Accuracy of Investigators' Verbatim Notes of Their Forensic Interviews with Alleged Child Abuse Victims

Verbatim contemporaneous accounts of 20 investigative interviews were compared with audiotaped recordings thereof. More than half (57%) of the interviewers' utterances along with 25% of the incident-relevant details provided by the children were not reported in the verbatim notes. The structure of the interviews was also represented inaccurately in these accounts. Fewer than half (44%) of the details provided by the children were attributed to the correct eliciting utterance type. Investigators systematically misattributed details to more open rather than more focused prompts. These results underscore the superiority of electronic recording when the content and structure of investigative interviews must be preserved.     

Trichobezoar in Vagina: Assessment for Child Sexual Abuse and Diagnostic Result of Forensic Science

Vaginal discharge and bleeding in children require a through and thoughtful evaluation to diagnose the underlying problem including infections, sexual abuse, and vaginal foreign bodies. We report a 6‐year‐old girl presenting with bloody vaginal discharge, carefully evaluated for sexual abuse, and finally diagnosed as a vaginal foreign body after vaginoscopy. A rolling hair ball was extracted from the vagina and was diagnosed as trichobezoar pathologically without any endo–ecto‐mesodermal residual tissue. The hair ball was genetically detected and diagnosed to belong herself by containing no foreign structure. Child sexual abuse was ruled out by forensic interview at CAC and report of forensic science that reported genetic structure belonging to the child. Medicolegal assessment helped in final diagnosis to exclude child sexual abuse.     

Improving Decision Making in Forensic Child Sexual Abuse Evaluations

Mental health professionals can assist legal decision makers in cases of allegations of child sexual abuse by collecting data using forensic interviews, psychological testing, and record reviews, and by summarizing relevant findings from social science research. Significant controversy surrounds another key task performed by mental health professionals in most child sexual abuse evaluations, i.e., deciding whether or not to substantiate unconfirmed abuse allegations. The available evidence indicates that, on the whole, these substantiation decisions currently lack adequate psychometric reliability and validity: an analysis of empirical research findings leads to the conclusion that at least 24% of all of these decisions are either false positive or false negative errors. Surprisingly, a reanalysis of existing research also indicates that it may be possible to develop reliable, objective procedures to improve the consistency and quality of decision making in this domain. A preliminary, empirically-grounded procedure for making substantiation decisions is proposed.     

Using Spaced Learning Principles to Translate Knowledge into Behavior: Evidence from Investigative Interviews of Alleged Child Abuse Victims

The present study assessed the progress of 13 investigative interviewers (child protection workers and police officers) before, during, and after an intensive training program (n = 132 interviews). Training began with a 2-day workshop covering the principles of child development and child-friendly interviewing. Interviewers then submitted interviews on a bi-weekly basis to which they received written and verbal feedback over an 8-month period. A refresher session took place two months into training. Interestingly, improvements were observed only after the refresher session. Interviews conducted post-refresher training contained proportionally more open-ended questions, more child details in response to open-ended questions, and proportionally fewer closed questions than interviews conducted prior to training and in the first half of the training program. The need for ‘spaced learning’ may underlie why so many training programs have had little effect on practice.     

Talk to Me: An Analysis of Statutes Regulating Police Interviews of Child Victims

Children can be unreliable witnesses, and they are especially vulnerable to questionable interview practices. However, in some crimes like child sexual abuse, children may be the only person capable of providing testimonial evidence. States must balance the needs of bringing criminals who target children to justice and ensuring that due process is upheld to reduce the chances of false convictions. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has published a set best-practices for the interviewing of children to achieve this balance. This article conducts a statutory analysis to determine if states are currently following the recommendations of the OJJDP.     

Assessing the Relative Importance of the Child Sexual Abuse Interview Protocol Items to Assist Child Victims in Abuse Disclosure

This study identifies (1) the importance of using the Child Sexual Abuse Interview Protocol for multiple disciplines to obtain detailed information of what the alleged child victims say and claim, and (2) the concurrence of multiple professionals about the relevance of items in the protocol in their practice. A survey with 100 items based on the Child Sexual Abuse Interview Protocol was self administered by 36 professionals working at a child advocacy center including administrators, attorneys, child advocates, support persons, physicians, police, psychologists, and social workers. These respondents unanimously felt it was very important for interviewers to complete two specific items during the course of an investigative interview: “showing the interviewer is listening to the child” and “showing patience with the child.” As indicated by the average rating scores, 89 items were perceived between very important and important, and nine items as somewhat important. No item on this scale was rated as doesn’t matter or unimportant. Social workers and police officers did not differ significantly in their ratings of the importance of these items. Both quantitative and qualitative results support four major considerations when using an interview guide: 1) flexibility in opening and closing the interview, 2) professional and appropriate use of the anatomical dolls, 3) assessment of the age and mental state of the child, and 4) determination of the order of questions based on severity of incidents. This study provides data to identify the importance of using a comprehensive interview protocol for multidisciplinary professionals who work with alleged victims of child sexual abuse. The use of these 100 items will enhance the effectiveness of conducting a one-time interview to avoid repeated interviews. This study that was originally aimed at comparing differences among professionals has, in fact, demonstrated the similarities across disciplines, as agreement among various professional groups was substantial. This finding dissolves the myth that multiple disciplines brought forth diverse opinions and instead encourages the “working together” concept of a team.     

Child Sexual Abuse Perpetrated by Women: Case Series and Review of the Literature

The literature on child sexual abuse (CSA) perpetrated by female sexual offenders (FSOs) is exiguous, and many studies have focused on judicial databases. The present retrospective study, instead, analyzed clinical and judicial data of a group of both victims and alleged FSOs, to additionally include women who have not been convicted by the criminal justice system, but who hold strong clinical suspicions of being perpetrators of CSA. The medical records and the Court files of 11 children and their eight suspected FSOs have been collected and critically reviewed in light of the literature to date. This approach allowed for a deeper understanding of the relationship between child and FSO. The authors hypothesize that the victims’ severe psychopathological outcomes were a result of a failure to develop appropriate attachments with their prospective caregivers, which could have been damaged by the pathological relationship with FSOs, who were the victims’ caregivers.     

Child Sexual Abuse in Turkey: An Analysis of 1002 Cases

This study investigated the characteristics of abuse suffered by children, the dimensions of the psychiatric effects associated with abuse, and the factors affecting these. One thousand two cases aged under 18, exposed to sexual abuse, and referred over a 7‐year period were assessed. Girls represented 80.8% of cases, and the numbers rose with age. The aggressors were all male, and 88.2% were known to their victim. Approximately half the children were exposed to sexual abuse involving penetration. Psychological pathology was identified in 62.1%. Female gender, the presence of penetration, physical violence, and incest significantly increased the development of psychological pathology. Levels of awareness in people close to and trusted by the child must be raised to minimize the adverse effects of trauma in the long term, preventive measures must be taken, and medical and social support units from which victims can receive assistance need to be established.     

Psychiatric Medication Intake in Suicide Victims: Gender Disparities and Implications for Suicide Prevention

Frequency and gender differences of psychiatric medication intake in a sample of suicide victims from the Athens Greater Area were investigated with a particular focus on the implications for suicide prevention. Data were collected from the toxicological analyses of the suicide cases of the period November 2007–October 2009. Information was available for 262 individuals, 196 men (74.8%) and 66 women (25.2%); 109 of these (41.6%) were receiving psychiatric medication(s). Women were statistically more frequently under treatment: antidepressants (32.8% vs. 11.3%, p < 0.001), antiepileptics (9.1% vs. 0.5%, p = 0.001), antipsychotics (24.2% vs. 9.2%, p = 0.003), and benzodiazepines (16.7% vs. 6.6%, p = 0.024). Campaigns aiming to bring men with psychological difficulties in contact with mental health services and to lessen the stigma of mental illness, together with better training of nonpsychiatrists into “suspecting” “male” depression, could be particularly helpful for decreasing male suicides. More thoughtful choice of psychiatric medication could possibly already prevent a number of female suicides.     

儿童性侵犯危害韩国社会

针对儿童的性犯罪案件数量每件都在上升,与其相对照的是,对这类犯罪的惩处可以说是软弱无力. 韩国针对儿童的性犯罪现象日益严重.而且,这种状况已经威胁到韩国的社会安全网络.每年,都有一些儿童因为遭到性犯罪的侵害而丧命.尽管如此,由于这样的犯罪存在取证难和社会并不重视儿童的基本权益等原因,检察机关更多的是从加害者的角度出发来处理此类案件,使一些本来应该遭到严厉处罚的施暴者仍然逍遥法外,并且促使这类犯罪行为不断升级.     

Attributions in a Hypothetical Child Sexual Abuse Case: Roles of Abuse Type,Family Response and Respondent Gender

The present study examines the impact abuse type, family response, and respondent gender have on attributions of blame in a hypothetical child sexual abuse (CSA) case. Three hundred and ninety three respondents read a hypothetical CSA scenario describing the sexual assault of a 14 year old girl by a 25-year-old man and completed 14 attribution items. Overall, the assault was deemed more serious, the perpetrator more culpable, and the family less culpable when CSA involved (vaginal) penetration. Contrary to expectations, respondents were more negative towards a family who denied the abuse took place versus one which blamed or supported the victim. Finally, male respondents deemed the abuse to be less serious, were more negative towards the victim and their families, and more positive towards perpetrators than were female respondents. The role these factors play in CSA attributions, together with ideas for future research, are discussed.

Somnophilia and Sexual Abuse Using Vaginal Administration of Triazolam

Somnophilia is a rare paraphilia, a form of sexual fetishism which is characterized by the desire to have sex with an unconscious human object who is unable to respond. To the author's knowledge, this is the first case study concerning somnophilic sexual abuse associated with vaginal administration of triazolam. The perpetrator video‐recorded his sexual acts with two unconscious female victims with whom he also had normal sexual intercourse and who were unaware of his paraphilic activities. His Internet conversations with other persons whom he thought to be interested in somnophilic sex and his plans to kidnap a child were recorded by the police. It was evident that sex with an unconscious object played a specific fetishistic role for this man. He obviously used a combination of drugs mixed with alcoholic drinks to make his victims fall sleep and videotaped vaginal administration of triazolam used to deepen the victim's unconscious state.     

Validation of the Child Sexual Abuse Knowledge Questionnaire

A validation study of the Child Sexual Abuse Knowledge Questionnaire (CSA-KQ) was conducted on a sample of 1712 non-empanelled jurors in the greater Sydney area, Australia. The CSA-KQ contains nine items derived from empirical findings on common misconceptions about typical features of abuse offences, children’s responses to child sexual abuse, and their ability to give reliable evidence. Study 1 tested the factor structure of the questionnaire in a sample of 843 non-empanelled jurors. The best model indicated by exploratory factor analysis had two factors: the Impact of Sexual Abuse on Children and Contextual Influences on the Report. Study 2 cross-validated the findings and tested the predictive validity of the CSA-KQ in a realistic simulated trial in which an 11-year-old complainant alleged abuse by her grandfather. Confirmatory factor analysis replicated the findings of Study 1, showing strong reliability for each of the factors (ρ_y?=?0.70 to ρ_y?=?0.80) and for the CSA-KQ (ρ_y?=?0.76). CSA-KQ scores were significantly correlated with the perceived credibility of the complainant (r?=?0.23). Moreover, the CSA-KQ scores predicted verdict: jurors with greater knowledge about CSA were more likely to convict the defendant than jurors who knew less about CSA.     

The Effect of Gender in the Perception of Elder Physical Abuse in Court

Two experiments investigated mock jurors' perceptions of elder abuse (EA) in a physical assault case. In Experiment 1, participants read a fictional criminal trial summary of a physical assault case in which the alleged victim was 66, 76, or 86 years old. In Experiment 2, the age of the alleged victim was 76 years old, but the gender of the alleged victim and the gender of the defendant were crossed. The results of the experiments showed that women believed the alleged victim more and rendered a guilty verdict more often than men. Overall, the alleged victim was believed more than the defendant regardless of the age of the alleged victim, and most verdicts were guilty. These results are discussed in terms of the factors that affect perceptions of alleged victims of EA in court.     

道路交通事故中涉案者交通行为方式的法医学鉴定

目的回顾道路交通事故中需要进行涉案者交通方式鉴定的案例。探讨此类案例鉴定的思路和技术方法。方法收集28例近年本单位进行的道路交通事故涉案者交通行为方式鉴定案例,统计涉案者一般情况、损伤程度与交通行为方式的关系,交通事故发生的时间和地点、交通事故中车辆碰撞类型、采用的技术方法等,进行统计学处理。结果本组资料共28起道路交通事故案件,涉案人员共57人,男性50人．女性7人。交通事故发生时间夜间为19例（67．86％）,白天为9例（32．14％）。道路类型中,城市市区道路10例（35．7％）,城市郊区道路1例（3．6％）,省级道路10例（35．7％）,高速公路7例（25％）。酒后驾车9例（32．1％）。交通事故类型中,电动自行车与机动车事故5例（17．8％）,机动车与自行车事故1例（3．6％）,机动车单方事故7例（25．0％）;机动车与机动车事故11例（39．3％）,机动车与行人事故4例（14．3％）。涉案人员死亡27人,损伤29人,无明显伤害1人。损伤存活者中轻微伤10例（34．5％）,轻伤8例（27．6％）,重伤1l例（37．9％）。涉案者交通行为方式鉴定种类中,汽车驾驶人和乘车人认定16例（57．1％）,摩托车驾驶人和乘车人认定1例（3．6％）,电动自行车驾驶人和乘车人认定5例（17．8％）,自行车推行和骑行状态认定1例（3．6％）,摩托车推行和骑行状态认定1例（3．6％）,行人横过公路方向4例（14.3％）。涉案者交通行为方式鉴定采用的技术手段和方法．包括法医学活体损伤检验、法医学尸表检验、涉案肇事车车辆痕迹检验、DNA检验鉴定、现场人体模拟实验等。结论根据人体（活体或尸体）的体表损伤形态特征、痕迹分布,分析其致伤物和致伤方式,结合车辆痕迹检验结果,得出确认符合某种交通行为方式或者不符合某种交通行为方式的判断,结合案件的相关情况分析重建交通事故过程．是进行涉案者交通行为方式鉴定的基本思路。     

Comparing Sexuality,Aggressiveness, and Antisocial Behavior of Alleged Juvenile Sexual and Violent Offenders,

Sexual delinquency in juveniles is insufficiently explored in regard to the specificity of offender characteristics. The aim is to investigate relevant areas for juvenile sexual offending in a precourt, pretreatment group. Thirty‐two alleged juvenile sexual offenders (ASO) referred to by police were compared with 32 juvenile nonsexual violent offenders (VNO) on standardized measures of aggressiveness and psychopathology, antisocial behavior, substance use problems, and sexuality. Less externalizing disorders and antisocial behavior were found among the ASOs than among the VNOs. The ASO group was sexually less experienced, had less trust in their relationship abilities, fewer victimization experiences, and reported more sexual deviance, while pornography use and obscene calls were reported less often. Few juvenile sexual offenders had severe problems in the investigated areas. Including groups of offenders before court, treatment or incarceration in research appears crucial to understand the full spectrum of sexual deviance in youth and avoid misguidance due to selection factors.     

Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation as PTSD Mitigators in Child Sexual Abuse Survivors

Purpose and Potential benefits: Research, to our knowledge, has not examined the effect of demographic variables on PTSD symptoms among adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). This study explores the relationship between demographic variables and scores of CSA survivors on the Impact of Scale (IES). Participants were 257 women CSA survivors entering outpatient treatment at a university-based mental health center. All participants reported a CSA history and presented with psychological difficulties associated with CSA. The demographic variables investigated were relationship status, religious affiliation, ethnicity, educational level, spousal educational level income, and sexual orientation. Significance tests were used to examine each variable and scores on the Total IES and Avoidance and Intrusion Subscales. Total IES and Intrusion scores differed for sexual orientation and ethnicity in accord with conventional standards of significance ( < .05). Self-reported asexuals indicated fewer intrusive and total PTSD symptoms than heterosexuals, lesbians, and bisexuals. Likewise, Hispanics reported less intrusive PTSD symptoms than Non-Hispanic Caucasians. Our findings invite further exploration of the relationship between ethnicity and sexual orientation and the long-term effects of CSA. A question for empirical investigation is whether asexuality shields against the triggering of CSA memories by a sexual relationship. Another possible area of inquiry is whether particular characteristics of Hispanic culture as a whole serve to moderate the detrimental effects of CSA.     

“晕轮效应”对考录公务员面试考官的影响与应对

"晕轮效应"是一种主观心理臆测,是一个不可忽视、又无处不在的评价偏见,具有片面性、表面性和弥散性的特点。它存在于考官队伍中,对公务员的选拔工作会造成负面影响。"晕轮效应"作为一种心理现象,在公务员的面试过程中是不可消除的,因此,应该从主观上主动地去避免、克制,并且还要建立严格的选人用人制度,在客观上防止"晕轮效应"的出现,使"晕轮效应"的影响降到最低程度,保证面试的科学性和可靠性,努力做到公平、公开、公正地选拔人才,求得面试的效果最佳。