The Italian Coordination of services against child mistreatment and abuse had sued a psychologist who had criticized “the very dangerous procedures for listening to minors”. But she was acquitted. With full formula.
In June 2019, when the case of the alleged illicit foster care of the children of Bibbianohad firmly denounced the existence of “a consolidated and very dangerous system”, and had underlined that there was a “method to ensure that minors were left to foster families for their entire lives”. He had declared that there was also a clear “connection” between that scandal, which emerged thanks to the investigations of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Reggio Emiliaand the shocking legal case of the so-called «Devils of Lower Modena» which at the end of the 1990s had led to the brutal separation of 16 children from their families, amid sentimental and existential disasters, bereavements and even suicide: «Here in Modena we were the testing ground», he said, «and when they saw that it had gone well for them, because no child ever returned to their home of origin, they continued».
It had been tough Chiara Brillantiforensic psychologist from Bologna and former defense consultant in the trials against the alleged Modena “Devils”. In an interview with Resto del Carlino, in particular, the professional had pointed the finger at the CismaiItalian Coordination of Services against Child Maltreatment and Abuse, and had launched a detailed alarm on the “method” of the organisation, which since 1993 has created a network between social services, psychologists, family homes and foster care centres, based on the thesis that child abuse (psychological, physical and sexual) is much more widespread than is believed. Brilliant he had especially criticized the “very dangerous procedures for listening to children”, suggested by the Cismaiclaiming they are capable of “fueling traumatic experiences”.
The link between Bibbiano and the Devils of Lower Modena
The focus of his criticism lay in the scientific assumption: for Brilliantin fact, the approach of Cismai starts “from the concept that every child must always be helped” to denounce violence, “because they wouldn’t speak spontaneously”. This approach, however, has two potentially harmful implications: on the one hand, the impossibility for the juvenile judiciary to verify the original defect (“If the psychologist tells things extorted from children, how does the judge know?”); on the other, the permanent psychological damage inflicted on children entrusted to the checks of technicians trained by Cismaisince “children who have undergone this method continue to think that they have been abused and that they have had bad parents”, even if the abuse is completely non-existent.
Brilliant he had also stigmatized the speed of the training courses promoted by the Coordination: «The Cismai promoted informing paediatricians what the signs of abuse are within two days: doctors trained as sentinels”, and had placed emphasis on the clear gap with the depth of specialization in forensic psychology: «Let’s keep in mind that for us it lasts two years».
The ruling of the Court of Bologna and the right to criticize
The Cismai he had reacted with a lawsuit for aggravated defamation. Denying the existence of its own “method” and “system”, the Coordination had requested compensation of 50,000 euros. After a long trial, on April 15th the second criminal section of the Court of Bologna he acquitted Brilliant with a full formula, because “the fact does not constitute a crime”. Evidently, the doctor’s statements fall within the scope of the legitimate exercise of the right to criticize, but above all there actually exists a “method Cismai», and it is entirely legitimate to highlight the potential dangers. Now the judge, Carmela Mennuniwill file the reasons for the sentence within 60 days.
“Absolution is important,” he declares Patrizia Micailawyer from Ferrara defending the psychologist, «and the court will have the opportunity to motivate her after having read reports and sentences of other proceedings, such as those of Rignanoof the Devils of Lower Modena And Bibbianowhere the Cismai played a role in the preparation of the operators: those trials fueled real judicial horrors because the good practices dictated by true science and forensic psychology».
Concludes Micai: «Errors that massacre lives, children and families must no longer occur. The Parliament must finally decide to introduce strict constraints on the work of social services, modifying the procedural codes. And when listening to minors, precise requirements, codified guidelines and controls must be established.”
