Psychological Barriers to the Detection of Child Sexual Abuse

Date

2021

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of California, Irvine

Abstract

Adults sexually abusing children where they work or volunteer has become painfully familiar not only to survivors of sexual abuse, but also to their families, law enforcement, and the schools, churches, youth-serving organizations, and other institutions within which so many cases occur. In the aftermath of discovering that sexual abuse occurred, questions invariably arise as to why the abuse was not detected earlier. This chapter describes two different psychological phenomena that help to explain why child sexual abuse is difficult to recognize ex ante and, paradoxically, why it is so easy to recognize ex post. These phenomena are “halo effects” and the “hindsight bias,” respectively. Basic and applied research bearing on each is reviewed in this chapter as well as research on potential debiasing strategies. Halo effects and hindsight bias have significant implications for civil lawsuits that are occasioned by sexual abuse that occurs within organizations.

Description

Keywords

child sexual abuse, youth-serving organizations, reporting bias, research

Citation

Scurich, Nicholas and Dietz, Park, Psychological Barriers to the Detection of Child Sexual Abuse (February 16, 2021). The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Law, D. DeMatteo & K. Scherr, editors, OUP, forthcoming 2021, UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper No. 2021-11, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3786874

DOI