Goodman Gail S, Jones Olivia, McLeod Cynthia
1 University of California, CA, USA.
2 Howard University, Washington, DC, USA.
J Interpers Violence. 2017 Mar;32(6):926-939. doi: 10.1177/0886260516657358.
The modern scientific study of children's eyewitness memory was initially motivated, in important part, by the sensational preschool investigations and prosecutions of the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., the McMartin case, the Kelly Michaels case, the Country Walk case). These cases form the centerpiece of Professor Cheit's scholarly book, The Witch-Hunt Narrative. In recent years, researchers have made great strides in helping the legal system tackle some of the complex issues involved in child sexual abuse investigations. While commenting on Professor Cheit's book, we review areas of consensus regarding child forensic interviewing, areas of disconnect between scientific laboratory studies and needs of the legal system, and the potential effects of bias on the scientific enterprise relevant to Professor Cheit's treatise. Although we find that there is consensus in the field regarding a set of general principles, there is often room for disagreement in evaluating a particular case, and there is still much to be learned about how best to interview children when allegations of sexual abuse arise.
现代对儿童目击证人记忆的科学研究，在很大程度上最初是由20世纪80年代和90年代轰动一时的学前儿童调查和起诉事件（如麦克马丁案、凯利·迈克尔斯案、乡村漫步案）推动的。这些案件构成了切特教授学术著作《猎巫叙事》的核心内容。近年来，研究人员在帮助法律系统解决儿童性虐待调查中涉及的一些复杂问题方面取得了巨大进展。在评论切特教授的书时，我们审视了儿童法医询问方面的共识领域、科学实验室研究与法律系统需求之间的脱节领域，以及偏见对与切特教授论文相关的科学事业的潜在影响。尽管我们发现该领域在一套一般原则上存在共识，但在评估特定案件时往往存在分歧空间，而且在性虐待指控出现时如何以最佳方式询问儿童仍有许多需要了解的地方。
