Pedro Augusto Dias Baía1, Isabel Maria Marques Alberto2, Débora Dalbosco Dell'Aglio3. 1. University of Coimbra, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Portugal. Electronic address: padbaia@yahoo.com.br. 2. University of Coimbra, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Portugal. 3. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recantation after child sexual abuse (CSA) disclosure refers to the complete denial of prior reports by a victim. In substantiated cases of CSA, recantation has negative effects on criminal proceedings and the protection of current and future victims. Past studies have identified the socio-family factors and CSA characteristics that are associated with recantation. However, the systematization of these risk factors remains limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the predictors of recantation using a sample of criminal cases of CSA. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS: The sample consisted of 108 criminal cases of CSA with (n = 46) and without recantation (n = 62). All the cases had been judged in a Brazilian court of law between 2010 and 2016. RESULTS: The final logistic regression model consisted of the following five significant predictors of recantation: a lack of support from the caregiver (odds ratio [OR] = 15.90, p < .001), disclosure to a single individual (OR = 13.75, p = .001), parental offending (OR = 12.44, p = .001), a long time interval (i.e., >one week) between disclosure and the reporting of the abuse to the authorities (OR = 8.64, p = .003), and a higher number of formal interviews (OR = 1.50, p = .052). CONCLUSIONS: The present findings underscore not only the effects of socio-family factors and the number of interviews on recantation but also the importance of examining the contexts within which previous disclosures of CSA have been made to the assessment of the risk of recantation.
BACKGROUND: Recantation after childsexual abuse (CSA) disclosure refers to the complete denial of prior reports by a victim. In substantiated cases of CSA, recantation has negative effects on criminal proceedings and the protection of current and future victims. Past studies have identified the socio-family factors and CSA characteristics that are associated with recantation. However, the systematization of these risk factors remains limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the predictors of recantation using a sample of criminal cases of CSA. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS: The sample consisted of 108 criminal cases of CSA with (n = 46) and without recantation (n = 62). All the cases had been judged in a Brazilian court of law between 2010 and 2016. RESULTS: The final logistic regression model consisted of the following five significant predictors of recantation: a lack of support from the caregiver (odds ratio [OR] = 15.90, p < .001), disclosure to a single individual (OR = 13.75, p = .001), parental offending (OR = 12.44, p = .001), a long time interval (i.e., >one week) between disclosure and the reporting of the abuse to the authorities (OR = 8.64, p = .003), and a higher number of formal interviews (OR = 1.50, p = .052). CONCLUSIONS: The present findings underscore not only the effects of socio-family factors and the number of interviews on recantation but also the importance of examining the contexts within which previous disclosures of CSA have been made to the assessment of the risk of recantation.
Authors: Pilar Rueda; Marta Ferragut; M Victoria Cerezo; Margarita Ortiz-Tallo Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-06-28 Impact factor: 3.390