NCJ Number
150558
Editor(s)
N K Clark,
G M Stephenson
Date Published
1993
Length
95 pages
Annotation
This compilation of papers explores issues associated with collecting evidence from children and child witnesses and other issues related to adolescent fire setters, expert testimony, crime victimization, and vulnerable prisoners.
Abstract
The first paper reports a study of the efficacy of cognitive interviewing techniques with children which determined that a better understanding is needed of how children's prior knowledge affects information retrieval from memory and the reporting of a given event. The second paper describes a systematic approach to gathering evidence from children, while the third paper compares adult and child witnesses. Subsequent papers examine the impact of video cameras in child witness trials and benefits of prisoner links with children to both parents and children, particularly England's Extended Visits Scheme. Papers also deal with adolescent fire setters, legal issues surrounding the admissibility of expert psychological and psychiatric testimony, and objective and subjective indicators of suspect deception. Other authors focus on attributional activities of crime victims and their differential responses to victimization, England's 1984 Police and Criminal Evidence Act, anger control group work in the institutional setting, and special units in England and Wales that provide an alternative approach to managing and treating disruptive prisoners who are vulnerable to assault or intimidation by other inmates. References, tables, and figures