Child Sexual Abuse
1. Pre-School aged children:
- Young children do not have a conception that sex abuse is wrong, therefore they can be easily interviewed since they feel no guilt about what may be happening to them.
- These kids will cooperate with an interview if they do not detect any negativity. Do not be judgmental when interviewing children this age!
- The qualities that make this group easy to interview can also make them easy to lead into making inaccurate statements. Young children want to please adults. If the same question is posed repeatedly, the child will assume that the interviewer doesn’t like the answer he has given. He may then give one he thinks the interviewer wants to hear.
- The use of dates and times is not reliable with children in this age group because they have a very limited understanding of the concept of time.
- 2 to 3 year olds are curious about openings and like to stick their fingers in holes. Anatomically correct dolls may encourage false information for this reason, so care should be taken when using them.
- 4 to 6 year olds like to imitate adult behavior. Perhaps a child has seen sexual activity or found pornography in her home and she is trying to act out what she has seen.
