Sexually Exploited Children: Assessing Competency To Testify (From Child Trauma I Issues and Research, P 211-229, 1992, Ann Wolbert Burgess, ed. -- See NCJ-137060)

• NCJ Number: 137066
• Author(s): C A Grant
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 19 pages
• Sale Source: Garland Publishing, Inc.
• Publication Type: Measurement/Evaluation Device
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter presents a child competency tool for clinicians who interview children suspected of being victims of sexual abuse.

Abstract

Fifty videotaped interviews were analyzed by means of content analysis. Through the use of coding instructions, the content of each videotaped interview was coded according to four competency categories: personal, interpersonal, academic, and truthfulness competency. Content that indicated sexual exploitation was coded according to a separate category for abuse. The content was analyzed with the use of predetermined categories that were developed from the competency requirements of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The coding instrument that analyzed the videotapes proved reliable among legal experts in child sexual abuse. The competency categories assessed the child's mental capacity, ability to communicate facts, and memory. Coding the content into categories permitted assessment of the child's memory through an examination of the child's capacity to recall events, separate fact from fantasy, and maintain the memories independently. Study limitations are noted. 46 references and an appended competency checklist