ABSTRACT

This book represents a significant contribution to the highly contested debate surrounding how allegations of child sexual abuse should be evaluated. Despite decades of substantial research in this sensitive area, professional consensus remains elusive. A particular source of contention is the sensitivity vs. specificity debate; whether evaluators should aim to reduce the number of true allegations that are labelled false or to reduce the number of false allegations that are labelled true.

This edited collection aims to address directly and offer new insights into this debate. It responds directly to Kuehnle and Connell's edited volume, The Evaluation of Child Sexual Abuse Allegations: A Comprehensive Guide to Assessment and Testimony (2009), which included chapters which advocated strong specificity positions at the expense of sensitivity. The chapters in this collection feature both challenges to, and replies by, the authors in Kuehnle and Connell's book, making this an essential resource that moves the debate forward.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse.

part |128 pages

Section 1: Balancing Sensitivity and Specificity in Evaluation of Sexual Abuse

chapter |26 pages

Diagnostic Utility of the Alleged Child Victim's Disclosure Statement and Behavior Symptoms

Interviewing Children Versus Tossing Coins: Accurately Assessing the Diagnosticity of Children's Disclosures of Abuse

chapter |19 pages

Challenges to the Accuracy and Objectivity of Case Decision Making

Reliability of Professional Judgments in Forensic Child Sexual Abuse Evaluations: Unsettled or Unsettling Science?

part |42 pages

Section 2: Commentaries and Responses