Cross T P, De Vos E, Whitcomb D
Education Development Center, Inc., Newton, MA 02160.
Child Abuse Negl. 1994 Aug;18(8):663-77. doi: 10.1016/0145-2134(94)90016-7.
This study examined the relationship of case characteristics, maternal support, and child psychopathology to acceptance of child sexual abuse cases for prosecution. Cases referred to prosecutors' offices over a 1-year period in four urban jurisdictions (N = 431) were examined, and a smaller sample of mothers and children (N = 289) were interviewed as well. Background characteristics of the perpetrator and victim, severity of abuse, and nature of available evidence were all significantly related to acceptance for prosecution. Specific independent predictors of acceptance were victim age, presence of oral-genital abuse, use or threat of force, duration of abuse, and presence of physical or eyewitness evidence. With other variables controlled, maternal support was higher and child internalizing psychopathology lower in accepted cases. The results are interpreted in terms of prosecutors' concern for serving justice and protecting children and their perceptions of their ability to prosecute cases successfully.
本研究考察了案件特征、母亲支持以及儿童精神病理学与儿童性虐待案件起诉受理之间的关系。研究对四个城市辖区在一年时间内提交给检察官办公室的案件（N = 431）进行了审查，还对一小部分母亲和儿童样本（N = 289）进行了访谈。犯罪者和受害者的背景特征、虐待的严重程度以及现有证据的性质均与起诉受理显著相关。受理的具体独立预测因素包括受害者年龄、口交虐待的存在、使用武力或武力威胁、虐待持续时间以及身体证据或目击证人证据的存在。在控制其他变量的情况下，受理案件中母亲的支持度更高，儿童内化性精神病理学程度更低。研究结果从检察官对伸张正义和保护儿童的关注以及他们对成功起诉案件能力的认知角度进行了解释。
