Methodological Issues and Practical Strategies in Research on Child Maltreatment Victims' Abilities and Experiences as Witnesses

• NCJ Number: 234601
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 35 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2011 Pages: 240-248
• Author(s): Yoojin Chae; Gail S. Goodman; Daniel Bederian-Gardner; Adam Lindsay
• Date Published: April 2011
• Length: 9 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper first reviews several scientific studies performed with maltreated children and adults by the authors' laboratory in order to determine maltreated children's reactions to criminal and dependency court, as well as their later reactions as adults; this is followed by a discussion of practical strategies used in dealing with many of the challenges involved in child-witness research projects when actual child victims are involved.

Abstract

Research on memory and suggestibility in maltreated children found that being older and scoring higher in cognitive functioning predicted better memory. Also, stress level and trauma symptoms in highly dissociative children were related to greater memory error. Sexually and/or physically abused children showed more accurate memory, implying hypervigilance to trauma-related, stressful information. Another study addressed debates about children's involvement in legal decisionmaking. Findings suggest that maltreated children might benefit from a greater understanding of dependency courts. Children with less knowledge and more jaded attitudes toward the dependency court may have a greater need for psychological counseling or other interventions. Researchers concluded that professionals should consider providing children involved in dependency court hearings with comprehensible, age-appropriate information about the legal proceedings and give children greater "voice" in legal hearings that affect their lives. In the discussion of practical strategies used to deal with many of the challenges involved in child witness research projects when actual child victims are involved, the authors focus on methods for recruiting maltreatment victims, seeking informed consent for research participation, ensuring representativeness of samples, selecting appropriate interview questions and questionnaires, and retaining participants longitudinally. 22 references