Forensic Psychiatry in France: The Outreau Case and False Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse

Bensussan, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.chc.2011.03.002

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Several instances of false accusations and wrongful convictions have occurred, both in Europe and worldwide, due to incorrect forensic interviewing or strong prejudices leading to false reports. Highly publicised incidents (Webster, 2022) include an alleged incestuous rape case in Outreau, France (Bensussan, 2011), the Rignano case in Italy (Mercurio, 2018), the Bjugn preschool case in Norway, involving as many as 61 potential child sexual abuse victims (Thoresen et al, 2012); the Galileo elementary school case in the Netherlands (Otgaar et al, 2017); the Cleveland Inquiry in the UK (Butler-Sloss, 1989); as well as the McMartin preschool case (Garven et al, 1998) and the Wee Care Nursery case (McWilliams et al, 2012) in the United States. A common thread in these cases is that false reports of abuse occurred because of suggestive interviewing techniques used by different parties (e.g.…”

Section: Background and The Need For Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

White Paper on Forensic Child Interviewing: Research-based recommendations by the European Association of Psychology and Law

Korkman,

Otgaar,

Geven

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Section: Background and The Need For Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

White Paper on Forensic Child Interviewing: Research-based recommendations by the European Association of Psychology and Law

Korkman,

Otgaar,

Geven

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…[18][19][20] This can have major consequences, especially if such findings are used during the legal process, as was shown in notorious cases of false allegations of CSA. [21][22][23][24] The current lack of scientific substantiation and the risk of improper tool use emphasise the importance of developing reliable, structured, evidence-based and uniform methods to support the diagnosis of CSA in clinical practice.…”

Section: What This Study Addsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, lessons from the past make us aware that the use of developed tools to facilitate disclosure, such as dolls and diagrams, even by professionals, can lead to false positive results 18–20. This can have major consequences, especially if such findings are used during the legal process, as was shown in notorious cases of false allegations of CSA 21–24. The current lack of scientific substantiation and the risk of improper tool use emphasise the importance of developing reliable, structured, evidence-based and uniform methods to support the diagnosis of CSA in clinical practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability of the Sexual Knowledge Picture Instrument: a potential diagnostic instrument for sexual abuse in young children

Ham

Bolt

Doesterling

et al. 2022

bmjpo

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ObjectiveTo determine the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the Sexual Knowledge Picture Instrument (SKPI), a potential diagnostic instrument for young suspected victims of sexual abuse containing three scoring forms, that is, verbal responses, non-verbal reactions and red flags.DesignVideo-recorded SKPI interviews with children with and without suspicion of child sexual abuse were observed and scored by two trained, independent raters. The second rater repeated the assessment 6 weeks after initial rating to evaluate for intra-rater reliability.Subjects78 children aged 3–9 years old were included in the study. 39 of those included had known suspicion of sexual abuse and the other 39 had no suspicion.Main outcome measuresIntra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the scores per study group and in the total sample were assessed by Cohen’s kappa and percentage of agreement (POA).ResultsThe median intra-rater Cohen’s kappa exceeded 0.90 and the POA exceeded 95 for all three forms in both study groups, except for the red flag form (median Cohen’s kappa 0.54 and POA 87 in the suspected group, and 0.84 and 92, respectively, in the total sample). For the verbal scoring form the median inter-rater Cohen’s kappa and POA were 1.00 and 100, respectively, in both groups. For the non-verbal form the median inter-rater kappa and POA were 0.37 and 97, respectively, in the suspected group, and 0.47 and 100, respectively, in the control group. For the red flag form, they were 0.37 and 76, respectively, in the suspected group and 0.42 and 77, respectively, in the control group.ConclusionThe reliability of the SKPI verbal form was sufficient, but there is room for improvement in the non-verbal and red flag scoring forms. These forms may be improved by adjusting the manual and improving rater training.

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“…While open questions generally lead to longer and more accurate answers, closed questions lead to shorter and less accurate answers (e.g., ). Moreover, suggestive prompts play a huge part in erroneous recalls (e.g., ) and miscarriage of justice . Unfortunately, such inadequate practices are often observed whether interviewers receive training on how to conduct interviews with young children and adolescents, or not .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Griffiths Question Map: A Forensic Tool For Expert Witnesses’ Assessments of Witnesses and Victims’ Statements

Dodier

Denault

2017

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Expert witnesses are sometimes asked to assess the reliability of young witnesses and victims' statements because of their high susceptibility to memory biases. This technical note aims to highlight the relevance of the Griffiths Question Map (GQM) as a professional forensic tool to improve expert witnesses' assessments of young witnesses and victims' testimonies. To do so, this innovative question type assessment grid was used to proceed to an in-depth analysis of the interview of an alleged 13-year-old victim of a sexual assault and two rapes. Overall, the GQM stressed how the interview was mainly conducted in an inappropriate manner. The results are examined with regard to scientific knowledge on young witnesses and victims' memory. Finally, it is argued that expert witnesses in inquisitorial systems might use the GQM while encountering difficulties to fulfill the legal standards for expert evidence in adversarial systems because of the lack of studies regarding its reliability.

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Forensic Psychiatry in France: The Outreau Case and False Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

White Paper on Forensic Child Interviewing: Research-based recommendations by the European Association of Psychology and Law

White Paper on Forensic Child Interviewing: Research-based recommendations by the European Association of Psychology and Law

Reliability of the Sexual Knowledge Picture Instrument: a potential diagnostic instrument for sexual abuse in young children

The Griffiths Question Map: A Forensic Tool For Expert Witnesses’ Assessments of Witnesses and Victims’ Statements

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