ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the controversy within the mental health community regarding the reliability of a profile of a sexually abused child, particularly relating to the communication issues of straightforwardness, delay, inconsistency, and recantation in recalling the event of sexual abuse. The childhood traumatic event that has most occupied the adult world's attention is the event of sexual abuse. Behavioral syndrome testimony in child sex-abuse cases has provoked serious controversy in the courts, with contradictory appellate court decisions as to its admissibility within the same jurisdiction. A close look at the patterns of acceptance or rejection of the admissibility of expert testimony reveals an extremely significant pattern. One of the central contradictions relates to how children remember and relate the facts of sexual abuse. One group believes that abused children most often delay in relating the event, and when they do relate the event their testimony is often inconsistent.
