thorbjorg sveinsdottir - children´s house multi-agency and interdisciplinary approach to child...

Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

Multi-agency and Interdisciplinary Approach to Child Sexual Abuse

Lack of coordination between the CPS, Police, Prosecution and Health ServicesLack of specialisationLack of interdisciplinary approach


repeated interviewsconducted by many interviewersin different locations...discrepancies in disclosurechildren in rural areas did not get appropriate assessment, treatment and supportrevictimization / retraumatisation


The investigation generated painful experiences for the child


Not to harm the child!To facilitate cooperation between the CPS, Police, Prosecution, Court judges and the Health Services in child sexual abuse casesTo conduct valid interviews of children in forensic contexts and for the CPSTo ensure that the child victim receives appropriate assessment, treatment and support


Child sexual abuse from ages 3 ½ - 18 years.Joint forensic interviewsCPS prelimanery forensic interviewsMedical examinationVictim therapy and famely counseling


The importance of a “child friendly” settingThe interview protocol (to avoid suggestibility and increase reliability)The specialised interviewer: All trained in the USA in forensic interviewing, background in psychology, pedagogy and criminology.Specially designed interview room (closed circuit television)The DVD record: used for different purposes: medical exams, assessment and therapyIT-link to one courthouse



Small roomChild friendlyVideocameraInformation about who are watchingThose watching have a change to ask questions through the interviewer

The Court Judge is in charge of the procedureCases are usually referred to the CPS, then to the police that referres request to the judge for the interviewThe Court Judge decides where theinterview takes place and who interviews the child.Present (in a seperate room)The Prosecution,Police,CPS representative,the Child’s Legal Advocate, the Defence lawyer,the Alleged Offender(exceptional in reality)


At the request of the CPS Disclosure is absent or very weak/ambigousOffender is below the age of criminal responsibility(15 years)Only one staffmember from the CPS present (in a seperate room)



Usually only one interviewThe Court Judge gets DVD The police gets DVD Children´s house gets DVDThe doctors get informations about the interview and can watch the DVD in Children´s houseThe Therapist gets informations about the interview and can also watch the DVD.

At the request of the Police, the CPS, the Child or the ParentsImplemented by experienced paediatrician, a gynaecologist and a nurseA child friendly examination roomThe use of “video-colposcope” and it´s therapeutic valueAnaesthetization exceptional


Victim therapy can start soon after the investigative interviewThe non-offending parent(s) receive counselling from the child´s therapist Cognitive-behavioural therapy (trauma based, TB-CBT)The therapist is never the same person that takes the investigative interviewTherapy is practiced in the countryside if needed The therapist is most often important witness in court proceedings



Number of children

Average per year

“Investigative interviews”

1428 178,5

Treatment 822 102,75

Medical exam

192 24


0

50

100

150

CPC

Court J udge


Between ages 12-18 yearsUsually more then five years age differentAltogether268 from 1999-200718,7 % of offenders


Year Total Omitt-ed48-60 %

Charged

Acqui-tted

Convict-ed

2002 34 21 13 3 10

2003 60 33 27 6 21

2004 58 28 29 8 21

2005 35 17 16 7 9

2006 59 34 23 2 19


0

100

200

300

400

3 1

/2 t

o 5

6 t

o 8

9 t

o 11

12 t

o 14

15 t

o 17

Year

Research findings from Children´s house (research by Gisli H. Gudjonssen, Jon F. Sigurdsson, Thorbjörg Sveinsdóttir and Jóhanna K. Jónsdóttir)Girls are about 70% and boys 30% of children intervewed About 80% of children in joint investigative interviews (judge) disclose sexual abuse in Children´s houseAbout 25% of children in CPS interviews disclose sexual abuse, mostly conducted by young offendersMore than 80% of the children knew the offenderThe younger the child, the less likely it is to disclose (perhaps both because of developmental issues, but also because of more refferals without former disclosure, etc..child sexual behavior, sexual games)About half of the children disclose that abuse happened once and about half that it happened more than onece, thereof 17% more than ten times


Children in the two youngest agebands (3 ½-5 and 6-9) did not disclose abuse on stage 1(sexual talk, kisses on face, touching of none privat parts) and very few on stage 2 (showing nudety,porn, touching of none private parts inside clothes)Most of the violations in those agebands prooved to be on stage 4 (attemting penetration) but none was on stage 5 (sexual intercourse)Violations on stage 5 mostly occurred in the ageband12-14 In the oldest ageband (15-17) almost as many violations were in stages 4 and 5In the older agebands, some violations were on stages 1, 2 and 3 expecially in ageband 9-11


Efficient, professional and child – friendly work procedures and case managementRe-victimization of the child victim minimisedAppropriate therapeutic services securedMutual professional trust among the different agenciesAssimilation of knowledge and experienceIncreased public awareness and confidence in the authorities Increased “rate of discovery”



The process was stressful for the child and immediate familyIneffective system / different systems working individuallyThe process was unpredictable for the child victim and difficult to understand


Reduced stress for the child and immediate familyProvide more effective system / holistic approachCooperationThe process is more transparent and comprehensible for the child victim All children in Iceland have the same opportunity, at least to treatmentDatabaseResearch

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