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Sexual Abuse Cases (sexual + abuse_case)
Kinds of Sexual Abuse Cases Selected AbstractsEffects of Interview Style and Witness Age on Perceptions of Children's Credibility in Sexual Abuse CasesJOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2005Paola Castelli The present study concerned effects of interview style and victim age on perceptions of child victim/witnesses and defendant guilt. In 2 experiments, participants read written scenarios of child sexual abuse trials. The scenarios included a transcript of the child victim/ witness's forensic interview, in which questioning varied from less leading to highly leading. In Experiment 1, child age (4 years vs. 7 years) did not significantly influence guilt ratings, but mock jurors were less likely to convict the alleged perpetrator and less likely to rate the child as credible and reliable when testimony was elicited through a highly leading vs. an intermediately or less leading interview. The effect of interview style on guilt ratings replicated in Experiment 2 for a 4-year-old victim/witness but not a 7-year-old victim/witness. In both studies, women compared to men were more likely to convict the defendant and to believe the child. Implications for understanding jurors' reactions to child victim/witness testimony are discussed. [source] Media Surveillance of Elder Sexual Abuse CasesJOURNAL OF FORENSIC NURSING, Issue 3 2006Leonard I. Morgenbesser Print media is a source of data for sensitive and invisible crimes such as elder sexual abuse. For this study, newspaper reports were searched over 2 years for articles about elder sexual abuse. After 112 cases of elder sexual abuse were identified, the information was used to develop a database for descriptive analysis. [source] The State of the Debate About Children's Disclosure Patterns in Child Sexual Abuse CasesJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2006ERNA OLAFSON ABSTRACT In current research studies about the disclosure patterns of sexually abused children, experts agree that most victims delay disclosure for years, often until adulthood. Researchers disagree about disclosure rates and recantation rates among children during formal interviews. Studies of children who had not previously disclosed but are known through corroborative evidence to have been sexually abused show lower rates of disclosure than do studies of children who had disclosed prior to the formal interview. Gradual disclosures among children are common, and more than a single interview may be necessary in some cases. Prior disclosure, level of support by non-offending parents, developmental level, and relationship to perpetrator affect children's rates of disclosure and their disclosure patterns. More research is necessary to clarify children's post-disclosure recantation rates and predictors. [source] The child verbal competence effect in court: a comparative study of field investigative interviews of children in child sexual abuse casesJOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND OFFENDER PROFILING, Issue 2 2009Trond Myklebust Abstract The purpose of this study is to compare field investigative interviews of children (FIIC) with three different legal outcomes in child sexual abuse cases: (i) insufficient evidence to proceed (IEP); (ii) convictions; or (iii) acquittals by the court. One hundred FIIC were divided into one of the three outcome possibilities. Amongst the female interviewees older than 10 years, there were no cases of acquittals and the convicted cases were over-represented. The children's response to open questions was found to be the main difference between the three FIIC outcomes. The responses to these open questions were 1.9 and 2.3 times longer in the convicted cases compared to acquittals and IEP. Possible explanations for the result are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] When superior courts reach different conclusions in the same child sexual abuse cases,is there a lesson to be learned?JOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND OFFENDER PROFILING, Issue 3 2008Frank Lindblad Abstract The objective of this study was to analyse Swedish child sexual abuse cases from 1989 to 2004 characterised by the following: (1) conviction in first trial in a court of appeal; (2) the Supreme Court later accepted a petition for a new trial; and (3) acquittal in second trial in the same court of appeal (with new judges). The study was conducted to determine what criteria were used for evaluating psychological child-related information and how they were applied. Eight argument themes were identified in the reasoning of the courts: (1) ability to perceive, remember, and communicate about experiences in a reliable way; (2) influence before first forensic interview; (3) influence during forensic interview/s; (4) motives for disclosing/retracting; (5) statement characteristics; (6) disclosure process; (7) behaviour and/or emotions related to investigations/interviews; and (8) psychological symptoms. The arguing of the courts was classified as belonging to one of three categories for each argument theme: (1) supporting/challenging the allegations; (2) opposing a conceivably supportive/challenging argument; and (3) indifferent. In six of the nine cases, arguments belonging to the same theme were presented in both court proceedings. Diametrically opposite conclusions were reached in 15 of 20 of these examples and same conclusion in one case. The evaluation method/s seemingly underlying the child psychological arguments of the courts may have a low reliability. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Medical Evidence and Expert Testimony in Child Sexual AbuseJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2006LORI D. FRASIER ABSTRACT Expert medical testimony in child sexual abuse cases can be critical to the outcome of a legal case. This article will review the development of the medical knowledge and clinical expertise in child sexual abuse. Since the passage of mandatory child abuse reporting laws, the forensic medical examination of a child for evidence of sexual abuse has become standard. Until recently, many myths regarding female genital anatomy existed but were based primarily on dogma and lack of empirical research. Over the past 25 years, many research studies and accumulating clinical evidence have expanded medical knowledge and debunked old myths. Physical evidence, even in cases of alleged genital or anal penetration is rare. Sexually transmitted infections are also uncommon and often require medical interpretation as to their significance in a prepubertal child. Specialized medical knowledge, training, and clinical expertise have developed in order to evaluate children presenting with allegations of sexual abuse. Such medical expertise provides invaluable service to courts. We review criteria for evaluating such expertise in light of current medical practice. [source] Expert testimony in child sexual abuse cases: The effects of evidence, coherence and credentials on juror decision makingAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2010Bianca Klettke Psychological experts have been used increasingly to testify in child sexual abuse cases, yet little research has investigated what specific factors make experts effective. This study examined the potential effects that credentials, evidence strength and coherence may have on juror decision making. Sixty-four mock jurors read cases of child sexual abuse, followed by experts' testimony and rated guilt of the defendant, effectiveness of the expert testimony and credibility of the victim. Evidence strength and coherence of the testimony affected all dependent variables, and the interaction was significant. Guilt ratings of the defendant were lower and the victim was rated as less credible when both evidence strength and coherence were low. The credentials of the expert, however, had negligible impact. These findings indicate that experts can be effective and impact jurors when testimony is either high in coherence or high in evidence. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The evaluation of retractions in sexual abuse casesCHILD ABUSE REVIEW, Issue 2 2002Bryan Tully Abstract In some cases of alleged sexual abuse, the child or adult retracts allegations made. This poses problems for both civil and criminal legal proceedings. It is argued that the collection and examination of retraction statements often does not receive the same careful attention as is the case with the investigation of the original allegations. Logically, depending on whether the original complaints were true or false or a mixture, so the meaning of a retraction may vary. Where retractions are examined and evaluated with care they may be shown to add to the confidence of the final conclusion rather than simply throwing doubt on that. A systematic approach is described, followed by three cases where such application assisted and paradoxically added to the probative value of earlier statements. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Assessment and intervention in cases of suspected ritual child sexual abuseCHILD ABUSE REVIEW, Issue 4 2001Bernard Gallagher Senior Research Fellow Abstract Agency workers have been heavily criticized over their handling of alleged ritual child sexual abuse cases, particularly in respect of their assessments and interventions. However, a study of referrals to police and social service departments revealed that agency workers raised suspicions of ritual abuse in respect of both child ,victims' and adult ,survivors' very rarely. Furthermore, they did this only after an assessment which showed the cases to possess a number of ,troubling' features. While agency workers believed that all the child ,victims' had been subject to serious sexual abuse, virtually all of them were circumspect as to whether this had occurred in a ,ritual' context. Initially, agency workers were generally open-minded as to the experiences of adult ,survivors', but by the end of their assessments, they tended to be more concerned about their mental health and less concerned about issues of ritual abuse. Finally, agency workers appeared to act appropriately in terms of the types of intervention they used and the way in which they applied these. These results suggest that there should be more confidence in the ability of agency workers to respond to cases of alleged ritual abuse. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||