Contested Issues in the Evaluation of Child Sexual Abuse: A Response to Questions Raised in Kuehnle and Connell’s Edited Volume

This book represents a significant contribution to the highly contested debate surrounding how allegations of child sexual abuse should be evaluated. Despite decades of substantial research in this sensitive area, professional consensus remains elusive. A particular source of contention is the sensitivity vs. specificity debate; whether evaluators should give priority to reducing the number of true allegations that are labelled false or to reducing the number of false allegations that are labelled true.

This edited collection aims to address directly and offer new insights into this debate. It responds directly to Kuehnle and Connell''s edited volume, TheEvaluation of Child Sexual Abuse Allegations: A Comprehensive Guide to Assessment and Testimony (2009), which included chapters which advocated strong specificity positions at the expense of sensitivity. The chapters in this collection feature both challenges to, and replies by, the authors in Kuehnle and Connell''s book, making this an essential resource that moves the debate forward.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse.

Kathleen Coulborn Faller, Ph.D., A.C.S.W., D.C.S.W., is Marion Elizabeth Blue Professor of Children and Families, University of Michigan, USA, and Director of the Family Assessment Clinic, which evaluates, treats, and provides case record reviews on complex child welfare and sexual abuse cases. She is author of nine books and over 90 research and clinical articles.

Mark D. Everson, PhD is Professor and Director of Program on Childhood Trauma and Maltreatment, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. His career has focused on improving the reliability and accuracy of forensic assessments of alleged child abuse.