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Credibility assessment in child sexual abuse investigations: a descriptive analysis
- Authors:
- MELKMAN Eran P., HERSHKOWITZ Irit, ZUR Ronit
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 67, 2017, p.76–85.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
A major challenge in cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) is determining the credibility of children's reports. Consequently cases may be misclassified as false or deemed ‘no judgment possible’. Based on a large national sample of reports of CSA made in Israel in 2014, the study examines child and event characteristics contributing to the probability that reports of abuse would be judged credible. National data files of all children aged 3–14, who were referred for investigation following suspected victimisation of sexual abuse, and had disclosed sexual abuse, were analysed. Cases were classified as either ‘credible’ or ‘no judgment possible’. The probability of reaching a ‘credible’ judgment was examined in relation to characteristics of the child (age, gender, cognitive delay, marital status of the parents,) and of the abusive event (abuse severity, frequency, perpetrator–victim relationship, perpetrator's use of grooming, and perpetrator's use of coercion), controlling for investigator's identity at the cluster level of the analysis. Of 1563 cases analysed, 57.9% were assessed as credible. The most powerful predictors of a credible judgment were older age and absence of a cognitive delay. Reports of children to married parents, who experienced a single abusive event that involved perpetrator's use of grooming, were also more likely to be judged as credible. Rates of credible judgments found are lower than expected suggesting under-identification of truthful reports of CSA. In particular, those cases of severe and multiple abuse involving younger and cognitively delayed children are the ones with the lowest chances of being assessed as credible. (Edited publisher abstract)
The effects of abuse history on sexually intrusive behavior by children: an analysis of child justice records
- Author:
- HERSHKOWITZ Irit
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 35(1), January 2011, pp.40-49.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Early victimisation is often cited as a risk factor for sexually intrusive behaviour (SIB) among children and adolescents. This study examined the rate of abuse history among child suspects who had admitted SIBs. It is based on data from a large, non-clinical Israeli sample of children under 14 years of age gathered more than a decade previously. Of 3,554 child suspects of SIBs, 345 (9.7%) had a formal record of abuse. Boys with a record of abuse engaged in SIBs at a younger age; were more likely to have a mental disability; more often belonged to large, single-parent, low SES, or immigrant families; and were more likely to have been removed from home to alternative care than boys with no record of abuse. The nature of SIBs varied across the groups, with victim-suspects more likely than their counterparts to act repeatedly, and to do so alone rather than in the presence of others. Most aspects of SIBs were predicted by abuse history after controlling for other predictors. Some differences between age groups were evident. The author suggests that the low rate of abuse history among boys with SIBs suggests that clinical assessors should not assume that these children have been victims of abuse or that abuse is a necessary component in the development of SIBs.
Exploring the disclosure of child sexual abuse with alleged victims and their parents
- Authors:
- HERSHKOWITZ Irit, LANES Omer, LAMB Michael E.
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 31(2), February 2007, pp.111-123.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Thirty alleged victims of sexual abuse and their parents were interviewed. The children were interviewed using the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol by six experienced youth investigators. The same principles were followed when the parents were asked to describe in detail what had happened since the abusive incidents. The statements made by the children and parents were then content analyzed. Major characteristics of the children's and parents’ reported behaviours were identified by two independent raters. More than half (53%) of the children delayed disclosure for between 1 week and 2 years, fewer than half first disclosed to their parents, and over 40% did not disclose spontaneously but did so only after they were prompted; 50% of the children reported feeling afraid or ashamed of their parents’ responses, and their parents indeed tended to blame the children or act angrily. The disclosure process varied depending on the children's ages, the severity and frequency of abuse, the parents’ expected reactions, the suspects’ identities, and the strategies they had used to foster secrecy. The children's willingness to disclose abuse to their parents promptly and spontaneously decreased when they expected negative reactions, especially when the abuse was more serious. A strong correlation between predicted and actual parental reactions suggested that the children anticipated their parents’ likely reactions very well.
Improving credibility assessment in child sexual abuse allegations: the role of the NICHD investigative interview protocol
- Authors:
- HERSHKOWITZ Irit, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 31(2), February 2007, pp.99-110.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
The study was designed to explore whether the credibility of children's statements regarding their alleged experiences of child sexual abuse could be assessed in a more valid and reliable way when investigative interviews were conducted using the NICHD protocol rather than in an unstructured manner. Forty-two experienced Israeli youth investigators each assessed the credibility of allegations of sexual abuse made by alleged victims of sexual abuse when interviewed either with or without the protocol. Half of the alleged incidents were judged likely to have happened (“plausible”) on the basis of independent evidence, while half were deemed unlikely to have happened (“implausible”). More non-protocol than protocol interviews were rated as “No judgment possible” rather than either credible or incredible. Allegations made in protocol interviews were more accurately rated as credible or incredible when they were either plausible or implausible, respectively, than those made in non-protocol statements. Levels of inter-rater reliability were also higher when protocol interviews were rated. The differences were significant only for plausible cases, however. The use of the NICHD protocol facilitated the assessment of credibility by child investigators although incredible allegations (those describing incidents that were unlikely to have happened) remained difficult to detect, even when the protocol was used.
Dynamics of forensic interviews with suspected abuse victims who do not disclose abuse
- Authors:
- HERSHKOWITZ Irit, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 30(7), July 2006, pp.753-769.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
The present study was designed to explore structural differences between forensic interviews in which children made allegations and those in which children did not make allegations. Fifty forensic interviews of 4- to 13-year-old suspected victims of abuse who did not disclose abuse during the interview were compared with the same number of forensic interviews of alleged victims who made allegations of sexual or physical abuse. Only cases in which there was substantial reason to believe that abuse had taken place were included in the study. Audiotapes of the interviews were examined with a focus on interviewer utterances and children's responses during the pre-substantive rapport-building, episodic memory training, and ‘getting the allegation’ phases of the interviews, which all employed the NICHD Investigative Interview Guide. Forensic interviews which yielded allegations of child abuse were characterized by quite different dynamics than interviews with children who did not make allegations. When interviewing non-disclosers, interviewers made less frequent use of free recall prompts and offered fewer supportive comments than when interviewing children who made allegations of abuse. Children who did not disclose abuse were somewhat uncooperative, offered fewer details, and gave more uninformative responses, even at the very beginning of the interview, before the interviewers focused on substantive issues and before the interviewers themselves began to behave differently. A premature focus on substantive issues may prevent children who are not responsive in the episodic memory training phase from disclosing abuse. Identifying reluctant disclosers and making more extensive efforts to build rapport before substantive issues are broached, or interviewing such children in more than one session, may help suspected victims disclose their experiences.
Trends in children's disclosure of abuse in Israel: a national study
- Authors:
- HERSHKOWITZ Irit, HOROWITZ Dvora, LAMB Michael E.
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 29(11), November 2005, pp.1203-1214.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
The aim was to identify characteristics of suspected child abuse victims that are associated with disclosure and nondisclosure during formal investigations. The database included all suspected cases of physical and sexual abuse investigated in the state of Israel between 1998 and 2002. All investigative interviews were conducted using a single standardized protocol, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Investigative Interview Protocol. Overall, 65% of the 26,446 children made allegations when interviewed, but rates of disclosure were greater in the case of sexual (71%) than physical (61%) abuse. Children of all ages were less likely to disclose/allege abuse when a parent was the suspected perpetrator. Rates of disclosure/allegation increased as children grew older, with 50% of the 3- to 6-year-olds, 67% of the 7- to 10-year-olds, and 74% of the 11- to 14-year-olds disclosing abuse when questioned. Although most interviews of suspected victims yielded allegations, such rates of disclosure varied systematically depending on the nature of the alleged offences, the relationship between alleged victims and suspected perpetrators, and the age of the suspected victims. The findings obtained in this large and unselected data set confirm patterns previously reported in smaller and quite selective samples, most of them obtained in the United States.
Interviewing youthful suspects in alleged sex crimes: a descriptive analysis
- Authors:
- HERSHKOWITZ Irit, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child Abuse and Neglect, 28(4), April 2004, pp.423-438.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
This study introduces and evaluates a structured interview protocol designed for investigative interviews of young alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse. Seventy-two alleged perpetrators ranging from 9 to 14 years of age were interviewed by 1 of 13 experienced youth investigators, employed by the Israeli Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, about incidents that had been reported by alleged victims. All interviews were conducted as part of the investigators’ regular work and followed the structured interview guide appended to this article. Interviewers questioned older and younger children similarly, but addressed fewer invitations, directive questions, and option-posing prompts to suspects who denied the allegations than to those who partially or fully admitted them. The total number of details provided by the suspects did not vary depending on their age or whether or not they fully or partially admitted the allegations. In both cases, more information was elicited using invitations rather than suggestive or option-posing prompts. Contrary to expectations, suspects who at least partially admitted their involvement provided considerable amounts of information and were very responsive to free recall prompts, although interviewers used more risky (potentially error-inducing) prompts when interviewing suspects rather than alleged victims.