The truth is longer than a lie : children's experiences of abuse and professional interventions

188 Pages·2006·0.559 MB·English

by  Neerosh Mudaly, Chris Goddard

The Truth is Longer than a Lie
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The Truth is Longer than a Lie
Children’s Experiences of Abuse and
Professional Interventions
Neerosh Mudaly and Chris Goddard

Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia
Firstpublishedin2006
byJessicaKingsleyPublishers
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and
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Philadelphia,PA19106,USA
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Copyright©NeeroshMudalyandChrisGoddard2006
TherightofNeeroshMudalyandChrisGoddardtobeidentifiedasauthorsofthisworkhasbeenasserted
bytheminaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedinanymaterialform(including
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LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Mudaly,Neerosh,1950-
Thetruthislongerthanalie:children'sexperiencesofabuseandprofessionalinterventions/Neerosh
MudalyandChrisGoddard.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-1-84310-31 7-2(pbk.:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:1-84310-317-6(pbk.:alk.paper) 1. Childabuse--Treatment. I.Goddard,Chris(Christo-
pher)II.Title.
RC569.5.C55M832006
362.76--dc22
2005036454
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN-13:9781843103172
ISBN-10:1843103176
ISBNpdfeBook:184642495X
PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby
AthenaeumPress,Gateshead,TyneandWear
The title for this book came from a 12-year-old girl who participated in a
childabusestudyandwhohadexperiencedsexualabuseandseriousfamily
violence. The full quotation from her reads as follows:
that’salwaystheproblemwiththesepeople,theydon’twanttobelievethe
truth, they just want to believe the easiest side, the side that is…the
simplest,basically…Theydon’twanttohearthetruthbecausethetruthis
so much harder to understand and so much longer than a lie about the
truth.
Thisbookisdedicatedtothischildandtheotherchildrenwhoparticipatedin
thestudy.Theysharedtheirviewsontheirexperiencesof abuseandprofes-
sional interventions.

Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 10
1 ThePowerof Children’sVoices 11
Introduction 11
Theneedforthisbook,anditsaims 12
Values,beliefsandorientation 13
Ethicalissues 14
Definitionsandterminology 14
Theorganizationof thebook 15
2 TheSilencingof Children 17
Introduction:theinvisiblechild 17
Eventhescreamsaresilenced:themodern‘discovery’of childabuse 18
Childdeaths 21
‘It’salways–alwaysgoingtobeinmyhead’:acaseofrepeatedabuse 25
Theuseof languagetominimizetheharmtochildren 29
Otherforcesthatsilencechildren 32

Conclusion 33
3 Child-centredPractice:TheFoundationof Effective
ResearchwithChildrenwhohavebeenAbused 35
Introduction 35
Achild-centredapproach:corecomponents 36
Interviewingchildrenwhohavebeenabusedforresearchusing
achild-centredapproach 40
Conclusion 43
4 TheEthicsof ListeningtoChildreninResearch 45
Introduction 45
Atheoreticaloverviewof ethicsinresearchwithchildrenwho
havebeenabused 46
Ethicalissuesinresearchinvolvingchildrenwhohavebeenabused 47
Limitationstoaddressingethicaldilemmasinchildabuseresearch
withchildrenwhohavebeenabused 61
5 AChancetobeHeard:InvolvingChildrenwhohave
beenAbusedinResearch 65
Introduction 65
Therationaleforchoosingaqualitativemethodology 66
Hearingparticipants’voicesinresearch 67
Theresearchdesign 67
Datacollectionandanalysingprocedures 70
Problemsandpitfallsencounteredinthisresearch 74
6 Children’sVoices:TheirViewsonAbuseandtheImpact
of Abuse 77
Introduction 77
Whychildrenareabused 78
Storiesof abuse 80
Theeffectsof abuse:abusehurts 83
Conclusion 87
7 Children’sVoices:TheirViewsaboutMaking
Disclosures,aboutAbusersandNon-offendingParents 89
Introduction: totellornottotell 89
Childrenspeak:children’sviewsof theabuser 93
Childrenspeak:children’sviewsof thenon-offendingparent(s) 97
8 Children’sVoices:TheirExperienceof Professional
Interventions 103
Introduction 103
Generalcommentsonprofessionalinterventions 104
Viewsaboutpoliceinvolvement 108
Aviewof childprotectionservices 110
Viewsoncounsellingservices 114
9 ChildrenasHostagestoAbuse 121
Introduction 121
Summaryof commonlinksbetweenhostage-takingandchild
abusetheories 122
Childrenashostages:twoyoungpeople’saccountsof abuse 125
Commentary 131
Limitationsof theapplicationof hostagetheorytochildabuse 133
Conclusion 135
10 Children’sVulnerabilitytoAbuse:ADouble-edgedIssue 139
Introduction 139
Developmentalvulnerability 140
Structuralvulnerability 143
Conclusion 148
11 TheComplexityof ListeningProfessionallytoChildren 149
Introduction:arewelisteningtochildren? 149
Whatdoeslisteningmean? 150
Acasestudy:Amanda’sstory 151
Children’sparticipation:thefoundationof listeningtothem 153
12 TheWayForward 155
Introduction 155
Thechangingconceptof childhood 156
Takingthemythoutof adulthood 157
Legitimizingchildhood 157
Makingchildrenvisibleandaudible 159
Creatingach ild-centredworld 160
REFERENCES 163
ABOUTTHEAUTHORS 177
SUBJECTINDEX 179
AUTHORINDEX 185
Acknowledgements
Thisbookisaboutchildabuseandispresentedmostlyinthevoicesofchildrenwhohave
beenabused.Inspirationforthisbookwasdrawnfromthecourageofthemanychildren
weworkedwithwhohadbeenabusedandwhodemonstratedsuchstrengthinutilizing
therapyfortheirhealingandrecovery.Wewanttoacknowledgeinparticularthecourage
and enthusiasm of the children who participated in our study on which this book is
based. The research demonstrated to us that, given the opportunity, children who
havebeenabusedhavetheabilitytoclearlycommunicatetheirviewsaboutevenvery
traumaticexperiencesthataffectthem.Asone11-year-oldchildsaidaftertheresearch
interview:
Ithinkpeoplewouldbesurprisedifkidshadthechancetotalk…Imean…that’s
good that you’re not getting the adults interviewed to see what they think,
insteadtogetthekidsinterviewedfromakid’spointofview.Nooneknowskids
betterthanthekids.
Wehavebeentrulyinspiredbythestrugglesoftheseandotherchildrentomakesenseof
theabusetheyhavesufferedandtoreconstructtheirlives.
FundingsupportwasreceivedinpartfromtheMonashUniversityResearchFund
and we express our sincere thanks for the support of the University throughout this
research.
WewouldalsoliketorecognizeJessicaKingsleyPublishersfortheircommitmentto
promotingpioneeringtypesofliterature.Wearegratefulfortheirinterestinourwork
andtheirsupportduringthepublicationprocess.
WeconveyourheartfeltappreciationtotheAustralianChildhoodFoundation,first
fortheworkitundertakeswithchildren,youngpeopleandtheirfamilieswhohavehada

rangeof abusiveexperiences,andsecond forpermitting ustoundertakethisresearch.
OurspecialthankstoDrJoeTucci,theExecutiveDirector,forhisinterest,supportand
beliefinourresearchandinpromotingthevoicesofchildren.Throughhisleadership,
theFoundationcontinuestoremaincommittedtoprovidingtrulychild-centredservices
tochildrenandyoungpeopleinawaythatisempoweringtothemandrespectstheir
feedback.
Thank you to our many colleagues, Bernadette Saunders, Janet Stanley, Janise
Mitchell, Angela Weller and Lilian De Bortoli. Also MareeWaterworthand ourmany
otherfellowcounsellorswhoconstantlyreassuredusaboutthevalueof ourwork.We
expressoursincereappreciationtoDrLydiaSenyciaforproofreadingthisbookandfor
her valuable comments. Finally we wish to thank our families and friends for
accommodatingourmoodsandfrustrations,andourunavailabilityovertheyears–in
particular,BalaandVishnu,andLydia,Tom,Michael,SandyandJulia.