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From Post‐Mortem to Preventive Medicine: Next Steps for Research on Child Witnesses
Author(s) -
Lyon Thomas D.,
Saywitz Karen J.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2006.00489.x
Subject(s) - suggestibility , witness , leading question , narrative , psychology , psychological intervention , child sexual abuse , face (sociological concept) , child abuse , mental health , criminology , sexual abuse , social psychology , suicide prevention , poison control , medicine , psychotherapist , psychiatry , law , political science , sociology , cognitive psychology , medical emergency , linguistics , philosophy , social science
We propose five directions for future child witness research, inspired by recognition of the day‐to‐day realities of the legal system and the opportunities of psychology to react proactively to challenges child witnesses face. These directions include (1) the refinement of developmentally sensitive questioning aids that increase completeness without increasing suggestibility, (2) the development of approaches to non‐disclosure and recantation, including understanding of the reasons underlying non‐disclosure and the potential for building rapport and increasing trust, (3) the construction of interventions that meet mental health needs of child‐victim witnesses without creating false memories or tainting testimony, (4) a focus on details of children's narratives that are often lacking, including temporal information and emotional reactions, and (5) expanding our attention beyond child sexual abuse allegations in criminal court and considering the many contexts in which child witnesses are questioned, including areas in which preferences rather than memories are elicited.