Rind Et Al. Controversy - Criticism and Response

Criticism and Response

A series of 2001 papers published in the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse discussed and criticized the findings of Rind et al. Stephanie Dallam stated that after reviewing the evidence the paper was best described as "an advocacy article that inappropriately uses science in an attempt to legitimatize its findings". Four other researchers also discussed alleged flaws in the methodology and generalizability of Rind's findings, and concluded the paper's results were scientifically invalid. The criticisms were co-published in the 2001 book Misinformation concerning child sexual abuse and adult survivors. In 2002 a rebuttal to many of the factually inaccurate claims made by critics was submitted to the flagship journal of the APA, the American Psychologist by Scott Lilienfeld. After passing a normal peer review the editor of the journal re-submitted the article in secret and on the basis of this second review the paper was rejected. Lilienfeld reported this subsequent rejection on several psychology internet fora, which produced such an intense response the APA and American Psychologist ultimately printed the article as part of a special issue focusing on the controversy.