陪审员对性虐待审判中儿童目击证人证词的看法。

Juror perceptions of child eyewitness testimony in a sexual abuse trial.

作者信息

Holcomb Matthew J, Jacquin Kristine M

机构信息

Department of Psychology, Mississippi State University, USA.

出版信息

J Child Sex Abus. 2007;16(2):79-95. doi: 10.1300/J070v16n02_05.

DOI:10.1300/J070v16n02_05

PMID:17895233

Abstract

A mock child sexual abuse trial was used to study juror perceptions of child eyewitnesses. The child's age (5, 11, or 16) and level of involvement (victim or bystander) were varied across conditions in order to test their impact on juror perceptions and verdict. Results indicated a significant effect of level of involvement on the verdict; defendants in trials involving a bystander witness received higher guilt ratings than defendants in trials with a victim-witness. In addition, jurors perceived the child's eyewitness testimony to be more believable when the child was younger. Implications for the impact of these findings on real-life child sexual abuse cases are discussed.

摘要

一项模拟儿童性虐待审判被用于研究陪审员对儿童证人的看法。儿童的年龄（5岁、11岁或16岁）和参与程度（受害者或旁观者）在不同条件下有所变化，以测试它们对陪审员看法和裁决的影响。结果表明，参与程度对裁决有显著影响；涉及旁观者证人的审判中的被告比有受害者证人的审判中的被告获得更高的有罪评级。此外，当儿童较小时，陪审员认为儿童的目击证词更可信。文中讨论了这些发现对现实生活中儿童性虐待案件的影响。