Drawing Helps Kids Recount Details of Sex Abuse - Miller-McCune
As we have once again been reminded, the sexual abuse of children is an ongoing tragedy, one that creates multiple long-term problems for the victims. Police and prosecutors often find themselves at a disadvantage; such crimes tend to take place in private, and the victims — many of whom cut themselves off emotionally from the experience as a form of psychological self-protection — are often reluctant witnesses.
So how can authorities get these traumatized kids to explain what happened in sufficient detail to bring a criminal case against their perpetrators? A 2010 study provides an intriguing answer: tap into their emerging talent as budding artists.
Writing in the journal Child Maltreatment, psychologist Carmit Katz of the University of Cambridge and Irit Hershkowitz of the University of Haifa describe an experiment featuring 125 Israeli children between the ages of 4 and 14. The 31 boys and 94 girls “were believed to have been abused sexually on a single occasion by a perpetrator who was not a family member,” they write.
All the children were first interviewed using a protocol developed to elicit information from young abuse victims. “Interviewers are instructed to use open-ended questions as much as possible,” they note.
Afterwards, half the children were given a pencil, an eraser and a blank sheet of paper. The interviewer gave them specific instructions: “Now I would like you do draw what happened, and then we will continue.”
Seven to 10 minutes were allowed for drawing. When the children were finished, the children were asked to again tell the entire story of the incident “from beginning to end.” The interviewer added “You can also look at the drawing if you want.”
The other children took a break of seven to 10 minutes, during which they rested or played. Afterward, they, too were asked to recount the story again in its entirety.
The researchers found “a remarkable increase in the richness of statements” among children who had drawn a picture of the scene, compared to those who had simply taken a break between the two interviews.