Book Review: Understanding Child Sexual Maltreatment
| Published date | 01 December 1993 |
| Date | 01 December 1993 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000486589302600307 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
272
BOOK
REVIEWS
(1993) 26
ANZJ
Crim
Understanding Child Sexual Maltreatment, K C Faller, Sage Publications (1990),
250pp, $36.95.
Understanding Child Sexual Maltreatment is an exceptionally informative and
practical work.
The
author
states in
her
preface
that
her
purpose in writing
the
book
was
"to
serve as a resource for mental
health
professionals who have occasion to
address the problem
of
child sexual abuse". However, solicitors and barristers who
work in the criminal law, Family Court and Children's Court jurisdictions cocld also
be added to those who might benefit from this work.
Faller employs case examples in each
chapter
which are well presented. Such a
technique can easily degenerate into self-serving descriptions
of
the
author's
professional work with unusual clients,
but
Faller
manages well to integrate pithy
case scenarios within the context of
her
discussions. Moreover,
the
author's
suggestions for protocols in handling different aspects of sexual assault cases are
useful, for the most
part
feasible and, again, well-presented. Although some of
the work is oriented toward the
United
States, most of
her
analyses and
recommendations have a validity that transcends their provenance.
Faller's research is sound, although it has to be acknowledged
that
important
further work has been published since 1990 in this controversial area, in particular
into the capacity of children to address
the
sequelae
of
sexual assault. This already
dates
her
book but it is to be hoped
that
asecond edition will be forthcoming
relatively soon.
The
area of forensic analysis of evidence of child sexual abuse is particularly
troubled in most countries. However, Faller's survey of "indicators"
of
abuse is
exceptionally sensible, coming from a person who has considerable clinical
experience and no
apparent
ideological axe to grind,
other
than
to
promote
recognition and effective treatment of child victims. Practitioners, medical, legal,
protective and psychological, would all benefit from a perusal of this section
of
the
book alone.
Faller's view is that children rarely lie
and
for the most
part
are
reliable historians.
She cites recent research by Conte and others (156ft) in support
of
the
feasibility, in
most circumstances,
of
evaluating with a significant measure of objectivity
whether
a
child is lying or whether it has been influenced to convey a wrong portrayal
of
what
has befallen it.
Her
treatment
of recent controversies in this
area
is balanced
and
well organised.
Understanding Child Sexual Maltreatment sets itself modest goals
and
achieves
them admirably. It is a welcome oasis of sanity in
the
hysterical
and
at times
bitter
debates and ide logical battles
that
pervade the
area
of assessment
of
child sexual
abuse. Its value lies in its sound, clinically based assimilation of experience with a
thorough review of research studies.
The
book
is unusually well-presented and
deserves wide use as a work of early contact for all those who have occasion to deal
with those who may be
the
victims of, or accused of, perpetrating child sexual abuse.
Melbourne IAN
FRECKELTON
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