionals in schools and childcare. Outcomes from these settings are referred to, but the focus here is shifted to touch in sports coaching and its…

The article provides a history of efforts to develop a credentialing or certification process for forensic interviewers and reviews the multitiered credentialing process offered by the National Association of Certified Child Forensic Interviewers. The authors argue the benefits of a credentialing process for forensic interviewers and respond to…

This article presents the author's comments on the article "Family Experiences of Young Adult Sex Offender Registration" by E. B. Comartin, P. D. Kernsmith, & P. W. Miles (2010). In the article "Family Experiences of Young Adult Sex Offender Registration", Comartin, Kernsmith, and Miles (2010) put forth a telling argument about the impact of the…

This article presents a commentary on "Making the Most of Information-Gathering Interviews With Children," in which, according to Jones, Larsson and Lamb provided a helpful overview on memory retrieval and communicative ability and on ways these may be fostered in interviews with children. They explored three interview protocols that have been…

This commentary on "Motherhood in the Shadow of Incest" by Rachel Lev-Wiesel, is divided into three sections. In the first section, this author addresses the issue of the role of mothers in incest. Faller contends that, with regard to research findings on the role of mothers' own sexual victimization in her child's experience, previous research…

The author was invited to prepare a commentary in response to the Lev-Wiesel manuscript titled "Intergenerational Transmission of Sexual Abuse? Motherhood in the Shadow of Incest." Lev-Wiesel's stated intent in the study was to understand an important issue, namely how is intra-familial sexual abuse perpetuated across successive generations. This…

In the UK, the discourse of innocence currently prevails as a major way of understanding children. This article argues that the strength of this discourse lies in its prevalence, its resistance to challenges and the ways in which it connects ideas of innocence and vulnerability. The moral quality of the discourse of innocence works in conjunction…

Lauds the efforts of those involved in the international conference on child sexual abuse, citing a dearth of information and conflicting opinions in the field. The author supports his contention of lack of consensus by discussing reactions to Michael Jackson's child sexual abuse litigation by mental health professionals. (JPS)

States that concerns about the consensus statement of the international conference on child sexual abuse need to be directed at interpretation of the statement rather than at the statement itself. This is particularly true in view of the likely effects the statement will have on legal proceedings. (JPS)