Contributions to the History of Psychology: L. French Historical Views on the Acceptability of Evidence regarding Child Sexual Abuse

Abstract

An historical view shows that much plasticity has existed in the acceptability of evidence regarding sexual abuse of children, depending on theoretical underpinnings and more strongly on emotional reactions to this topic. These relationships have been illustrated by 19th-century French authors in how they have seen the seriousness of the problem of sexual abuse in childhood, sought to document its incidence, and upheld the credibility of children's testimony. Three important historical perspectives regarding these issues are presented in this paper. Together, they represent a dialectic and contextual course in the psychological conceptualization of this topic similar to one repeated within our own times. They thus furnish a compelling case in favor of contemporary social constructionist theory and raise the related issue of alternatives to a staunch empiricist and inductivist approach to the planning and evaluation of research in this area.