Child Reporting and Testimony in Incest Cases: Comments on the Construction and Reconstruction of Reality

• NCJ Number: 122671
• Journal: Behavioral Sciences and the Law Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1988) Pages: 201-220
• Author(s): J W Maddock
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 19 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article explores factors that influence the interaction between a child's experience of sexual abuse within the family and the description of that abuse in a broader social context outside the family.

Abstract

Verifying reports of intrafamilial sexual abuse has become more complex, with doubts raised about the credibility of children as reporters and witnesses. The child must respond to differing contextual cues that are likely to require opposing constructions of "reality." Thus the stage is set for uncertainty, self-contradiction, and lack of reliability. Suggestions are made for improving the handling of reported incest cases by social services and the legal system. 61 references. (Author abstract modified)