FAMILY SEXUAL ABUSE AND CUSTODY EVALUATION

• Author: Mindy F. Mitnick
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.174-1617.1983.tb00994.x
• Published date: 01 December 1983
• Date: 01 December 1983

FAMILY SEXUAL ABUSE AND CUSTODY EVALUATION

Mindy

F.

Mitnick"

Introduction

Family sexual abuse represents one of

the most difficult, even volatile, issues

in-

volved

in

questions of child custody. Statis-

tics clearly indicate

that

sexual abuse of chil-

dren by other family members is more preva-

lent

than imagined even as recently as ten

years ago. Recent estimates hold that sexual

abuse of children is more common than

physical abuse. (U.S.H.E.W., 1978) One in ten

girls is likely to experience sexual abuse by

her father, and one

in

twelve by some other

family member. (Finkelhor, 1979)

Family sexual abuse of children takes

many forms including parent-child incest,

sibling sexual contact and contact with other

relatives. Type of contact may range from

exposing oneself to a child to fondling to full

sexual intercourse. Duration may vary from

a

single episode to protracted contact over

many years. Cases tend to fall into two broad

categories relevant to duration: one or two

contacts and extended sexual abuse. Aver-

age duration

in

the latter group has been

found to be about three years. (Mitnick, 1982)

Why the concern over family sexual

abuse and why,

in

particular, is this issue

relevant to child custody decisions? Unques-

tionably, research and clinical experience

alike have demonstrated

that

sexual contact

between adults and children has long-term

serious harmful effects on growth and de-

velopment. (Meiselman, 1978). The variety of

consequences to the child include cognitive

(e.g. learning problems), affective (e.g. de-

pression and suicide attempts), and be-

havioral (e.g. delinquent acts) sequelae.

Studies of women who were sexually

abused as children and of males

in

prison,

many of whom were themselves sexually

victimized as children, clearly reflect the

long-term nature of the impact of childhood

*Mindy

F.

Mitnick, Counselor, Court Services-

Domestic Relations, Minneapolis,

MN

55487.

molestation. (e.g. Densen-Gerber; Hutchin-

son

&

Levine, 1977; James

&

Meyerding,

1979)

Reliable estimates suggest

that

about

90% of

all

reported family sexual abuse is of

the father-daughter type. Other variants

in-

cl ud

i

ng mother-son, mother-da ug

hte

r,

father-son incest certainly occur but the

known frequencies are very small. Sibling

incest is thought to be more frequent now

that retrospective data has been collected by

Finkelhor (1979) suggesting the incidence of

sibling incest is 15% for girls and 10% for

boys. The discrepancy between

the

Finkelhor

and HEW data probably lies in Finkelhor's

finding

that

most sexual abuse victims sim-

ply don't

tell

and, therefore,

are

not counted

in

"reported" cases. The material presented

here

will

focus on father-daughter incest,

with "incest" including any contact between

father, stepfather, and adoptive father and

child which

is

punishable under the criminal

statutes; i.e., fondling, exposinc,, oral sex,

and intercourse (genital and oral).

Detection

Detection of sexual abuse of children be-

comes

a

salient issue

in

making an evalu-

ation as to child custody or

in

assisting

parents mediate custody.

Incest may become known to those

asked to conduct custody studies

in

a variety

of ways. The abuse may be revealed during

the course of the studyperse or by report of

other authorities (e.g., child protection work-

ers, teachers, doctors). In

all

of these cir-

cumstances the report of family sexual abuse

may have dramatic impact on the custody

evaluation.

When

a

report of incest occurs, the indi-

vidual conducting the custody study must be

cautious not to assume a different role vis-

a-vis the family. The task of determining the

optimal situation for the child does not

change. The individual does not become

a

criminal prosecutor attempting to collect

89

CONCILIATION COURTS RMEW/VOLUME

21,

NUMBER P/DECEMBER

1983