Child Maltreatment Assessment-Volume 3: Investigation, Care, and Prevention

By Debra Esernio-Jenssen, Ruchita Doshi and Randell Alexander

Child Maltreatment Assessment Volume 3 aims to help readers recognize and comprehend the procedures for the investigation, care, and prevention of child maltreatment. This workbook features topics such as the role of law enforcement officials and medical examiners in child abuse cases, mental health treatment for children who have experienced maltreatment, and methods for preventing abuse in the future. With guides to reporting, testifying, and intervening in cases of abuse, this workbook is a necessity for better preparing professionals and students alike for working with victims of maltreatment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: STM Learning
• Release date: Aug 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781953119117

Debra Esernio-Jenssen

Debra Esernio-Jenssen, MD is currently working at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital in the field of Child Protective Medicine. In 2009 she was certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in Child Abuse Pediatrics. From 1998 to April 2010, she was the Director of the Child Protection Center at Schneider Children’s Hospital and the Chair of the Child Protection Consultation Team at Long Island Jewish Hospital in New Hyde Park, New York. Debra is recognized both nationally and internationally for her work in child abuse and child abuse prevention.

Book preview

Section I

DEFINITIONS

OBJECTIVES

After reviewing this section, the reader will be able to:

1.Clearly identify and define key terms related to child maltreatment.

1.Accurately apply terms when analyzing cases of child maltreatment.

INSTRUCTIONS

The following terms are found throughout the text. This section should serve as a convenient reference for readers as they move through the chapters.

—Accomplice: A person who knowingly, voluntarily, or intentionally gives assistance to another in the commission of a crime. An accomplice is criminally liable to the same extent as the principal and is typically present when the crime is committed.

—Cause of Death:The disease or injury that creates the physiologic disturbance that leads to death.

—Chain-of-Custody Log: Chronological documentation (ie, paper trail) that records the sequence of custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of physical and/or electronic evidence.

—Child Fatality Review Teams (CFRs): A multidisciplinary group that assists with the proper identification of the causes of child deaths. In doing so, they gain a better understanding of the risk factors and circumstances surrounding the death, enabling them to design community and organizational interventions aimed at preventing future deaths.

—Child Protective Services (CPS): The government agency responsible for protecting children, which includes intervening in cases of maltreatment.

—Circumstantial Evidence: Evidence that is not based on personal knowledge or observations of a crime; deductions are made about particular facts, indirectly proving that certain events took place.

—Competency: Cross examination ploy; meant to allege a witness’s lack of experience or certification in a variety of disciplines and/or point out a mistake or false statement given by the witness regarding their profession.

—Coroner: An elected official, not usually a physician, who is responsible for overseeing the details related to a death, including the maintenance of the body and preservation of any forensic evidence.

—Cross Examination: In a court of law, this is the interrogation of a witness from the other party of the case in order to challenge or extend the testimony already given. There are 5 cross examination ploys.

—Defendant: The person being accused of a crime or injustice in a legal case.

—Defense: The evidence and arguments that are presented in support of the defendant’s opposition to their charges.

—Demonstrative Evidence: Consists of things (eg, photographs, medical illustrations, x-rays, etc.) rather than the assertions made by witnesses about said things.

—Deposition: The process of giving sworn evidence in a legal case (eg, a witness’s written statement describing an event).

—Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A): An adaptation of DBT that is appropriate for children aged 12 to 18 years with presenting concerns related to suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, non-suicidal self-injury, or chronic emotion dysregulation, including those with a history of child maltreatment.

—Differential Diagnosis: The process of differentiating between 2 or more conditions which share similar signs and symptoms.

—Direct Evidence: Evidence that directly links a person to a crime with no need for inference.

—Discovery Deposition: Taken to discover information; helps to determine what the proposed testimony may be.

—Evidence-Based Treatments (EBTs): Treatment methods backed by scientific research. The majority of EBTs are derived from the cognitive and behavioral fields.

—Evidentiary Deposition: When a deposition (transcribed or video) is taken to be used in court instead of the live witness. This can occur when the witness will be unavailable at the time of the trial (eg, out of the country).

—Expert Witness: An individual who knows more than the average person, thereby giving them the ability to assist the jury or judge (ie, virtually all doctors). They can supply opinions about what the facts mean.

—Exploitation: The unfair use of something/someone for one’s own advantage. In the context of child maltreatment, the term refers to the use of children to perform physical labor or sexual acts, either for profit or the perpetrator’s personal gratification.

—Fact Witness: Someone who merely describes what happened (eg, that is my signature) and supplies no opinion.

—Gradual Exposure: Meant to desensitize children to reminders, memories, and physical stimuli associated with abusive experiences; done by encouraging the child, through carefully calibrated increments, to talk and write about increasingly upsetting aspects of their trauma.

—Hearsay: Secondhand information made by out-of-court declarants whose statements were not made under oath and whose credibility cannot be evaluated by the jury; typically inadmissible in a judicial proceeding.

—Hostility: Cross examination ploy; meant to upset the witness and diminish the testimony by getting the witness to respond in an inappropriate display of anger or fear.

—Inconsistencies: Cross examination ploy; meant to point out any possible inconsistencies in a given testimony thereby impeaching it by displaying a lack of credibility.

—Interrogation: Formal or repetitive questioning, usually by a member of law enforcement.

—Interview: The process of one person obtaining information from another by a question-and-answer method.

—Law of Evidence: System of rules and standards that regulates the admission of proof in a court proceeding.

—Litigation: The process by which legal action is taken (ie, going to court).

—Manner of Death: Describes how the cause of death occurred. Manners of death include natural, accident, suicide, homicide, and undetermined.

—Medical Examiner: Board-certified physician with in-depth training in anatomy, physiology, medicine, and forensic pathology. They conduct detailed autopsies and scene investigations and determine the cause and manner of death in unexplained circumstances.

—Miranda Rights: Specific legal rights that are either read aloud or written by a law enforcement agent to anyone being taken into custody. A law enforcement agent’s failure to give these rights to a suspect can make any of the suspect’s statements inadmissible in court.

—Neglect: The omission of care by a parent or guardian, resulting in harm or potential harm to a child. Neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment.

—Non-Directive Play Theory: Also known as Child-Centered Play Theory; a humanistic treatment focused on the development of rapport. The therapist focuses on providing a safe environment where the child can express their thoughts and feelings without judgment. The child is free to play however they choose, and the therapist then provides reflective and supportive comments. Over time, the child will begin to feel accepted, hypothetically resulting in an increase of self-esteem and decrease in psychiatric problems.

—Parens Patriae: Legal protector of citizens unable to protect themselves.

—Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT): An evidence-based parenting intervention for children aged 2 to 7 years (there is an adapted version for children aged between 8 to 12 years). The PCIT model provides live coaching to caregivers, helping them interact with their child in a way that gives praise, focuses on desired behaviors, and teaches age-appropriate rewards and consequences.

—Perpetrator: Someone who commits an illegal or harmful act.

—Plaintiff: In civil cases, the person or party who is seeking legal action for something that they have deemed unjust.

—Present Sense Impressions: Statements describing or explaining an event or condition that are made while the declarant was perceiving the event or condition immediately thereafter.

—Prevention: Refers to the methods by which there is an attempt to lower the rates of child maltreatment.

—Primary Prevention: Efforts aimed at the general population for the purpose of keeping maltreatment from happening; the taking of action before child maltreatment has occurred to prevent it from happening.

—Prosecution: The side of a legal case that presents evidence and argues for the guilt of the person that was accused of a