OCTOBER D87 - Voice For The Defense Online

such as "no" or "stop" but the chid doesnot possess the ability to carry out multipleinstructions as an integrated whole. Thepreschooler can vividly recall isolatedevents, often triggered by associations withfamiliar sights or sounds. When thepreschooler gives a narrative account ofwhat has happened, the preschooler willnormally give a rambling, disjointed storycontaining both relevant and irrelevantdetails. For the preschooler the conceptsof time and space are usually personalized,hence not logical or orderly.The preschool-child depends totally onfamily to meet all of his or her physicaland emotional needs. This chid has anegocentric perception of the world withonly tentative awareness of any relationshipswhich do not involve the child directly.Although the preschool-child canengage in intuitive thought, the preschoolercannot understand the causality betweenevents. Thus the preschool child cannotunderstand why he or she is being sexuallyassaulted or the possible implications ofrevealing the sexual assault.Various behavior patterns may resultfrom the sexual attack of a preschooler.The chi may go through a period ofregression, which can take the form ofbaby talk or loss of toilet training. He orshe may experience feelings of inadequacyor insecurity which may be manifested bya clinging behavior to a dominant figure.The chid may suppress normal characteristic'ssuch as curiosity or spontaneity.Nightmares and loss of sleep, may alsoresult from the sexual attack. The longtermaffects of the incident may dependupon other external factors since a childat this age can repress the traumatic eventmore so than at any other age.The third developmental stage for a childis the school-age stage.29 The school-agestage encompasses children from the agesof six to eleven. This is the tme periodwhen the child begins to lose some of hisor her egocentric views of the world andstarts developing consistent relationshipsoutside of the family. The child graduallybegins to shift from total reliance on familyto a peer culture. The peer culture temporarilyreplaces some of the emotionalneeds which the child would ordinarilyreceive from the family including, but notlimited, to praise, acceptance, and love.The child still depends on the parents forrefuge and support. During the school-ageperiod, the chid becomes allied with peersof the same sex and with similar interests.Group loyalty develops as the child seeksrecognition from the group through itsrules and regulations. It is at this point thata child begins to establish deception aroundadults. This grows out of extrafamilial andintrafamilial stress factors.Though a school-age child may becomesullen or insolent with adults, he or sheseldom lies about major issues. A child atthis age is very sensitive to any apparentunfairness or differential application ofjustice. When this child is impressed withthe magnitude of the injustice which willresult from a lie, the child will not likelypractice deception especially in the presenceof two or more strange adults.Intellectually, the school age child hasan increasing mastery of language andsymbols. The child will be able to identifythe offender, the place of the offense,and give a detailed account of the offense.The child has some ability to communicatein terms of time and space. The child willbe able, in general terms, to state when theoffense occurred by relating it to somemeaningful point in the child's life, suchas whilein the first grade or around Christmas.Although the school age child graduallymoves from absolutism to relativism,the chid will not be able to give specifictimes and dates relative to theoffense. Thechild's thinking still remains in concreterather than abstract terms and as a resultthe child is unable to understand why heor she is not to blame for the offense.A sexual assault disrupts a school-agechild's emotional development. The childmay start bedwetting, thumb sucking, orengaging in some other form of regression.Conversely, the child may start engagingin pseudo adult behavior i.e. prematurelybecoming interested in sex. The child mayengage in other atypical behavior such aswithdrawing from peer groups, bathing excessively,or throwing tantrums. Theschool-age child may even suffer fromsome type of psychosomatic illness.The school-age child understands someof the implications of revealing the sexualassault and is more likely to tell a friendor a friend's mother than his or herparents.The fourth and final developn~ental stagein a child's life is the "adolescent stage."30The adolescent stage is a time period normallyfrom twelve years old to seventeenyears old. The adolescent time period iswhere the child experiences extreme physiologicaland sociological stress. Physio-'logically, the child's body grows andmatures in ways requiring new demands.Sociologically the adolescent bs faced withthe increasing demands of soclety to decidea career, be independent, and conform hisor her behavior to that of an adult.At this age the average child has developedand continues to develop sociallyuseful skills such as reading, writing, andspeaking. The sexually assaulted adolescentchild can tell exactly what happened;when it happened; where it happened; andhow it happened. This child will not understandthe intricacies of why it happened.Consequently, the adolescent may feel extremeguilt and responsibility for theoffense.The behaviors which may result fromthe assault are moodiness, depression,andlor regression. The adolescent may alsohave a sudden change in values which canmanifest itself m such behaviors as runningaway, marrying early, dropping out ofschool, or engaging in drugs and alcohol.Because sexual assaults undermine the victim'sself confidence, the adolescent victimmay tend to feel ugly or sociallyinadequate. The adolescent victim who hassuch feelings may initiate sexual relationships.The victim who feels ugly mayengage in sexual activity to prove thathelshe is desirable. The victim who feelssocially inadequate may commit sexualacts to compensate for the attention not receivedbecause of limited social skills. Thevictim may also engage in sex, not becauseof feeling ugly or socially inadequate butbecause of the inability to distinguish betweenlove and sex. Incest victims typicallyfall into this category.The dynamic affect that sexual offenseshave on children cannot be underestimated.Developmental skills, social skills, andfunctional skills become affected, in variousdegrees, when children become involvedin sexual offenses. Researchers aregenerally in agreement that the trauma sufferedby the child is either reinforced,magnified or heightened by the proceduresinvoked by the prosecution of the offender."With this point in mind we nowturn our focus on the criminal justicesystem, the offenses designed to protect thechild, and the manner of proving theoffense.18 VOICE for the Defense I October 1987