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Evaluation of child sexual abuse ‐ what should be evaluated?
Author(s) -
Lindblad F.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 0907-2055
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2397.1995.tb00265.x
Subject(s) - child sexual abuse , psychology , sexual abuse , child abuse , developmental psychology , process (computing) , social psychology , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , medicine , computer science , environmental health , operating system
An analysis of behavioural changes, mental symptoms and personal characteristics may contribute significantly to the evaluation of child sexual abuse. Examples from children of different ages are presented to illustrate how such information may be used in the evaluation process. Not rarely the psychological investigation of the abuse allegations is regarded as almost synonymous with an analysis of the child and what the child has communicated. In fact, there are many other important ‐ but often neglected ‐ sources of information than those related to the child as an individual. Different kinds of information concerning the suspects are presented as illustrations of this thesis. A hermeneutic approach is advocated for the evaluation. This means that the main issue is understanding the unique rather than knowledge of what is most common.