NCJ Number
117445
Date Published
1989
Length
227 pages
Annotation
After examining how child victims and their families are treated in the courts and how they are often revictimized by the legal system, this book suggest ways the court can accommodate itself to a child witness's capabilities and vulnerabilities.
Abstract
A review of the history of America's courts and their equivocal treatment of child sexual abuse victims reveals the system's insensitivity to the special needs of child witnesses and victims. Current courtroom procedures often do not acknowledge a child witness's particular abilities and needs, as most courts expect children to testify within the same format and setting as adult witnesses. This book argues that courtroom procedures must change to adapt to children's needs and capabilities. The book explains how America's laws and trial traditions, when correctly interpreted, provide the flexibility necessary to foster an effective contribution from child witnesses while mitigating the stress they experience. Suggestions include the use of closed-circuit television for a child's testimony, allowing the child to sit on a parent's lap while testifying, permitting a familiar lay person to pose the prosecutor's questions to the child witness, using anatomically correct dolls to assist the child in testifying, and speaking to the child in language suited to the child's cognitive development. Organizational resource list, chapter notes, 161-item bibliography, subject index. (Publisher summary modified)