title: Laughing through this pain: medical clowning during examination of sexually abused children: an innovative approach.
abstract: This study examined the role of medical clowns during medical examinations of children who were sexually abused. Three case studies are described, illustrating diverse interactions among the victimized child, the medical clown, and the medical forensical examiner during medical forensic examinations held at the Tene Center for Sexually Abused Children, Poria-Pade Medical Center, Israel. The results indicated that medical clowns play a unique role both in lowering anxiety and fear among children before and during the unpleasant forensic examination as well as in mitigating potential retraumatization of the sexual abuse event resulting from the medical examination. The medical clown was found to assist in creating a pleasant and calm atmosphere, thus improving the child's cooperation during the examination.
authors.affiliation: University of Haifa, 31905 Haifa, Israel. dtener@gmail.com
authors.forename: Dafna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tener
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lev-Wiesel
authors.forename: Nessia Lang
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: Shoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ofir
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007845:Laughter / Q000523:psychology*; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic / Q000523:psychology*