Attitudes related to child sexual abuse: Scale construction and explorative study among psychologists

Abstract

A Child Sexual Abuse Attitude and Belief Scale was constructed and then answered by 242 child psychologists. Four CSA related attitude and belief subscales were identified through confirmatory factor analysis: (1) The Disclosure subscale reflecting favouring a disclosure at any cost; (2) The Pro-Child subscale reflecting unconditional belief in children's reports; (3) The Intuition subscale reflecting favouring an intuitive approach to CSA investigations; and (4) The Anti Criminal Justice System subscale reflecting negative attitudes towards the legal system. Beliefs that were erroneous according to empirical research were analyzed separately. The results suggest that some psychologists hold extreme attitudes and many erroneous beliefs related to CSA. Some misconceptions are common. Female participants tended to have stronger attitudes than male participants. The more training in interviewing children the participants had had, the more erroneous beliefs and stronger attitudes they had. Experience did not affect attitudes and beliefs.

Simulations of child sexual abuse interviews using avatars paired with feedback improves interview quality

“…Child Sexual Abuse Attitude and Belief Scale (CSAABS) For the measurement of knowledge about the results of empirical research regarding the investigation of CSA, we used the CSAABS (Finnilä-Tuohimaa et al, 2008). The scale was constructed to measure attitudes and beliefs regarding abuse of children, and it is composed of 40 items, 21 subjective, and 19 factual, that is, they have a correct response based on research results.…”

“…Upon arrival, they were given a sheet that explained what would happen during the experiment and signed an informed consent form. After giving their consent, all participants completed a questionnaire consisting of the 19 statements (CSAABS; Finnilä-Tuohimaa et al, 2008) concerning their knowledge about child sexual abuse and its investigation.…”

Counterintuitive Expert Psychological Evidence in Child Sexual Abuse Trials in New Zealand

“…Misconceptions about aspects of child sexual abuse and the behaviour of children and adolescents who have been sexually abused have been shown to be held by the public at large (Shackel, 2008), by some school teachers (Ford et al, 2001), some police officers (Hibbard & Zollinger, 1990), some physicians (Socolar, 1996), as well as some psychologists (Wagner et al, 1993;Finnil€ a-Tuohimaa et al, 2008).…”

“…However, difficulties can arise with this instruction when jurors' intuition and commonsense are founded on misconceptions. Members of the population at large (including jurors) have been shown to have erroneous expectations about how a victim of crime, including a sexually abused child, might react in the face of their victimization (Blackwell, 2007;Cheit, Shavit, & Reiss-Davis, 2010;Cossins, Goodman-Delahunty, & O'Brien, 2009;Finnil€ a-Tuohimaa et al, 2008;Ford, Schindler, & Medway, 2001;Hibbard & Zollinger, 1990;Morison & Greene, 1992;Quas, Thompson, & Clarke-Stewart, 2005;Shackel, 2008;Socolar, 1996;Wagner, Aucoin, & Johnson, 1993).…”

Expert judgment in cases of alleged child sexual abuse: Clinicians’ sensitivity to suggestive influences, pre‐existing beliefs and base rate estimates

“…However, research suggests that clinicians conducting CSA investigations in fact use suggestive interviewing to an alarmingly high extent (Korkman et al ., 2006; Melinder, 2004). In addition, a significant proportion of clinicians may not be aware of these problems, but assume that clinicians do not use suggestive techniques when interviewing children (Finnilä‐Tuohimaa, Santtila, Björnberg, Hakala, Niemi & Sandnabba, 2008).…”