Why Aren’t More Child Sexual Abuse Cases Prosecuted?

If you’re a child abuse professional, at one time or another you’ve wondered, “Why was this case prosecuted but that one wasn’t?” Or felt frustrated because even though everyone on the multidisciplinary team believed the child had been abused, the case still couldn’t move forward.

These questions and discussions are a routine part of case review and everyday life on a multidisciplinary team. But they are also often a black box to everybody else: The teacher that reported the abuse, the community, and even the family itself. What would it mean if we could unpack those decisions and better understand how these decisions are made—and, more importantly, improve cases so that more are made? How might it change the way we think about justice and its role in healing if we truly come to grips with how very rare it is in real life? And how might we better support children and families that do go through the criminal justice process so that that in itself doesn’t add to the trauma?

Dr. Stephanie Block from UMass Lowell joins us to discuss her recent research into why more child sexual abuse cases aren’t prosecuted.

Topics in this episode:

• Origin story (1:54)
• Research foundation (4:28)
• The hypotheses and findings (7:57)
• Caregiver support (14:08)
• Unexpected findings (22:41)
• Prosecutors’ view (27:07)
• Research and solutions (32:52)
• Advice to policy makers (34:43)
• For more information (38:22)

Links:

Stephanie Block, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Psychology, UMass Lowell

“Predictors of Prosecutorial Decisions in Reports of Child Sexual Abuse,” Block, S.; Johnson, H.; Williams, L.; Shockley, K.; Wang, E.; and Widaman, K. Child Maltreatment, 2022 Vol 0(0) 1-12. DOI: 10.1177/10775595221074375

“Rare Justice: Why Aren’t More Cases Prosecuted?” Teresa Huizar, National Children’s Alliance research into practice message, March 21, 2022

Ted Cross, Ph.D., recently joined us on One in Ten to discuss “The Future of Possible in Children’s Advocacy Centers” (August 25, 2022)

For more information about National Children’s Alliance and the work of Children’s Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.

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