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Question Types, Responsiveness and Self‐contradictions when Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys Question Alleged Victims of Child Sexual Abuse
Author(s) -
Andrews Samantha J.,
Lamb Michael E.,
Lyon Thomas D.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.3103
Subject(s) - contradiction , psychology , self defense , sexual abuse , child sexual abuse , child abuse , defense attorney , social psychology , criminology , suicide prevention , poison control , law , medicine , medical emergency , political science , philosophy , epistemology
Summary We examined 120 trial transcripts of 6‐ to 12‐year‐old children testifying to sexual abuse. Age and attorney role were analyzed in relation to question types, children's responsiveness and self‐contradiction frequency. A total of 48,716 question–response pairs were identified. Attorneys used more closed‐ended than open‐ended prompts. Prosecutors used more invitations (3% vs. 0%), directives, and option‐posing prompts than defense attorneys, who used more suggestive prompts than prosecutors. Children were more unresponsive to defense attorneys than to prosecutors. Self‐contradictions were identified in 95% of the cases. Defense attorneys elicited more self‐contradictions than prosecutors, but nearly all prosecutors (86%) elicited at least one self‐contradiction. Suggestive questions elicited more self‐contradictions than any other prompt type. There were no associations with age. These findings suggest that neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys question children in developmentally appropriate ways. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.