Psycholegal issues in child sexual abuse evaluations: a survey of forensic mental health professionals.

Mental health professionals play a significant role in assessment, rendering expert opinions, and making dispositional recommendations in cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse. Although there have been recent efforts to develop guidelines for practice, little is known about how evaluators actually prefer to proceed in such evaluations, or whether there is consensus with respect to how to proceed. In this study, a sample of Massachusetts child forensic mental health professionals who specialize in conducting evaluations of children in cases involving allegations of sexual abuse were surveyed to assess their normative evaluation and testimony practices with respect to information gathered during clinical interviews and psychosocial assessment of the child. The survey assessed evaluators: (a) opinions; (b) reasons for opinions; and (c) typical practices concerning psycholegal issues associated with child sexual abuse evaluations. Survey questions covered three topics: (a) the evaluation process and methods; (b) the limits of expert opinions and testimony; and (c) child advocacy. Results of the survey are presented, and implications for child forensic practice are discussed.