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Factors to consider in assessing adult litigants' complaints of childhood sexual abuse
Author(s) -
Rogers Martha L.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/bsl.2370120307
Subject(s) - plaintiff , recall , sexual abuse , psychology , human factors and ergonomics , child abuse , injury prevention , suicide prevention , poison control , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , medical emergency , cognitive psychology , political science , law
Based on limited research, clinical and forensic experience and observations, factors hypothesized to be potentially useful in forensic evaluation of claims of decades‐delayed discovery of childhood sexual abuse are delineated. Factors considered include: (1) alleged victim factors, (2) memory factors, (3) therapist/examiner factors, (4) external influences on the abuse account, (5) evidential patterns. Differences among a limited sample of cases seen by the author are described. Present knowledge does not provide a basis for reliable determination of whether a specific recollection is true or false, based only upon the claimant's account. At this time, there is no empirically validated method for discriminating valid from invalid cases. Experts testifying for either side must exercise caution and restraint as it may be premature and even unethical in many cases to propound opinions about the validity or invalidity of the memories.