How do children tell? The disclosure process in child sexual abuse.

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Bradley, April R. Wood, James M.
Copyright Year	1996
Abstract	Children's disclosure of sexual abuse has been described as a quasi-developmental process that includes stages of denial, reluctance, disclosure, recantation, and reaffirmation (Sorenson & Snow, 1991, Summit, 1983). It has been reported that nearly 75% of sexual abuse victims initially deny abuse, and that nearly 25% eventually recant their allegations (Sorenson & Snow, 1991). The present study examined disclosures in 234 sexual abuse cases validated by Protective Services in El Paso, Texas. Denial of abuse occurred in 6% of cases, and recantation in 4% of cases in which a child had already disclosed abuse. Four of the eight victims who recanted appeared to do so in response to pressure from a caretaker. The Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome described by Summit (1983) seems to be infrequent among the types of cases seen by child protection agencies. The present findings do not support the view that disclosure is a quasi-developmental process that follows sequential stages.
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
DOI	10.1016/0145-2134(96)00077-4
PubMed reference number	8886473
Journal	Medline
Volume Number	20
Issue Number	9
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://www.safetylit.org/citations/ild_request_form.php?article_id=citjournalarticle_33352_23
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://works.bepress.com/james_wood/23/download/
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://doi.org/10.1016/0145-2134%2896%2900077-4
Journal	Child abuse & neglect
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article