Child Witnesses in Sexual Abuse Cases: Psychological Implications of Legal Procedures (From Psychology and Law: International Perspectives, P 360-364, 1992, Friedrich Losel, Doris Bender, et al., eds. -- See NCJ-148224)

• NCJ Number: 148249
• Author(s): M Steller
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 5 pages
• Sale Source: Walter de Gruyter & Co
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Germany (Unified)

Annotation

Child sexual abuse has become a topic of increased public and professional concern, and judicial procedures and rules of evidence in many countries may not meet the needs of abused children.

Abstract

Two key problems exist in dealing with child witnesses, lack of thoughtfulness among legal professionals and institutionalized problems. Various countries have different legal procedures for handling child sexual abuse cases, making it difficult to develop model procedures. In the Netherlands, for example, difficulties are imposed on psychologists involved in child sexual abuse cases. This country has a rule that an expert witness cannot receive any information about a case prior to conducting an interview with the alleged sexual abuse victim. Germany has a long tradition of using statement analysis as an evaluation procedure to assess the credibility of child witnesses. Procedures used in England, Israel, Norway, and Canada to interview and assess sexually abused child witnesses are noted, and the reliability of children's testimony is discussed. 15 references