tipper
Former Member
Bill Salisbury at 2BWS has posted a very interesting article on the difficulties and dangers of diagnosing sexual abuse in children.
http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume1/j1_3_1.htm
Medical Examination for Sexual Abuse: Have We Been Misled?
Lee Coleman*
ABSTRACT: There are serious difficulties in diagnosing sexual abuse on the basis of an ano/genital examination. Nevertheless, medical conclusions are often used in court to provide evidence for abuse. The support for the alleged physical indicators of abuse has been based on opinions and claims unsupported by research data. Recent research by John McCann on the ano/genital anatomy in nonabused children has established that findings often attributed to sexual abuse are found in many normal children. McCann's findings were applied to 158 children who had been medically examined in cases of alleged sexual abuse. Nearly all the findings attributed to sexual abuse were present in McCann's sample of nonabused children. More baseline studies are needed, including those comparing nonabused children to children where there is convincing evidence of abuse. In the meantime, the courts need to modify their current practices concerning evidence from ano/genital examinations.
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Dr. Robert ten Bensel, a physician long involved in the effort to increase awareness of child abuse, has commented on the difference between consensus and true scientific evidence. In response to a 1985 Los Angeles conference at which there was an attempt to reach consensus of positive findings among doctors doing these examinations, ten Bensel wrote, "I am not comfortable with the reported 'consensus of positive findings.' This is not the procedure of science; rather, it is simply an agreement among a select group of physicians invited ..." (1985).
[...]
http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume1/j1_3_1.htm
Medical Examination for Sexual Abuse: Have We Been Misled?
Lee Coleman*
ABSTRACT: There are serious difficulties in diagnosing sexual abuse on the basis of an ano/genital examination. Nevertheless, medical conclusions are often used in court to provide evidence for abuse. The support for the alleged physical indicators of abuse has been based on opinions and claims unsupported by research data. Recent research by John McCann on the ano/genital anatomy in nonabused children has established that findings often attributed to sexual abuse are found in many normal children. McCann's findings were applied to 158 children who had been medically examined in cases of alleged sexual abuse. Nearly all the findings attributed to sexual abuse were present in McCann's sample of nonabused children. More baseline studies are needed, including those comparing nonabused children to children where there is convincing evidence of abuse. In the meantime, the courts need to modify their current practices concerning evidence from ano/genital examinations.
[ ]
Dr. Robert ten Bensel, a physician long involved in the effort to increase awareness of child abuse, has commented on the difference between consensus and true scientific evidence. In response to a 1985 Los Angeles conference at which there was an attempt to reach consensus of positive findings among doctors doing these examinations, ten Bensel wrote, "I am not comfortable with the reported 'consensus of positive findings.' This is not the procedure of science; rather, it is simply an agreement among a select group of physicians invited ..." (1985).
[...]
