When lawyers question children: Is justice served?

Perry, Nancy W.; McAuliff, Bradley D.; Tam, Paulette; Claycomb, Linda; Dostal, Colleen; Flanagan, Cameron

doi:10.1007/bf01499377

Cited by 113 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The present finding that defence lawyers ask children significantly more inappropriate questions than prosecuting lawyers is highly consistent with previous research (e.g., Brennan & Brennan, 1988;Davies & Seymour, 1998;Flin, Bull, Boon, & Knox, 1992;Goodman et al, 1992;Perry et al, 1995;Walker, 1993). In their study, Davies and Seymour RACHEL ZAJAC, JULIEN GROSS AND HARLENE HAYNE (1998) found that New Zealand defence lawyers asked a higher proportion of negative rhetorical questions, multifaceted questions, and ambiguous questions than prosecuting lawyers.…”

Section: Lawyer's Questionssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…It has been suggested that defence lawyers use this kind of questioning to deliberately confuse their witnesses (Davies & Seymour, 1998;Perry et al, 1995). Given the finding that children are more suggestible when they are asked questions that confuse them (Davies & Noon, 1991;Goodman & Aman, 1990), employing complex language would serve a purpose for the defence lawyers, whose aim is to challenge the opposing witness's credibility.…”

Section: Lawyer's Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Children who have not understood a question rarely seek clarification (Markman, 1977(Markman, , 1979, and are likely to attempt answers to complex, or even nonsensical, questions (Hughes & Grieve, 1980;Markman, 1979;Perry, McAuliffe, Tam, Claycomb, Dostal, & Flanagan, 1995;Pratt, 1990;Waterman, Blades, & Spencer, 2000).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The few studies that have looked at defence lawyers' questions during cross-examination have invariably found that the language they use is inappropriate for children (e.g., Brennan & Brennan, 1988;Davies & Seymour, 1998;Perry et al, 1995;Walker, 1993) and even adults (Perry et al, 1995). Davies and Seymour (1998), for example, conducted a study of New Zealand court transcripts of sexual abuse trials involving a child complainant.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Asked and Answered: Questioning Children in the Courtroom

Zajac

Gross

Hayne

2003

Psych Psychol & Law

109

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In the present experiment, we analysed court transcripts in which children aged 5 to 13 years provided the key evidence in sexual abuse trials. We developed two separate coding schemes for lawyers' questions and children's responses. Consistent with past research, defence lawyers conducting cross-examination asked a higher proportion of complex, grammatically confusing, credibility-challenging, leading, and closed questions than prosecution lawyers. In responding to defence lawyers' questions, child witnesses rarely asked for clarification and often attempted to answer questions that were ambiguous or did not make sense. Furthermore, over 75% of children changed at least one aspect of their testimony during the cross-examination process. These findings have important implications for the way in which children are examined in court.

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Section: Lawyer's Questionssupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Lawyer's Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Asked and Answered: Questioning Children in the Courtroom

Zajac

Gross

Hayne

2003

Psych Psychol & Law

109

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“…Moreover, it has been found that children are less accurate when questioned with complex linguistic questions (Carter, Bottoms, & Levine, 1996;Perry, McAuliff, Tam, & Claycomb, 1995). Nonetheless, further studies are needed to better understand these findings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of the NICHD Protocol to Enhance the Quantity of Details Obtained from Children with Low Verbal Abilities in Investigative Interviews: A Pilot Study

Dion

Cyr

2008

Journal of Child Sexual Abuse

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This study explored the impact of the NICHD protocol to enhance the quantity and content of details reported by children with low verbal abilities. Thirty-four children aged from 6 to 14 were interviewed following their experience of sexual abuse. Half the interviews were conducted using the NICHD protocol. Results indicate that NICHD interviews contained more open-ended prompts and more details overall. Open-ended invitations yielded significantly more detailed responses than did close-ended questions for both children with low and average verbal abilities.Although children with low verbal abilities provided fewer details than children with average verbal abilities, the NICHD protocol helped them provide detailed responses containing the core elements of the sexual abuse. Conducting investigative interviews with child victims of sexual abuse is a complex task for an interviewer, yet is even more challenging with children with intellectual difficulties. For example, results of analog studies (Henry & Gudjonsson, 1999) and a field study (Dion, Cyr, Richard, & McDuff, 2006) indicate that children with intellectual disabilities are likely to provide fewer details when asked to recall an event. Above all cognitive abilities, verbal skills appear to be the most related to children's recall performance (Brown & Pipe, 2003;Chae & Ceci, 2005;Dion et al.). These results are of particular importance considering that children with mental retardation or speech and language difficulties are respectively 4 and almost 3 times more likely to be sexually abused than children without disabilities (Sullivan & Knutson, 2000).It is therefore necessary to evaluate interview techniques that might be useful in helping these children talk about their abuse. The objective of the present study is to explore the impact of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) protocol to enhance details given by children with low verbal abilities (LVA) and to document any differences in response to distinct types of questions. Intelligence and Verbal AbilitiesMany researchers have explored intelligence in relation to children's abilities to recount an event in various settings, such as a staged event (e.g., Brown & Pipe, 2003;Chae & Ceci, 2005), a video (Henry & Gudjonsson, 2004), or sexual abuse (Dion et al., 2006). When looking at general intelligence, results of studies indicate that the amount of information produced by children with mental retardation during open-ended recall is often lower than that produced by children of the same age with typical intellectual development (Henry & Gudjonsson, 2003Michel, Gordon, Ornstein, & Simpson, 2000).However, inconsistent results are found when using different measures of intelligence (e.g., receptive language, expressive language, visual-motor coordination) to explore the relationship between more specific cognitive abilities (e.g., verbal and nonverbal abilities) and recall. Four explanations are possible for these conflicting results, including: (a) verbal intelligence ...

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Child Sexual Abuse Evaluations

Kuehnle

2003

Handbook of Psychology

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Accurate estimates of true and false child sexual abuse evades researchers and the determination of whether sexual abuse has occurred is a complex problem. In recent years, the research community has been polarized over whether child victims of sexual abuse or nonabuse are grossly misidentified, to what degree children are suggestible, and whether false positive or false negative errors create the greatest harm. This chapter describes the scientific‐practitioner model for evaluating allegations of child sexual abuse, a model previously proposed by the author. According to this model, conclusions regarding child sexual abuse are based upon empirically established relationships between data and the behavior in question, rather than on subjective opinions. To address critical issues in these assessments, this chapter reviews two sources for information: published research and the law. Child sexual abuse is defined, focusing on risk factors for abuse and the meaning of symptoms. Studies citing the incidence and prevalence of child sexual abuse are reviewed. Topics include early memories, the impact of stress on memory, and the development of autobiographical memory. Since recall is subjected to the effects of suggestibility, research on this topic is considered. The structure of the assessment interview and a review of the research on the three most frequently used evaluation tools (anatomical dolls, projective instruments, and drawings) is described.

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When lawyers question children: Is justice served?

Cited by 113 publications

References 28 publications

Asked and Answered: Questioning Children in the Courtroom

Asked and Answered: Questioning Children in the Courtroom

The Use of the NICHD Protocol to Enhance the Quantity of Details Obtained from Children with Low Verbal Abilities in Investigative Interviews: A Pilot Study

Child Sexual Abuse Evaluations

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