Child Witnesses Flashcards
Bad Interviewing of a child can:
Be traumatic
Compromise evidence
Jeopardize the chance of prosecution or conviction
Promote the development of a false memory (i.e., create new victims)
How interviews with children go wrong
Children’s suggestibility/false allegations
Suggestibility:
-Does not imply intentionality on the child’s part
Questionable procedures in child interviews
- Suggestive questions
Introduce new information into an interview when child has not provided that information - Implication of confirmation by other people
Telling child that interviewer has already obtained information from another child or children.
3.Use of positive and negative consequences
Positive consequences: giving or promising praise and other rewards
Negative consequences: criticism of a child’s statement or a general indication that it was inadequate or disappointing
- Inviting Speculation
Child is asked to “pretend” or “figure something out.” - Repeated questioning
Children tend to change their answers to repeated, forced-choice questions but not to repeated open-ended questions.
Anatomically Detailed Dolls
1970’s
Sexually abused children will manifest “inappropriate” sexual behaviour when playing with dolls
Autobiographical Memory
How accurate are free-recall narratives?
Children of all ages have approximately same low rate of detail errors (1-7% of their total information)
Young children less likely to volunteer information when asked open-ended questions
Memory for repeated events
Substantial # of abused children suffer repeated victimization
Legal requirement of particularization
Repeated events can lead to cognitive scripts
Assists in organization and retrieval of information common to event episodes.
Memory for repeated events may be highly susceptible to source-monitoring errors
General research findings in memory of repeated events
1.)Memory for repeated events better when details are consistent (i.e., fixed) across episodes.
- )When details inconsistent (i.e., variable), children tend to make source confusions among inter-event details
- Consequently report non-target details as having occurred in target event.
Children in Canadian Courts
Until 2006, legal rules made it difficult for children to testify in a Canadian court:
Children could testify under oath only if they “understood the nature and consequences of an oath”
Requires that children state belief in a Supreme Being who would punish those who testify falsely under oath.
Now:
Able to communicate the evidence
Promise to tell the truth
Testimonial Aids in children testimony
Recognition that victims of child abuse may be traumatized by testifying:
Section 486 (2.1), Criminal Code Under 18 yrs (CSA cases) may testify from behind a screen or via CCTV Also: support person, video’d interview, hearsay, closed courtroom
Potential problems with testimonial aids
Different modalities might have differential impact on decisions: Written Auditory Videotape Live
What are the 4 types of child maltreatment
Physical
Sexual
Neglect
Emotional
Is corporal punishment abuse?
YES
In 2004, Supreme Court of Canada ruled:
Corporal punishment is prohibited in schools.
BUT can still use physical force to remove student or to prevent immediate threat
Parents are not permitted to spank, slap, or other corporal punishment on children 2 yrs and under or > 12 yrs
BUT cannot use an object (e.g., wooden spoon, belt).
Parents not permitted to strike children aged 3 – 12 years on head or face.
Long and Short term effects on children who has experienced maltreatment
Physical Abuse Short-Term: Aggression Mental health difficulties (e.g., depression, hopelessness) Lower intellectual functioning Lower academic achievement Perceptual-motor deficits Long-Term: Perpetrate dating/family violence Receive dating/family violence
Sexual Abuse Short-Term: Sleep disturbances Eating disorders Lower self-esteem Stomach problems Headaches Inappropriate sexuality Long-Term: Psychiatric disorders (e.g., major depression) Dysfunctional behaviours Neurobiological dysregulation Reduced hippocampal volume (PTSD?) Sexual abuse as adult Substance use problems Family problems
Internet Predators Risk factors
Risk factors: Revealing emotional problems Admitting to being in need of help Admitting to having low self-esteem Expressing agreement in chat rooms
Protective measures against internet predators
Protective factors/strategies:
Avoiding sexually provocative screen names
Sexual predators more likely to target youth with provocative screen names (US Department of Justice, 2001)
Don’t provide personal information
Contact police when sexual solicitation has occurred
