NCJ Number
181500
Date Published
2000
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video depicts and discusses the power of partnerships among police, prosecutors, courts, and mental health providers to minimize the impact of violence on children and improve their ability to participate in the criminal justice system.
Abstract
The narrator and mental health professionals initially comment on the significant impact on a child of witnessing or being victimized by violence. An emotional and mental impact that is not properly addressed by mental health and criminal justice agencies can have a long-term impact on the child victim/witness as he/she moves from childhood through adolescence and into adulthood. Representatives from the Boston Medical Center's (Massachusetts) mental health and pediatric departments discuss the importance of prompt mental health services for child victims/witnesses and describe the development of a Boston program of cooperation between mental health professionals and criminal justice professionals to improve services for such children. Under this program, police, prosecutors, judges, and mental health professionals engage in joint discussions and training regarding how child victims/witnesses should be served by appropriately trained professionals. The video concludes with a case history of how a young girl who was sexually assaulted was sensitively guided through the traumatic experience and the case processing by professionals trained to deal positively with such victims/witnesses.