RESUMEN
During the Outreau case in France, 13 individuals were falsely accused of child sexual abuse and incarcerated. The author of this article testified as a psychiatric expert when the convictions were appealed. He explains how purposeful false statements by adults, inept expert witnesses, and the judicial assumption that children do not lie converged to create a tragic legal outcome. This article explains how psychiatric experts should conduct evaluations in cases of alleged child sexual abuse.
Asunto(s)
Abuso Sexual Infantil/legislación & jurisprudencia , Comparación Transcultural , Decepción , Incesto/legislación & jurisprudencia , Adulto , Niño , Abuso Sexual Infantil/psicología , Custodia del Niño/legislación & jurisprudencia , Preescolar , Conducta Cooperativa , Testimonio de Experto/legislación & jurisprudencia , Fantasía , Femenino , Cuidados en el Hogar de Adopción/legislación & jurisprudencia , Cuidados en el Hogar de Adopción/psicología , Francia , Homicidio/legislación & jurisprudencia , Homicidio/psicología , Humanos , Incesto/psicología , Rol Judicial , Masculino , Factores de Riesgo , Trastornos por Estrés Postraumático/diagnóstico , Trastornos por Estrés Postraumático/psicología , Sugestión , Revelación de la VerdadRESUMEN
The North-West Province is predominantly a rural area, and traditional healers remain the most important and influential members of the rural communities. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was used. In-depth, individual focused and interactive interviews were held with eight traditional healers from the rural areas of Mmabatho-Mafikeng. In addition, field notes and observations were utilised. The objective of this article is to explore the views of the traditional healers regarding termination of pregnancy (TOP) law. The results reflected the following themes: termination of pregnancy is killing; a child is a precious gift from God and the ancestors; there are alternatives to TOP; people who had any type of abortion should be cleansed with "dipitsa" or herbs; TOP may be allowed only in case of rape and incest, rape and incest offenders should be severely punished; and the traditional healers were not consulted during formulation of the TOP Law. It is therefore recommended that traditional should be involved in TOP workshops and educational programmes to enable them to provide counselling before and after abortion.
Asunto(s)
Aborto Legal/ética , Aborto Legal/legislación & jurisprudencia , Actitud del Personal de Salud/etnología , Medicinas Tradicionales Africanas , Aborto Legal/efectos adversos , Aborto Legal/educación , Consejo/educación , Femenino , Conocimientos, Actitudes y Práctica en Salud , Necesidades y Demandas de Servicios de Salud , Humanos , Incesto/legislación & jurisprudencia , Masculino , Principios Morales , Investigación Metodológica en Enfermería , Investigación Cualitativa , Violación/legislación & jurisprudencia , Religión y Psicología , Población Rural , Valores Sociales , Sudáfrica , Encuestas y CuestionariosAsunto(s)
Alquimia , Correspondencia como Asunto , Homicidio , Incesto , Rol Judicial , Medicina Tradicional , Problemas Sociales , Autoria , Correspondencia como Asunto/historia , Francia/etnología , Historia del Siglo XVI , Historia del Siglo XVII , Homicidio/etnología , Homicidio/historia , Homicidio/legislación & jurisprudencia , Homicidio/psicología , Incesto/etnología , Incesto/historia , Incesto/legislación & jurisprudencia , Incesto/psicología , Rol Judicial/historia , Jurisprudencia/historia , Medicina Tradicional/historia , Medicina Tradicional/legislación & jurisprudencia , Médicos/economía , Médicos/historia , Médicos/legislación & jurisprudencia , Médicos/psicología , Prejuicio , Investigación/educación , Investigación/historia , Conducta Sexual/etnología , Conducta Sexual/historia , Conducta Sexual/fisiología , Conducta Sexual/psicología , Conducta Social , Problemas Sociales/economía , Problemas Sociales/etnología , Problemas Sociales/historia , Problemas Sociales/legislación & jurisprudencia , Problemas Sociales/psicologíaRESUMEN
Expert judgment of the credibility of children's statements in cases of abuse is frequently requested of specialists in psychology and child and adolescent psychiatry, the latter being mandatory if psychopathology is present in the child. Assessment and judgment must meet standards of quality. Important innovations include a systematic procedure, avoidance of suggestive techniques for exploration and the application of a so-called criteria-based analysis of the child's statement. To exemplify the standards a case of an allegation of false expert judgment is presented.
Asunto(s)
Maltrato a los Niños/legislación & jurisprudencia , Testimonio de Experto/legislación & jurisprudencia , Revelación de la Verdad , Adolescente , Niño , Maltrato a los Niños/psicología , Abuso Sexual Infantil/legislación & jurisprudencia , Abuso Sexual Infantil/psicología , Preescolar , Femenino , Humanos , Incesto/legislación & jurisprudencia , Incesto/psicología , Masculino , Psicopatología , Garantía de la Calidad de Atención de Salud , SugestiónRESUMEN
"Recovered memory therapy" for eating disorders and other psychiatric conditions seeks to help the patient recover repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse and other traumatic experiences. Through this technique, it is hoped that the patient can work through these experiences to achieve relief from shame, body dissatisfaction, and symptoms of depression and eating disorders. However, this method was questioned in the recent Ramona case, where a father successfully sued two therapists and a hospital for allegedly implanting false memories of childhood sexual abuse in his bulimic daughter. The testimony and verdict in this case recall the principle of primum non nocere: Although it is clearly reasonable to consider an unproven therapeutic technique in an attempt to relieve human suffering, the potential risk of the technique--in this case the possible induction of false incest memories--must be weighed carefully against the technique's expected benefits.
Asunto(s)
Bulimia/psicología , Abuso Sexual Infantil/legislación & jurisprudencia , Mala Praxis/legislación & jurisprudencia , Recuerdo Mental , Psicoterapia/legislación & jurisprudencia , Represión Psicológica , Sugestión , Adulto , Amobarbital , Bulimia/terapia , Niño , Preescolar , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Testimonio de Experto/legislación & jurisprudencia , Femenino , Humanos , Incesto/legislación & jurisprudencia , Incesto/psicología , Masculino , Persona de Mediana EdadRESUMEN
The extent, nature, causes and consequences of child sexual abuse in Matabeleland. Zimbabwe, are explored by an intersectoral working group consisting of health, legal and AIDS prevention workers who were struck in the course of their work by the regularity with which they saw sexually abused children infected with HIV and STDs. Methods used in this study are record review, focus group discussions, structured and in-depth interviews. Child sexual abuse cases form between 40-60% of the rape cases brought to the attention of hospitals, police and court and many more are believed to remain unreported. Half of the sexual abuse in children is detected through STDs and some have HIV. The majority of offenders are mature men known to the child. Factors influencing child sexual abuse are male dominance in society, men's professed inability to control sexual desire, and magic beliefs. Victims are traumatized by the abuse itself as well as by subsequent problems in family, health and in court. Since child sexual abuse may endanger the life and well-being of the child, it is a serious problem that requires urgent action.