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This social work research study explores whether members of the legal profession are aware of the unique characteristics of a child witness that one must take cognisance of when interviewing them. This is explored by means of a questionnaire to determine if and what training needs exist with members of the legal sector with regards to the child witness. The following themes were identified from the questionnaire where members of the legal profession require further training on: child development, children's language development, children's normal sexual development, process of disclosure in sexual abuse, interviewing skills, rapport building skills, minimum age for testifying, factors determining credibility of the child witness, children's statements and report of events, truth vs. lie testing and interview protocols. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

This social work research study explores whether members of the legal profession are aware of the unique characteristics of a child witness that one must take cognisance of when interviewing them. This is explored by means of a questionnaire to determine if and what training needs exist with members of the legal sector with regards to the child witness. The following themes were identified from the questionnaire where members of the legal profession require further training on: child development, children's language development, children's normal sexual development, process of disclosure in sexual abuse, interviewing skills, rapport building skills, minimum age for testifying, factors determining credibility of the child witness, children's statements and report of events, truth vs. lie testing and interview protocols. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The legal system is responsible for the prosecution of an accused of sexual abuse of a child. The prosecution process is a complicated and an adult-orientated area. In South Africa sexual abuse of children is noticeably high. The sexual abuse of a child is traumatic and an intimidating experience for the child. The child is usually the only/main witness in a sexual abuse case. The child's testimony is the main aspect in the guilty ruling of an accused. Courts must apply special measures for child witnesses to testify optimally in court. Special measures include a court preparation process of the child witness. This study investigated the experience of the child witness of the court preparation process of Blue Downs court. The current programme was also described, and discussed in terms of current best practice programmes as described in literature. This study was based on a case study. The sexually abused child witness, the child's parent, the court preparation officer as well as the senior state prosecutor were interviewed. The most important findings of the study were that the court preparations process of Blue Downs court is successful and appropriated structured. The parent as well as the child experienced the programme as positive, and their anxiety levels were hereby lowered. A few training needs for court preparation officers, were identified. Court preparation processes need ongoing evaluation, to perform at its best and to be successfu1. Adjustments, such as more intensive training of the court preparation officers, are necessary to improve the process. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The legal system is responsible for the prosecution of an accused of sexual abuse of a child. The prosecution process is a complicated and an adult-orientated area. In South Africa sexual abuse of children is noticeably high. The sexual abuse of a child is traumatic and an intimidating experience for the child. The child is usually the only/main witness in a sexual abuse case. The child's testimony is the main aspect in the guilty ruling of an accused. Courts must apply special measures for child witnesses to testify optimally in court. Special measures include a court preparation process of the child witness. This study investigated the experience of the child witness of the court preparation process of Blue Downs court. The current programme was also described, and discussed in terms of current best practice programmes as described in literature. This study was based on a case study. The sexually abused child witness, the child's parent, the court preparation officer as well as the senior state prosecutor were interviewed. The most important findings of the study were that the court preparations process of Blue Downs court is successful and appropriated structured. The parent as well as the child experienced the programme as positive, and their anxiety levels were hereby lowered. A few training needs for court preparation officers, were identified. Court preparation processes need ongoing evaluation, to perform at its best and to be successfu1. Adjustments, such as more intensive training of the court preparation officers, are necessary to improve the process. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The use of protective testimonial aids by the child witness has been advocated for as research indicates that it decreases witness stress and suggestibility; however, the use of such aids has also been attacked as incompatible with the defendant’s confrontational right and the fact-finding function of the jury. The present study examines the effects of testimony modality, as well as empathy-inducing closing arguments, on juror perceptions of the child witness, perceptions of the defendant, and ultimate judgments of guilt. In this between-subjects factorial study, workers on Amazon Mechanical Turk were invited to participate in an online simulated sexual assault case survey. Participants read all trial stimuli, which consisted of written juror instructions, case facts, testimonies, closing arguments, and legal definitions. In addition, participants were exposed to photographs depicting the child witness testifying under one of three possible conditions (direct, shielded, CCTV) and either read the prosecutor’s closing argument that contained a specific empathy-inducing portion or did not. Results indicated that regardless of testimony modality and empathy-inducing closing arguments, jurors did not exhibit a pro-prosecution or pro-defense bias.

Master's thesis follows on bachelor thesis Specifics of children's testimony from the point of view of Psychology, expanding chapter about suggestibility. Theory involves phenomenon of suggestibility with emphasis put on Gudjonsson's concept of suggestibility in conjunction with interrogative events. Further chapters delve into scientific findings regarding hazardous factors enhancing or decreasing suggestibility of young witnesses, among others are age, cognitive and psychosocial factors. Thesis also presents the very own types of discovered and described interrogation techniques utilizing elements of suggestion like stereotype induction, leading questions, positive and negative consequences or peer pressure. Paper presents results of empirical research, reproduced experiment which was used as tool mapping suggestibility dangers among Czech children. Focused on pre-school children subjected to heavily suggestive interrogation about event they experienced, through later interviews it was measured to which extent highly suggestive interviews altered perceived reality.

1 Abstract The present work deals with interviews with the child witnesses and its results in the form of testimony. Mapping the developmental specifics of children relevant in the course of interrogation. We also offer an overview of specific procedures which take account of claims arising from working with this group of witnesses. The main emphasis is put on the method of cognitive interview created by Geiselman and Fisher (1992) and its possible use in children. The practical part is flush pays overview suitability of specific methods - cognitive interview for the purpose of the interview with preschoolers. The second level maps the development specific manifestations of children during the interview follows. By analyzing 20 interviews to identify specifics manifest both in the cognitive area, as well as in social skills and capture their concrete form. The subsequent step were testimonies by children assessed in terms of the methods used. On a given sample but it turned out qualitative and quantitative differences in content of the statement in the respective phases. Using as ideal for obtaining accurate and detailed testimony shows Open-ended narration of phase combination and Phase probing memory codes. Keywords: child witness, interrogation techniques, interrogation of children, cognitive interview

Initially a central topic for psychology, suggestibility has been forgotten, rediscovered, evaded definition, sabotaged experimentation and persistently triggers epistemological short-circuits when interconnecting psychological questions of memory, childhood and scientificity, with concrete legal issues of child witnesses' credibility, the disclosure of sexual abuse and psychological expertise in courts of law. The aim of this study is to trace suggestibility through history, theory, research and practice, and to explore its efficacy at the intersection of psychology and law, by examining and comparing the. concrete case of child witness practice in England and Germany. Taking a transdisciplinary approach the study draws on two interrelated sources of 'data' combining historical, theoretical and research literature with the analysis of empirical data. A genealogy if theory and research is combined with the results of reflexive interviews, conducted in England and Germany with practitioners from all those professions involved in creating, applying or dealing with knowledge about child witnesses and suggestibility: judges, prosecutors, lawyers, police officers, psychologists (researchers, experts) and social workers. Drawing on the work of G. Deleuze and 1. Stengers this study shows how practical tensions around reliable witnesses, evidence and expertise merge pragmatically with theoretical movements employed to adjust the discipline, thereby causing frictions and voids. In this sense suggestibility provides a liminal resource: It transgresses disciplinary boundaries and pervades pragmatic and theoretical, global and personal, historical and actual considerations, creating voids that allow us to reconsider the pragmatics of change and to redefine the issue of critical impact, as well as to reformulate the problem of child witness practice and children's suggestibility. The study hopes to make a concrete contribution to facilitating the just prosecution of sexual abuse by adding transparency to the complex and at times unhelpfully polarised field of child witness practice. By exploring the 'pragmatics of change' the study furthermore hopes to give an unsettling and productive impetus to theoretical debates within critical approaches to psychology.

La present tesi doctoral estudiarà la temàtica de la credibilitat del relat que els menors presumptament abusats expressen dels fets, en base a l'anàlisi del contingut del seu relat. Fins al moment, la prova que s'utilitza, anomenada CBCA és fonamentalment d'orientació cognitiva, desconsiderant del seu anàlisi, els possibles criteris psicosocials que els menors expressen.Així, la present tesi, a més d'estudiar la prova CBCA, proposa l'utilització d'indicadors psicosocials que, efectivament, són expressats en el relat dels presumptes fets i que, en base a l'anàlisi mètric pertinent, ens permeten presentar-los com a vàlids per a diferenciar relats creíbles, d'aquells relats inventats o falsejats.La part teòrica de la tesi, presenta un exhaustiu recull de les recerques més significatives sobre les següents temàtiques: la credibilitat, l'instrument CBCA, els factors que influeixen en el testimoni infantil i els indicadors psicosocials de credibilitat. La part empírica, en base a un disseny observacional-correlacional i amb una mostra de casos reals treballats a la seu de l'Equip d'Assesorament del Jutjats de Girona, durant els anys 2000-2001, presenta l'estudi i anàlisi del CBCA, criticant les limitacions importants que presenta aquest instrument i, naturalment, proposant l'incorporació dels indicadors psicosocials com a criteris per la diferenciació dels relats. Es realitza un complert anàlisi mètric i es comprova l'increment de la qualitat psicomètrica (fiabilitat, validesa, discriminació de ítems) del nou instrument proposat amb els indicadors psicosocials presentats: el secret, relació dependent-envolvent, progressió en l'abús, normes de conducta, símptomes psicològics, favors i regals. / The present doctoral thesis is based on the investigation whose thematic basic it is the credibility of the minor abused sexually. The basic instrument for this investigation, the CBCA (Criteria-Based Content Analysis) it comes being used on the part of the teams of forensic psychologists of the Spanish territory as well as of other many European and American countries. This instrument, relatively new (Steller, 1989) it was studied and analyzed in a previous investigation with the purpose of evidencing their limitations and this way, incrementing their options of becoming a really valid instrument in the course of any judicial act. One of the results of this investigation is that of the 19 original items, the discrimant analysis, offers us a final test restricted to only 12 items, finding, consequently, 7 items that should be eliminated of the initial listing. The use of this corrected test, discovers us 2 important observations with regard to the variable age: those children than more age, they really offer bigger volumes of information, but this bigger information is not excellent for the increment of his credibility. The differential age among a significantly richer volumen of information, settles down around the 8-9 years. In this work we can show psicosocials items with a good psichometric quality for change the initials criteria: the secret, depended-involved relation, progressive abuse, behaviour rules, psychological disorders, favors and presents