This NCACIA course is a 24-hour (3 day) course.  Topics of instruction will include:

 

Day 1: Foundations of Child Physical Abuse Investigations

 

The first day establishes the investigative, psychological, and contextual framework necessary for handling child physical abuse cases.
 

Participants will explore:

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• Scope & Context: National and local statistics, framing the issue, and addressing common myths.

• The Investigative Mindset: Maintaining objectivity, recognizing bias, and applying trauma-informed approaches.

• Victimology & Trauma: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), child developmental trauma, the neurobiology of trauma, and victim psychology.

• Initial Case Response: Dynamics of first reporting, the role of forensic medical exams, introduction to child care teams, and setting the stage for effective offender interviewing.

 

Day 2: Forensic Response, Injury Pathology, and Complex Medical Abuse

 

Day two focuses on the medical, forensic, and evidentiary aspects of physical abuse investigations.
 

Topics include:

• Power & Control Tactics: Understanding offender manipulation strategies and harmful family dynamics.

• Digital and Environmental Access: Investigative considerations for entering homes, accessing devices, and examining accounts.

• Physical Abuse Pathology: Recognition and documentation of abusive head trauma, burns, fractures, abdominal injuries, and patterned bruising.

• Medical Abuse & Factitious Disorders: Munchausen by Proxy, Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another, and Medical Child Abuse — patterns, indicators, and investigative strategies.

• Corroborative Evidence & Documentation: Photography, demonstrative evidence creation, records searches, and building a comprehensive medical-evidentiary file.

 

Day 3: The Psychology of Abuse and Advanced Investigative Strategies

 

The final day explores offender psychology, behavioral profiling, and high-level investigative techniques to bring cases to resolution.
 

Participants will cover:

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• Attachment & Personality Frameworks: The role of attachment theory in abuse dynamics.

• Personality Disorders in Offenders: Narcissistic, antisocial, borderline, histrionic, obsessive-compulsive, schizotypal, and avoidant personality disorders — as well as psychopathy and sociopathy.

• Violence Models: Psychological, sociological, and biological expressions of violence, and how these inform investigative strategies.

• Interviewing & Case Resolution: Advanced offender interviewing, trauma-bonding and brainwashing considerations, due diligence in suspect background checks, and preparing cases for prosecution.

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By the conclusion of this intensive three-day program, participants will have the knowledge, tools, and strategies to conduct thorough, evidence-based, and trauma-informed investigations into child physical abuse. Graduates will be prepared to identify abuse indicators, manage complex medical and psychological dynamics, and collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams to protect children and hold offenders accountable.