St. Clare's and St. Louise's child sexual abuse assessment units: an analysis of their origin, function and work practices

1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imelda Ryan ◽  
Carol Fitzpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Community Care ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Training And Research ◽  
Origin Function ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Sick Children

AbstractSt. Clare's Unit, in the Children's Hospital, Temple Street, and St. Louise's Unit, in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, were set up by the Department of Health in Dublin in 1987 to carry out child sexual abuse assessments. Each unit is staffed by multidisciplinary teams and works closely with Community Care teams, the Gardaí, and treatment agencies. Assessment involves gathering information from referrers, the parents and the child at interview, and from physical examination. The information obtained is interpreted in context, and conclusions are based on the composite picture.Analysis of the first two years' work shows that sexual abuse was confirmed in approximately half the cases seen, the abuser being known to the child and within the child's family or community network in the majority of cases.As more professionals become trained in child sexual abuse assessment it is envisaged that more cases will be managed at local level, with perhaps more complex cases being referred to the units. This will enable unit staff to further develop a role in consultation, education, training and research.

Commentary About Cheit’s Witch-Hunt Narrative

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 940-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erna Olafson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Child Victims ◽  
Child Advocacy ◽  
Treatment Protocols ◽  
The Witch ◽  
Witch Hunt

Ross Cheit’s lengthy study is strongest when he describes in detail the findings of his 13 years of research into the original records of the key “witch hunt” cases of the 1980s to set the record straight, when possible, about what really happened. However, because this was partial history that focused primarily on the interplay between academic psychology and the media in a limited number of cases, a commentary about the broader historical and institutional context may lead to a more optimistic conclusion than Cheit seems to reach. Since this latest discovery of child sexual abuse (and its partial suppression with the rapid and predictable construction of the witch-hunt narrative), professionals across a range of disciplines continue to refine statistical science to document the prevalence and impact of child sexual abuse. They continue to enhance our understanding about children’s memory and suggestibility. They have steadily refined methods to elicit full and accurate information from alleged child victims, created child advocacy centers with multidisciplinary teams to handle cases skillfully, and have developed evidence-based assessment tools and treatment protocols for substantiated victims. This solid and continuing academic output, coupled with nationwide institutionalization of the childhood trauma and maltreatment fields in organizations such as the National Child Advocacy Center, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network make this rediscovery of child sexual abuse different from the many other discoveries and suppressions that preceded it.

scholarly journals The ministerial power to set up a public inquiry: issues of transparency and accountability

2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-229
Author(s):  
Emma Ireton
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public ◽  
Independent Panel ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Public Scrutiny ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Independent Inquiry

The Independent Panel Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was left in crisis following intense pressure from survivors and their families, the public and media. Two senior legal figures, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Fiona Woolf, both resigned from the position of chair to the inquiry following concerns over their links with the establishment. Questions were raised over the independence of a process convened by the Home Secretary, to investigate apparent failures on the part of institutions, which would include scrutinising the actions of a former Home Secretary in handling allegations of child sexual abuse in the past. Demands for an inquiry with greater statutory powers, including the power to compel the giving of evidence on oath, ultimately resulted in the Independent Panel being disbanded and a new public inquiry, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, being convened. Against the background of this and other inquiries, this article examines the serious questions raised about the powers of a minister to set up a public inquiry, the lack of open and transparent decision-making processes and the extent to which those ministerial decisions are open to public scrutiny and accountability.

scholarly journals Child sexual abuse material on the darknet: a script analysis of how offenders operate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Leclerc ◽  
Jacqueline Drew
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Practical Method ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Continuation Phase ◽  
Online Technologies ◽  
Script Analysis ◽  
Crime Scripts ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Set Up

The development of online technologies in recent decades has facilitated the distribution and consumption of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) over the internet, which also led to the emergence of CSAM on the darknet—the segment of the internet hidden from the general public. Using data obtained from interviews with online investigators, this study uses crime script analysis to reconstruct step-by-step how offenders operate on the darknet. The findings highlight the three phases of the script: (1) the crime set-up phase, (2) the crime completion phase, and (3) the crime continuation phase. Scripting is a practical method of developing concrete ways to address this problem. The implications of using crime scripts to fight CSAM are discussed.

scholarly journals Why we should be worried about community care: a personal view of the Eighth Annual TAPS Conference

1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 681-682
Author(s):  
Paul Crichton
Keyword(s):  
Community Care ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Regional Health ◽  
Personal View ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Health Economist ◽  
Set Up

In 1985, nearly two years after the announcement of the intended closure of Claybury and Friern Hospitals, the Team for the Assessment Psychiatric Services (TAPS) was set up to evaluate this policy. TAPS has now grown to a staff of six full-time researchers (three psychologists, a psychiatrist, a sociologist and a health economist) and is funded mainly by the North East Thames Regional Health Authority, but also by the Department of Health. This was the eighth annual conference, and the first since the closure of Friern Hospital in March 1993.

scholarly journals “Our Laws Have Not Caught up with the Technology”: Understanding Challenges and Facilitators in Investigating and Prosecuting Child Sexual Abuse Materials in the United States

Laws ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Olivia Cullen ◽  
Keri Zug Ernst ◽  
Natalie Dawes ◽  
Warren Binford ◽  
Gina Dimitropoulos
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Multidisciplinary Teams ◽  
Internet Service

With technological advances, the creation and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has become one of the fastest growing illicit online industries in the United States. Perpetrators are becoming increasingly sophisticated and exploit cutting-edge technology, making it difficult for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute these crimes. There is limited research on best practices for investigating cases of CSAM. The aim of this research was to understand challenges and facilitators for investigating and prosecuting cases of CSAM as a foundation to develop best practices in this area. To meet these objectives, qualitative interviews and focus groups were conducted with participants throughout the western United States. Two major themes arose from this research: Theme 1: Challenges to investigating and prosecuting CSAM; and Theme 2: Facilitators to investigating and prosecuting CSAM. Within Theme 1, subthemes included technology and internet service providers, laws, lack of resources, and service provider mental health and well-being. Within Theme 2, subthemes included multidisciplinary teams and training. This research is a first step in understanding the experiences of law enforcement and prosecutors in addressing CSAM. Findings from this study can be used to support the development of best practices for those in the justice system investigating and prosecuting CSAM.

Malpractice & Negligence: State Supreme Courts Limit Therapists’ Duties to Third Parties

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-205
Author(s):  
Megan Cleary
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
New Hampshire ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
State Supreme Courts ◽  
Recovered Memories ◽  
Supreme Courts ◽  
Repressed Memory ◽  
University Of Colorado

In recent years, the law in the area of recovered memories in child sexual abuse cases has developed rapidly. See J.K. Murray, “Repression, Memory & Suggestibility: A Call for Limitations on the Admissibility of Repressed Memory Testimony in Abuse Trials,” University of Colorado Law Review, 66 (1995): 477-522, at 479. Three cases have defined the scope of liability to third parties. The cases, decided within six months of each other, all involved lawsuits by third parties against therapists, based on treatment in which the patients recovered memories of sexual abuse. The New Hampshire Supreme Court, in Hungerford v. Jones, 722 A.2d 478 (N.H. 1998), allowed such a claim to survive, while the supreme courts in Iowa, in J.A.H. v. Wadle & Associates, 589 N.W.2d 256 (Iowa 1999), and California, in Eear v. Sills, 82 Cal. Rptr. 281 (1991), rejected lawsuits brought by nonpatients for professional liability.

Finkelhor's Precondition Model of child sexual abuse: A critique.

2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-307
Author(s):  
Tony Ward ◽  
Stephen M. Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Sexual Abuse
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