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The Christchurch Civic
Creche Case |
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Freda Briggs (Feb 10) has again
attempted to mislead your readers. In an earlier letter she stated
that 44% of boys and girls from two special schools had been sexually abused.
This claim was false, I believe. Last year Briggs told a conference, in
relation to this research, that "only 32% of female respondents
disclosed these [sexual] offences to researchers". Briggs's figures should be treated
with caution. There is no way of verifying if they are correct. Apparently
only a handful of the cases of alleged abuse resulted in prosecution. It is
not known how many resulted in convictions. Child abuse researchers usually
explain how they have substantiated claims of abuse. In this case Briggs has
not done so. As I suspected, her research
findings appear in what is basically a newsletter for social policy analysis.
I consider many important details are missing from her research, making it
unsuitable for publication in what I regard as a reputable journal. An online search of a large social
sciences research database reveals that, since 1982, Briggs has published ten
journal articles. This puts into context her claim, made in her last letter,
that she has published hundreds of articles. Significantly, as far as I know
she has published no research into the interviewing of child abuse victims. Researchers are required to be
ethical and impartial. From what I've seen I'm not sure Freda Briggs is
either.
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