Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
J Interpers Violence. 2022 Jul;37(13-14):NP12375-NP12397. doi: 10.1177/0886260521997941. Epub 2021 Mar 9.
In child sexual abuse cases, a central part of the child's testimony is their description of the abuse episode. However, it is often difficult for children to describe the body mechanics of abuse, and miscommunications are likely to occur. In the present study, we examined questions about the mechanics of abuse in trial transcripts ( = 63) to identify sources of miscommunication ( = 130) between attorneys and children (5-12 years old, age at trial = 9.44, = 1.97). We found that both attorneys and children used imprecise language, which led to miscommunication. Specifically, the imprecise use of sexual terminology and the word "touch," polarity items, broad open-ended questions, anaphora and elliptical questions, and "how" questions led to imprecision in attorneys' questions. Imprecise attorney questions often elicited underinformative answers from children, including misinterpretations of the grain size (i.e., level of detail) requested. In response to these underinformative answers, attorneys at times asked highly focused and leading questions, which led to further miscommunications. Implications and recommendations for future research on how best to elicit details about the mechanics of abuse from children are discussed.
在儿童性虐待案件中，儿童证词的一个核心部分是他们对虐待事件的描述。然而，儿童往往难以描述虐待的身体力学，并且很可能会出现误解。在本研究中，我们检查了审判记录中的有关虐待力学的问题（n=63），以确定律师和儿童（5-12 岁，审判时的年龄=9.44，n=1.97）之间的误解来源。我们发现，律师和儿童都使用了不精确的语言，这导致了误解。具体来说，性术语和“触摸”一词的不精确使用、极性项、广泛的开放式问题、回指和省略问题以及“如何”问题导致律师问题不精确。不准确的律师问题常常导致儿童提供不完整的答案，包括对请求的详细程度（即粒度）的误解。针对这些不完整的答案，律师有时会提出高度集中和引导性的问题，这导致了进一步的误解。讨论了如何最好地从儿童那里引出有关虐待力学细节的未来研究的意义和建议。
