Abstract
Sexually abused children are often said to use idiosyncratic terminology when referring to sexual body parts. Anatomic dolls are often used in sexual abuse investigations, especially of younger children, with both their behavioral and verbal responses used to draw conclusions about the likelihood of sexual abuse. However, there is little information available about the responses of nonabused children to these dolls. This study characterizes the terms nonreferred children use to label sexual body parts of anatomic dolls. The study involved 144 children ages 3 through 8 years who were asked for their names for specific body parts including anus, breast, buttock, penis, scrotum, and vagina. Responses for breast, buttock, and penis were more precise than for other body parts. More than half the respondents did not have labels for anus and scrotum. The "age" and "gender" of the dolls had little effect on the children's responses. Older children had more accurate terminology than younger children for sexually related body parts except for penis and anus. For the most part, the gender of the child or the interviewer had little influence on responses.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 523-531 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Child Abuse and Neglect |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1989 |
Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This research was funded in part by the Iowa State Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning the Vice-President for Research and Development ofthe University of Iowa.
Keywords
- Anatomic dolls
- Child sexual abuse
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health