Child Witness to Family Violence - Clinical and Legal Considerations (From Domestic Violence on Trial, P 97-126, 1987, Daniel Jay Sonkin, ed. - See NCJ-104721)

• NCJ Number: 104728
• Author(s): G S Goodman; M S Rosenberg
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 30 pages
• Sale Source: Copter's Incorporated
• Publication Type: Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Understanding the interplay between the effects of witnessing interparental violence on the child's emotional well-being and the memory of the violent incident is essential to mental health and legal professionals working with child witnesses.

Abstract

A review of research suggests that children who witness spousal abuse are at risk for a number of psychological disturbances. Depending on age, sex, and the extent of the violence observed these children tend to feel worthless, to mistrust intimate relationships, to be aggressive, to have trouble seeing the perspective of others in tense social situations, and possibly to be somewhat delayed intellectually. Studies of children's memory and their eyewitness memory suggests that they are likely to evidence predictable accuracies and inaccuracies in their reports. The child is likely to remember the general outline of the event, but may not have complete memory of the details. In general, children's accounts are likely to be accurate and their errors are mainly those of omission. In conducting the forensic interview with the child witness it is important that the clinician develop a supportive relationship with the child, that questions be open-ended and nonleading, and that the child is not further traumatized by the interview or by subsequent court involvement. 90 references.