Child Victims and Witnesses

Factors Leading to Research in Children's Testimonies

Research into children's testimonies has grown due to several factors, as outlined by Ceci and Bruck (1993):

• Expert psychological testimony is increasingly accepted in court.

• Social scientists are interested in research applicable to real-world situations.

• Studies on adult eyewitness testimony are increasing.

• The legal community is more interested in behavioral science research regarding child witnesses.

The accuracy of children's reporting is highly dependent on how they are asked to report.

Children's Ability to Recall/Describe People's Appearances and Interview Protocols

Children's ability to recall and describe is influenced by the interview method and their developmental stage.

• Children report few person descriptors when asked to describe a stranger or culprit.

• Interior facial items (e.g., freckles, scars) are more likely to be reported by older children than younger children.

• The exterior feature of hair is frequently mentioned by both children and adults.

• Height, weight, and age are unlikely to be reported accurately by children and youth.

Why Are Children More Suggestible Than Adults?

• Children's suggestibility is influenced by the interviewer's style, the manner of questioning, and the child's cognitive and memory systems.

Anatomically Detailed Dolls

• These dolls are sometimes used in interviews about sexual abuse, but their effectiveness is debated. Children may not accurately recall or report events using these dolls.

Other Techniques for Interviewing Children

• Human figure drawings

• Criterion-based content analysis (CBCA)

• Statement validity analysis (SVA)

• Step-wise interview

• Narrative elaboration

• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Interview Protocol

• Cognitive interview

Criterion-based content analysis (CBCA): Uses criteria to distinguish truthful from false statements made by children.

Statement validity analysis (SVA): Comprehensive protocol to distinguish truthful or false statements, including:

• Structured interview

• Systematic analysis of the child’s statement

• Application of the statement validity checklist

Step-wise interview: Interview protocol with a series of "steps" designed to start the interview with open-ended questions and progress to more specific questions as necessary.

Narrative elaboration: Children organize their story into categories: participants, settings, actions, conversation/affective states, and consequences.

Recall Memory Following a Long Delay

Impact of Delay on Memory

Delays can affect the accuracy and reliability of children's memory, especially in cases of abuse.

• False memory syndrome: False beliefs about abuse, sometimes developed during therapy or other psychological processes.

Lindsay and Read (1995) suggested five criteria for evaluating recovered memories:

• Age of complainant at the time of alleged abuse

• Techniques used to recover memory

• Similarity of reports across interview sessions

• Motivation for recall

• Time elapsed since the alleged abuse

Historic child sexual abuse: Allegations of abuse occurring years or decades prior to prosecution.

Recognition

Children's Ability to Recognize Culprits and Identification Procedures

Children may be asked to identify a culprit from a lineup. Their accuracy can be affected by the procedure used.

• Elimination lineup: Children first pick the person who looks most like the culprit, then confirm if that person is the culprit.

Testifying in Court

Courtroom Accommodations for Child Witnesses

Special accommodations are available to support child witnesses in court.

• A shield/screen separates the child and defendant so the child does not see the defendant’s face.

• The child may provide testimony via closed-circuit television.

• The child may have a support person present while testifying.

• The child may be video recorded during interviews; the video may be admitted as evidence.

• The judge may close the courtroom to the public or media to protect the child’s privacy.

Competency Inquiry: Prior to 2006, children under age 14 in Canada had to pass a competency inquiry before testifying. Under Bill C-2 (2006), children usually promise to tell the truth, and competency is presumed.

Child Maltreatment

Categories and Consequences of Child Maltreatment

The Child Maltreatment Section (CMS) of Health Canada distinguishes four categories:

• Physical abuse: Deliberate application of force to a child’s body resulting in injury.

• Sexual abuse: Adult or youth uses a child for sexual purposes.

• Neglect/failure to provide: Caregivers do not provide necessary attention to the child’s emotional, psychological, or physical needs.

• Emotional maltreatment: Acts or omissions causing behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or mental disorders.

Need of protection: Describes a child’s need to be separated from their caregiver due to maltreatment.

Incidence: Number of new child maltreatment cases in a population per year.

Prevalence: Proportion of a population maltreated during childhood at a specific point in time.

Risk Factors Associated with Child Maltreatment

Risk factors are linked to increased likelihood of maltreatment and can be categorized as child factors, parental factors, and social factors.

• Maltreatment can be sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect/failure to provide, and emotional abuse.

• Short- and long-term effects can result from physical abuse, including poor academic achievement, lower self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms.

• Long-term effects may include post-traumatic stress disorder and continued abuse when an adult.