PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Abright, A. Reese
TI  - Psychiatric Aspects of Sexual Abuse
DP  - 1986 Dec 01
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - 331--343
VI  - 14
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/14/4/331.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/14/4/331.full
SO  - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law1986 Dec 01; 14
AB  - Sexual abuse of children and adolescents has become an increasingly publicized phenomenon. Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals are often called upon to evaluate and treat children and adolescents who may have been sexually abused, to provide counseling or treatment to the families of such children, and to provide reports and testimony for proceedings about such cases in the child protection system, the criminal justice system, and in custody disputes. Clarity regarding the medical, psychiatric, and legal aspects of sexual abuse is essential in carrying out such professional activities and in evaluating and formulating research on sexual abuse. In this paper current knowledge regarding these aspects of sexual abuse is summarized, and the role of psychiatrists in clinical and forensic work involving allegations of sexual abuse is discussed.