Pantell Robert H
Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, and Department of Pediatrics, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii
Pediatrics. 2017 Mar;139(3). doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-4008. Epub 2017 Feb 20.
Beginning in the 1980s, children have increasingly served as witnesses in the criminal, civil, and family courts; currently, >100 000 children appear in court each year. This statement updates the 1992 American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy statement "The Child as a Witness" and the subsequent 1999 "The Child in Court: A Subject Review." It also builds on existing AAP policy on adverse life events affecting children and resources developed to understand and address childhood trauma. The purpose of this policy statement is to provide background information on some of the legal issues involving children testifying in court, including the accuracy and psychological impact of child testimony; to provide suggestions for how pediatricians can support patients who will testify in court; and to make recommendations for policy improvements to minimize the adverse psychological consequences for child witnesses. These recommendations are, for the most part, based on studies on the psychological and physiologic consequences of children witnessing and experiencing violence, as well as appearing in court, that have emerged since the previous AAP publications on the subject. The goal is to reduce the secondary traumatization of and long-term consequences for children providing testimony about violence they have experienced or witnessed. This statement primarily addresses children appearing in court as victims of physical or sexual abuse or as witnesses of violent acts; most of the scientific literature addresses these specific situations. It may apply, in certain situations, to children required to provide testimony in custody disputes, child welfare proceedings, or immigration court. It does not address children appearing in court as offenders or as part of juvenile justice proceedings.
从20世纪80年代开始，儿童越来越多地在刑事、民事和家庭法庭上充当证人；目前，每年有超过10万名儿童出庭。本声明更新了1992年美国儿科学会（AAP）的政策声明《儿童作为证人》以及随后1999年的《法庭上的儿童：主题综述》。它还基于AAP关于影响儿童的不良生活事件的现有政策以及为理解和应对儿童创伤而开发的资源。本政策声明的目的是提供一些涉及儿童在法庭上作证的法律问题的背景信息，包括儿童证言的准确性和心理影响；提供关于儿科医生如何支持将在法庭上作证的患者的建议；并提出政策改进建议，以尽量减少对儿童证人的不良心理后果。这些建议在很大程度上基于自AAP此前关于该主题的出版物以来出现的有关儿童目睹和经历暴力以及出庭的心理和生理后果的研究。目标是减少为自己经历或目睹的暴力作证的儿童的二次创伤和长期后果。本声明主要涉及作为身体或性虐待受害者或暴力行为证人出庭的儿童；大多数科学文献都涉及这些具体情况。在某些情况下，它可能适用于在监护权纠纷、儿童福利程序或移民法庭中需要提供证言的儿童。它不涉及作为犯罪者或作为少年司法程序一部分出庭的儿童。
