Problem Solving
Each and every day the world is faced with problems. The extent and severity of the problem varies from person to person. How one perceives a problem depends on an individual’s coping skills. One might view a problem as being whether or not to buy gas from the regular gas station or to go to a neighboring gas station because the gasoline is two-cents cheaper. This may sound trivial, but to some it is a real issue of loyalty which creates a personal problem for the individual.
Another example of a problem of real magnitude may be a father or a step-father whose child has alleged a false sexual abuse charge against him (Rabinowitz, 2003). This type of problem not only affects the accused, but it also affects the entire family dynamic as a whole. Problems are ever-present within society, but the most important factor within the problem is how the problem is dealt with and resolved. In the latter example alleging a false sexual abuse there exists many challenges and obstacles on the pathway to resolve.
The accuser faces legal ramifications as well as public ridicule. These obstacles are mentally draining and challenging to the accused and can even lead to the psychological breakdown of the individual. If the father or step-father is married to the child’s mother, she too is faced with some obstacles that may appear to be insurmountable. The mother and wife is ultimately put into the middle of a tug of war and forced to choose between believing her child and believing her life partner.
If there are other children in or of the marital relationship, the mother is too often unable to attend to their emotional needs due to the stresses created from the false allegations. In many cases, all the children are removed from the home by Child Protective Services (CPS) as a precautionary measure, but with severe consequences to the entire family.
PSYCHOLOGY
During a time of crisis, a family relies on one another to provide a safe place to fall as well as comfort and hope. When CPS pushes its way into the middle of the family unit, a divide and conquers method of protocol is often asserted. Each and every member of the family; the mother, the falsely accused father or step-father, the accuser, and any other siblings are left to fend for themselves. The problem becomes a nightmare for the entire family. Proper and qualified psychological treatment is the top priority for each family member experiencing an incidence of a false allegation of sexual abuse.
Each individual family member needs to be afforded the opportunity to discuss or even vent their personal frustrations, anxieties, fears, and levels of depression to someone who is neutral and non-judgmental. Legal counsel should be sought immediately in order to protect the rights of each family member (Hall & Poirier, 2001). Instead of CPS dividing the family unit, an abundance of family visitations should be implemented especially if the child or children have been removed and placed into a foster care placement.
The absence of any familial contact can confuse a child thus making him or her think that they have somehow done something wrong to deserve the separation. A child will also convince him or herself that the parent or parents do not want them anymore. False sexual allegations made by children have become the new hot topic in the legal arena. The court dockets are overburdened with cases involving innocent parents accused of the most heinous acts against young children. Unfortunately, many of these parents are truly innocent.
The most promising way to solve this problem is to provide the CPS workers with the necessary training in order to weed out the founded allegations from the false allegations (Davidson & Sternberg, 2003). If this approach is not effective, then the entire CPS unit should be overhauled and investigated if not shut down. References Davidson, J. , & Sternberg, R. (2003). The psychology of problem solving. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Hall, H. , & Poirier, J. (2001). Detecting, malingering, and deception (2nd ed. ). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Rabinowitz, D. (2003). No crueler tyrannies. New York, NY: Free Press.
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