Using Drawings for Child Sexual Abuse Assessment in Young Children  

McInnes Elspeth

Drawing has been validated by research as a means of expression which enables young children to depict situations, actions and emotions to illustrate and augment verbal and written expression. It is particularly useful when children’s vocabulary and knowledge is not adequate to the description of their experience. This is often the case in instances of child sexual abuse when the names of body parts and actions are unknown to the child or given misleading labels by the offender/s. The act of drawing assists children to reveal what has happened and to externalise the experience. Whilst children’s drawings are not definitive evidence of events, they can provide indicators of the child’s experience and a guide to further investigation as well as assisting therapeutic activities. Common indicators of concern in young children’s drawings include depictions of genitals, enlarged mouths with sharp teeth, missing elements of self-portraits including facial features, sad, scared or angry expressions and depictions of isolated or floating figures. The presence of indicators should prompt further inquiry about the drawing, inviting the child to provide details about their picture. When a child has already disclosed child sexual abuse drawing pictures can give additional detail about what has happened to them.