Interviewing children who may been sexually abused is a daunting task fraught with far-reaching consequences for the children, families, institutions, and professionals involved. With no room for error, forensic and clinical interviewers must navigate the complex and often contradictory evidence that informs their decision making.
Here, Kathleen Coulborn Faller, a leading expert on child sexual abuse, critically analyzes the research on assessing child sexual abuse. Noting that issues such as memory and suggestibility, questioning techniques, the use of media, and false allegations remain hotly contested, chapters guide readers in applying available research to professional judgment while drawing also on best practice guidelines and conceptual, clinical, and consensus-based writings. The only up-to-date resource of its kind, Interviewing Children About Sexual Abuse covers the entire interview process, showing professionals how to structure, document, and follow up on children's responses in interviews; work with children who are very young, have special needs, or come from diverse backgrounds; use standardized tests and measures; formulate conclusions about sexual abuse; and defend those decisions in a courtroom or clinical setting.
Mental health, forensic, and child welfare professionals will find in this volume a wealth of expert information that will guide them through the often murky, always emotional process of interviewing children about sexual abuse.

St. Mary County is a small rural midwestern enclave with a unique approach to handling accusations of child sexual abuse. Hoping to spare children the trauma of lengthy court appearances and probing interrogations, St. Mary's professionals strive to obtain confessions from accused sex offenders rather than ask the victim to bear the burden of proof.

Treating this county as a critical case study, scholars from a variety of fields come together to analyze this community's unique approach. They address relevant case law, innovative treatments for both victim and offender, and the social history of child sexual abuse as a national policy concern. They cover legal burdens and scientific methods, prosecutors and protocol, the interrogation of victims and suspects, the use of expert witnesses, defense strategies, and practice wisdom in videotaping. In addition, they examine the unfolding drama of a single legal case from incidence to conviction.

The result is a fascinating dialogue that confronts the unique complexities of child sexual abuse for readers on all sides of the issue. Introducing a model that makes enormous headway in the pursuit of justice, fairness, and trauma treatment, this interdisciplinary text is an indispensible tool for all communities seeking redress.

-- Jan Kirby-Gell, "Children Today"

The field of child sexual abuse has dramatically changed since Understanding Child Sexual Maltreatment was published in 1990. Considerable developments in child and offender research have emerged. But more significantly, a backlash against child abuse victims, Child Protective Services, and mental health professionals has impacted nearly every aspect of research, diagnosis, and intervention.

Understanding and Assessing Child Sexual Maltreatment, Second Edition updates its comprehensive coverage of child sexual abuse definitions and indicators, interview and questioning techniques, and diagnosis guidelines to include an insightful response to the building social backlash against the so-called "child abuse industry." Distinguished scholar and experienced practitioner Kathleen Coulborn Faller applies twenty-five years of clinical experience and state-of-the-art research to offer authoritative guidance to both novice and experience practitioners.

This Second Edition has been extensively revised to include

• A completely rewritten section on data gathering and analysis
• Updated assessment techniques and instruments
• Detailed coverage of post assessment intervention strategies
• Revised chapters that reflect up-to-date research and practice
• Extensive analysis of the backlash against child abuse cases

Understanding and Assessing Child Sexual Maltreatment, Second Edition presents a wealth of practical information and field-tested tools. Author Kathleen Coulborn Faller uses clear language and numerous case studies to address all aspects of child sexual abuse including: the scope of the problem, professional collaboration, data analysis and diagnosis, and sexual abuse in special contexts.

An essential resource for child protection workers, mental health practitioners, lawyers, and law enforcement personnel, Understanding and Assessing Child Sexual Maltreatment, Second Edition is also an ideal supplementary text for graduate courses in child welfare practice, social work, and psychology.

Detect and put a stop to child abuse For mental health professionals, social workers, legal professionals, and policy makers, Maltreatment in Early Childhood: Tools for Research-Based Intervention examines strategies and ideas for professional training in child protection in the United States. Derived from presentations at the San Diego Conference Responding to Child Maltreatment, this book addresses current assessment issues, the intersection of child maltreatment and other social problems, the history of child protection, and the intricacies of courtroom testimonies, and provides guidance for case management. Through insight into research and case studies, Maltreatment in Early Childhood explores effective approaches to child-friendly services, multivictim cases, therapy, and victim recantation to help you assist sexually abused children or children who have witnessed domestic abuse.Addressing a variety of challenges that face all those involved with youth in need of assistance due to abuse, this informative book examines why children of different racial identities may display different secret-keeping behavior, and presents a variety of approaches that encourage clients to talk about their situation. Maltreatment in Early Childhood explores child abuse from a historical and political context, and discusses key issues relating to all facets of this social problem, including: understanding the pros and cons of asking children to recall their experiences through specific types of questions, such as invitational questions and less preferred questions, which may or may not reveal true answers deciding if the Validity Checklist, the second part of the Analysis procedure, is able to determine truthfulness of allegations in child sexual abuse cases testing the efficacy of the model designed at the National Children's Advocacy Center (NCAC), which may be used to validate abuse and determine if children's statements are accurate overcoming difficulties in the child protection system, including the probability of multiple interviews and potential contamination of children's narratives by a variety of sources, to produce fair evaluations and successful prosecutionsWith tables and charts that will help you easily explore research findings, Maltreatment in Early Childhood provides you with the information you need in order to determine the truth of children's statements, how to present statements in court, and how to affect changes that will protect and assist victims of childhood sexual abuse.