CH 3 : Child Witnesses

Daycare Sex Abuse Scandals (1980s–1990s)

Surge of daycare/preschool sex abuse allegations in the 1980s–early 1990s.

including Martensville (SK).

• 4 accused, 180 counts, 24 victims

Many allegations were later found to be unfounded.

R v. Sterling (1995) – Martensville

Case involving coercive and suggestive interviewing of children.

Aspects:

• Multiple interviews

• Rewards for disclosure

• Telling children others had disclosed

These tactics led to bizarre allegations thus the court of Appeal quashed most convictions.

Why Daycare Abuse Allegations Seemed Believable

• Sexual abuse can be bizarre

• Many alleged victims

• Abusers can hide acts for long periods

• Parents noticed no warning signs

• Little or no physical evidence was present.

Three Factors Affecting Child Testimony

Memory, suggestibility, and truthfulness.

Children’s Memory Development

Children have less developed memory processes, including: encoding, storage, and retrieval.

Autobiographical Memory & Infantile Amnesia

Infantile amnesia refers to limited recall of early childhood events

• Early theories suggested memory-related brain regions develop later.

Accuracy of Young Children’s Memories

Young children are less likely to volunteer information, but when they do recall events, their memories are generally accurate and coherent.

Repeated Events & Memory Scripts

Repeated victimization can form ¹cognitive scripts

• ¹mental frameworks that organize knowledge about events that happen repeatedly. They represent what usually happens.

however scripts increase risk of source-monitoring errors.

Memory for Repeated Events research findings

• Memory improves when details are consistent across events

• inconsistent details leads children to experience source confusion and intrusion errors.

False Memory

it is a quintessential episodic memory phenomena of remembering events as having occurred when they did not.

False memories can feel vivid and detailed.

Creating False Memories in the Lab

Parental misinformation paradigm involves presenting true and false childhood events and encouraging recall, often leading to false memories.

photos increase credibility.

ex. Lost in a mall, hospital visits, weddings, traumatic events, ect.

Children’s Suggestibility

Children are more suggestible than adults, including about central and body-related details.

Why Children Are More Suggestible

Social pressure to please adult

Immature cognitive systems

Difficulty distinguishing real from imagined events.

When do children start lying

Lying emerges in early childhood and increases with cognitive and social development.

Don’t Peek (Temptation Resistance) Paradigm

Children are told not to peek while alone; used to study lying when rules are broken.

Results: Shows that children often deny wrongdoing after breaking rules, with lying emerging in early childhood and becoming more sophisticated as cognitive and social abilities develop

Why Children Lie

• To protect others’ feelings

• To avoid punishment

• To comply with requests

• self-deception

• To harm others.

Development of Lying by Age

Ages 2–3: primary lies: Lies are unsophisticated and easily exposed.

Ages 4–6: secondary lies: Lies are more plausible but fragile.

Ages 7–8: tertiary lies with consistency: sophisticated and can maintain consistency in the lies.

Sophistication of Lies

With age, children produce more plausible lies, adjust stories when evidence or witnesses are present, and maintain consistency.

Coaching Children to Lie

• Adult coaching increases lying

• Children’s suggestibility raises concerns about testimony reliability.

Lying to Protect a Stranger

Young children may lie by omission to protect adults but the likelihood of lying decreases with age.

Increasing Honesty in Children

Moral discussions do not reduce lying, but enforcing promises to tell the truth significantly decreases dishonest responses.

Importance of Proper Child Interviews

Bad interviews can:

• Traumatize children

• Contaminate evidence

• Create false memories

• Jeopardize prosecutions.

it is the interviewers responsibility to provide children with the best opportunity to give evidence easily.

Child Interviewing Protocols

• Stepwise Interview: Gradual, structured interview that builds rapport and encourages recall.

• Narrative Elaboration: Prompts children to add detail without leading.

• Cognitive Interview: Uses memory techniques to increase recall.

• NICHD Protocol: Standardized, open-ended interview focused on accuracy.

NICHD Interview Prompts

• Facilitator: Neutral encouragement to continue talking.

• Invitation: Open-ended request for free recall.

• Cued Invitation: Expands on something the child already mentioned.

• Directive: Specific follow-up question about stated details.

How Interviews Go Wrong

• Leading questions: Questions that suggest an answer or introduce details the child did not provide.

• Implying others disclosed: Telling the child others have already reported information, creating pressure to agree.

• Rewards or punishments: Using praise, approval, or criticism to influence a child’s responses.

• Repeated questioning: Asking the same question multiple times, causing children to doubt and change answers.

• Inviting speculation: Asking children to guess or imagine rather than recall actual events.

Courtroom Requirements for Child Witnesses

Post-2006, (children are presumed competent)

For children < 14 to testify:

1. Questions asked to show they can respond on topic

2. asked to promise to tell the truth

3. No assessment of understating of the concept of an oath

Impact of Court Involvement on Children

Repeated testimony predicts (even after 12 years) poorer mental health & adjustment

Number of testimonies is the strongest predictor.

Why are testimonial aids and courtroom accommodations used for child witnesses?

Research shows that children experience higher anxiety and recall less information when testifying in courtrooms, so laws allow child witnesses under 18 to use testimonial aids to reduce trauma and improve testimony quality.

Testimonial Aids for Child Witnesses

• Shield

• CCTVs

• Support persons/animals,

• Prerecorded interviews

• Hearsay exceptions

• Closed courtroom

• limits on cross-examination.

The different modalities might have different impact on jury decisions.

R v. Levogiannis (1993)

held that courtroom accommodations for child witnesses balance Charter rights:

• Right to face accuser in trials and made a defense

• Right to a fair trial by impartial jury

by protecting children without infringing the accused’s right to a fair trial or cross-examination.

Types of Child Maltreatment

What does “child in need of protection” mean in Canada?

In Canada, suspected child maltreatment must be reported to authorities; a child is considered in need of protection when separation from a caregiver is required due to maltreatment or when the caregiver is unwilling or unable to prevent abuse by a third party.

Prevalence of Child Maltreatment

Only about 47% of child maltreatment investigations are substantiated, but substantiated cases increased 125% between 1998–2003

Largely due to changes in:

• Substantiation practices

• Better identification of victimized siblings

• Increased awareness of emotional maltreatment and exposure to domestic violence.

Corporal Punishment in Canada

• Canadian law allows very limited physical force by parents on children aged 3–12, and bans striking young children, teens, or using objects.

• Prohibits corporal punishment in schools

Risk Factors for Physical Abuse

family and caregiver characteristics that are statistically associated with a higher risk of physical child abuse

Physical abuse risk rises when caregivers are stressed, isolated, impaired, exposed to violence, and lacking support.

Risk Factors for Sexual Abuse

Risk factors involve family composition.

• Living without a biological parent

• Presence of a stepfather

• Poor parental relationships

• Weak child–parent bonds.

Consequences of Maltreatment ( for the victim)

Maltreatment leads to short- and long-term physical, psychological, academic, and relational problems.

The ‘typical‘ victim in child sexual abuse cases

Abuse cases showed that the typical victim is:

• female

• abuse starts ages 5–13

• accused usually male and known to child;

• abuse often repeated over years.

The ‘Typical’ accused in child sexual abuse cases

• The typical accused is male, in his early 30s when abuse begins

• usually known to the child (most often a parent or relative)

• with abuse lasting several years and involving multiple offences

• while stranger abuse is rare.

The ‘ Typical’ offence in a sexual abuse case

The typical offence involves repeated abuse lasting several years, usually without explicit threats, although when threats are present they are often directed at the physical safety of the child or the child’s family.