Spare the Children

By Søren Friis Smith (Information, 18.12.2000)

[...] As we know, this is a very difficult task that requires a high degree of seriousness. The way that "Save the Children" has chosen comments itself. On the main page there is a series of references that are not documented. There is also a reference to a named organization: "The National Society for the Protection of Children in England (NSPCC)". To find out of "Save the Children" can get support by NSPCC for its line of action (the presentation of a symptom list on their website), I contacted NSPCC. Indeed, in the answer that I got from NSPCC concerning the question of the presence of particular symptoms in sexually abused children, the organization's attitude agrees with the conclusions of the research that I mentioned in my first article (Kendall-Tacket, Williams, Finkelhor: Impact of Sexual Abuse on Children: A Review and Synthesis of Recent Empirical Studies, Psychological Bulletin 1993 (113); 1:164-180).

The conclusions, that are quoted by NSPCC, tell that "no symptom characterized a majority of sexually abused children" and "the results point to the fact that there is no specific syndrome in children who have been sexually abused, and there are no isolated traumatizing mechanisms either". Furthermore, NSPCC states that the results of a more recent research carried out by the organization did not center their attention on symptoms, but rather on young people's personal experience with sexual abuse.

"Save the Children"'s reaction to the stated criticism emphasizes the fact that there is a big need for a professional update of the work carried out by the organization on this subject.