Understanding Outcomes of the Criminal and Civil Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

• In Event: Community and Institutional Responses to Sexual Offending

Abstract

The past four decades have witnessed a growing awareness and concern about the social problem of child sexual abuse. Considering the complex situation of child sexual abuse it should be no surprise that a community responds in an equally complex manner. The formal response to child sexual abuse has come to involve many professionals, groups and organizations.

With federal support in 2000, on-going research was begun in one Southern community to shed light on the nature of child sexual abuse and official responses to it. Consistent with the official response in other locations, multiple agencies and individuals in the research site are legally mandated to respond to reports of abuse. The actual reaction of professionals is shaped to a great extent by the larger goals and processes of their own agency, the activities and decisions of stakeholders outside of their own professional group, as well as the characteristics of the case itself. The study described in this presentation discusses the characteristics of key participants, episodes, official decision-making, and both civil and criminal outcomes of child sexual abuse cases. In addition, long-term outcomes of substantiated child victims are discussed.

Author

• Paul D. Steele, Morehead State University