Child Sexual Abuse: Disclosure, Delay, and Denial

This volume provides the first rigorous assessment of the research relating to the disclosure of childhood sexual abuse, along with the practical and policy implications of the findings. Leading researchers and practitioners from diverse and international backgrounds offer critical commentary on these previously unpublished findings gathered from both field and laboratory research. Cross-cultural, clinical, and multi-disciplinary perspectives are provided. The goal is to learn more about why children frequently remain silent about their abuse, deny it, or if they do disclose, do so belatedly and incompletely, often recanting their allegations over time.

The book opens with a close examination of the existing literature on disclosure and the difficulties in conducting such research. It then examines the individual and contextual factors that determine whether, when, and how childhood sexual abuse is disclosed. This portion reviews how the interview techniques have a profound impact on disclosure patterns. Details of how reluctant children are interviewed are included. The third section examines the broader implications of disclosure for the child, family and peers, and for the suspect. Child Sexual Abuse examines how the interview strategies influence how, when, or if children disclose abuse, by examining both domestic and international data and by analyzing detailed interviews with children.

Child Sexual Abuse is for researchers and practitioners from child, forensic, and clinical psychology, social work, and all legal professionals who need to understand this crime.