Concerns Arise When Evaluating the Credibility of a Child's Allegation of Sexual Abuse
A child's allegation of sexual abuse is both distressing and disturbing. While reporting suspected child sexual abuse is mandated, concerns often arise in clinical and legal settings about the validity of the child's report, especially when the child is very young.

Participants in this webinar will learn how to evaluate the credibility of a child's allegation of sexual abuse by understanding the dynamic of child sexual abuse and the clinical presentation of a sexually abused child. Proper interviewing and evaluation techniques will be presented. Participants will discover how to properly react to a child's allegation of sexual abuse, and how to comply with legal and ethical requirements of mandated reporting. A clinical case example will illustrate the various assessment and treatment challenges.

Course Content

A. Understanding the Problem of Child Sexual Abuse
  1. Defining child sexual abuse
  2. Identifying the perpetrators and their victims
B. Evaluating the Sexually Abused Child
  1. Developmental considerations
  2. Interviewing techniques
  3. Behavioral observations
  4. Other assessment techniques
  5. Objective testing
  6. Collateral data
  7. Diagnosis
  8. Psycho-legal recommendations
C. Therapeutic Response
  1. Spontaneous disclosures
  2. Elicited disclosures
D. Concerns About Credibility
  1. Inconsistencies
  2. Alterations
  3. Retraction
  4. Developmental status of the victim
  5. Motivation
  6. Errors vs. Fabrications
  7. Therapist bias
  8. Tainted evaluations
E. Legal and Ethical Challenges
  1. Competence
  2. Clinical certainty
  3. The risks of false negatives and false positives
  4. Mandated reporting
F. A Societal Perspective on Child Sexual Abuse
  1. Society’s view of child sexual abuse
  2. The mental health system’s role and response
  3. The justice system’s role and response
G. Expert Witness Testimony
  1. Types of witnesses
  2. Roles of witnesses
  3. Expectations of witnesses
  4. Limitations of witnesses
H. Treatment
  1. Treatment modalities
  2. Treatment methods
  3. Best practice
I. Clinical Case Example and Discussion
J. Future Directions
  1. Research
  2. Clinical practice
  3. Community
  4. Legislative