NCJ Number
148250
Date Published
1992
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Concern surfaced in Great Britain in the early 1980's over an increased number of child sexual abuse allegations, a series of unsuccessful prosecutions of child sexual abuse cases, and the development of victim support organizations.
Abstract
Scottish and English legal systems are entirely separate and have many distinctive features, yet both criminal justice systems are accusatorial in nature. This means that a child who has witnessed a crime or who has been victimized must appear in court as a witness. There are no formal age limits for admitting children's evidence, and child competence is assessed by the presiding judge. Many children suffer from anxiety before and during the trial, and some children experience negative effects of testifying in the longer term. Before contemplating legal reform, it is necessary to identify principal causes of stress for child witnesses and the psychological impact of children's involvement in legal proceedings. Major sources of stress are categorized according to pretrial, trial, and posttrial stages. Psychological effects of testifying on children are examined, and proposals for reducing children's stress are offered. 17 references, 1 table, and 2 figures