Bette L. Bottoms

Linguistic and Socioemotional Influences on the Accuracy of Children's Reports

A basic but largely neglected issue in research on the reliability of childrens testimony is the impact of certain questioning tactics (e.g., use of legalese and socioemotional intimidation) on the accuracy of childrens reports. In the present study, 5- to 7-year-old children were interviewed about a standardized play event with free-recall cues and detailed questions that were specific or misleading. Linguistic complexity of questions (complex or simple) and socioemotional context of interview (supportive or intimidating) were varied between subjects. Results indicated that children were significantly less accurate in reporting the event when questioned with complex, developmentally inappropriate questions rather than simple questions, yet children rarely voiced their comprehension failures. In addition, children interviewed by a warm, supportive interviewer were more resistant to misleading questions about the event than were children interviewed in an intimidating manner. Theoretical interpretations and implications for investigative interviewing and policy are discussed.

Effects of Social Support on Children's Eyewitness Reports: A Test of the Underlying Mechanism

Research on childrens eyewitness testimony demonstrates that interviewer-provided social support given during a mock forensic interview helps children resist an interviewers misleading suggestions about past events. We proposed and tested 1 potential mechanism underlying support effects: “Resistance Efficacy,” or childrens perceived self-efficacy for resisting an interviewers suggestions. Eighty-one 6- and 7-year-old children experienced a play event, then were interviewed about the event with misleading and specific questions. Consistent with prior research, children interviewed by a supportive person were more resistant to misleading suggestions than were those interviewed by a nonsupportive person. Although Resistance Efficacy did not mediate the effects of interviewer support in the full sample, additional analyses revealed that Resistance Efficacy may be a mediator for older, but not younger, children. Contrary to predictions, childrens preexisting social support reserves were not related to childrens interview accuracy nor to perceived Resistance Efficacy. Implications for psychological theory are discussed, as well as implications for understanding and improving childrens eyewitness reports.

Determinants of the Child Victim’s Perceived Credibility

It is heartbreaking to realize that children fall victim to crime. We like to think of childhood as a time of innocence, trust, and protection. Yet children are not immune from assault. To protect children from the dangers of such crimes as child abuse, murder, sexual exploitation, and kidnapping, legal action is often required. If legal action results in a trial, a child may be required to take the stand (Goodman, Jones et al., 1988).

Understanding Children's Use of Secrecy in the Context of Eyewitness Reports

To investigate socioemotional influences on childrens eyewitness accuracy, we examined childrens reports for activities they were motivated to conceal. Forty-eight 3–6-year-old children participated in a standardized play session with their mothers. Half of the children were told by an experimenter not to play with certain toys, but did so at the urging of their mothers, who told their children to keep the play activities secret. The remaining children were not restricted from playing with the toys, nor told by their mothers to keep the play activities secret. Later, all children were interviewed about the activities with free narrative and detailed questions. Half were given an interview that consisted of highly suggestive questions; half were given an interview consisting of specific, less suggestive questions. Results indicated that older children who were instructed to keep events secret withheld more information than did older children not told to keep events secret. Younger childrens reports were not significantly affected by the secret manipulation. There were no significant effects associated with interview type. We discuss implications for understanding the development of childrens knowledge and use of secrecy, and applications of the research to issues that arise when child witnesses give reports in legal contexts.

Jurors' Perceptions of Adolescent Sexual Assault Victims Who Have Intellectual Disabilities

Children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities are especially likely to be sexually abused. Even so, their claims are not likely to be heard in court, possibly because people assume that jurors will not believe them. We tested this assumption in a mock-trial study in which 160 men and women watched videotaped excerpts from an actual trial. As predicted, when the 16-year-old sexual assault victim was portrayed as “mildly mentally retarded” instead of as “having average intelligence,” jurors were more likely to vote guilty and had more confidence in the defendants guilt; considered the victim to be more credible and the defendant to be less credible as witnesses; and rated the victim as more honest, less capable of fabricating the sexual abuse accusation, and less likely to have fabricated the sexual abuse accusation. Men and women were affected similarly by the disability manipulation, but women were generally more pro-prosecution in their case judgments and perceptions than were men. Finally, jurors who had more liberal views toward persons with disabilities were more likely than other jurors to make pro-prosecution judgments on measures of guilt. Implications for psychological theory and the law are discussed.

Effects of Past Abuse Experiences on Children's Eyewitness Memory

Relations between child maltreatment and childrens eyewitness memory were examined. A matched sample of abused and nonabused 3- to 10-year-old children (n = 70) participated in a play session with an unfamiliar adult and were interviewed about the interaction 2 weeks later. Consistent with results from previous research, older compared to younger childrens reports were more complete and accurate. Abused and nonabused children performed similarly with several exceptions: Nonabused children were more accurate in answering specific questions, made fewer errors in identifying the unfamiliar adult in a photo identification task, and (at least for younger boys) freely recalled more information. Most effects remained when group differences in IQ and behavioral symptomology were statistically controlled. Importantly, abused and nonabused children did not differ in their accuracy or suggestibility in response to questions that were relevant to abusive actions. Among abused children, however, those who suffered more severe sexual abuse made more omission errors to specific abuse-relevant questions. Contributions to psychological theory and legal implications for understanding childrens eyewitness memory and testimony are discussed.

Memories of childhood sexual abuse: a survey of young adults.

OBJECTIVE To explore the prevalence of, characteristics of, and factors associated with forgetting of childhood sexual abuse memories in a large non-clinical sample (N = 1712). METHOD Using an anonymous survey, we asked respondents about (a) the nature and severity of their childhood abuse; (b) the continuity of their abuse memories; and (c) their experiences with others suggesting to them that they might have been abused. RESULTS A substantial minority of victims in our sample reported having temporarily forgotten their childhood sexual abuse. Forgetting was largely unassociated with victim or abuse characteristics. Compared to individuals who always remembered their abuse, however, individuals who temporarily forgot were more likely to report that someone had suggested to them that they might have experienced abuse. Those who received such suggestions were particularly likely to suspect that they may have experienced childhood sexual abuse that they do not yet remember. CONCLUSION Forgetting may be less common than implied by earlier estimates from clinical samples, yet it is not uncommon. Also, a sizable minority of the population is wondering whether they have experienced unremembered abuse, and these suspicions are linked to having encountered suggestions from others. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the phenomenon sometimes labeled repression.

Children, Social Science, and the Law

1. Children, law, social science, and policy: an introduction to the issues Bette L. Bottoms, Margaret Bull Kovera and Bradley D. McAuliff Part I. Childrens Rights, Their Capabilities, and Societys Responsibilities to Children: 2. The personal responsibility and work opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996: what will it mean for children? Brian Wilcox, Rebecca A. Colman and Jennifer M. Wyatt 3. Advocacy for childrens rights Mark Small and Susan P. Limber 4. Childrens rights and their capacities Melinda Schmidt and N. Dickon Reppucci 5. Childrens legal representation in civil litigation Ann M. Haralambie, Ann Nicholson Haralambie and Kari L. Nysse Part II. Children and Family Change: 6. Termination of parental rights to free children for adoption: conflicts between parents, children, and the state Jeffrey Haugaard and Rosemary J. Avery 7. Child custody at the crossroads: issues for a new century Charlene E. Depner 8. Children of lesbian and gay parents: research, law, and policy Charlotte J. Patterson, Megan Fulcher and Jennifer Wainwright Part III. Juvenile Aggression and Juvenile Justice: 9. Juvenile transfer to adult court: how can developmental and child psychology inform policy decision making? Randall T. Salekin 10. Youth violence: correlates, interventions and legal implications Carrie S. Fried and N. Dickon Reppucci 11. Capacity, competence, and the juvenile defendant: implications for research and policy Jennifer Woolard Part IV. Children as Victims and Witnesses: 12. The effects of community violence on children and adolescents: intervention and social policy Steve L. Berman, Wendy K. Silverman and William Kurtines 13. Preventing child abuse and neglect Mia McFarlane and Murray Levine 14. Childrens eyewitness memory: true disclosures and false reports Jennifer M. Schaaf, Kristen Weede Alexander, Gail S. Goodman, Simona Ghetti and Robin Edelstein 15. Expert testimony on the suggestibility of children: does it fit? Thomas D. Lyon 16. The status of evidentiary and procedural innovations in Child Abuse Proceedings Bradley D. McAuliff and Margaret Bull Kovera Part V. Conclusions and Future Decisions: 17. Starting a new generation of research Gary Melton 18. What will it take to bring child-focused law, policy, and research into the 21st century? Concluding thoughts Howard Davidson.

Effects of Defendant Sexual Orientation on Jurors’ Perceptions of Child Sexual Assault

We examined mock jurors’ reactions to a sexual abuse case involving a male teacher and a 10-year-old child. Because gay men are sometimes stereotyped as child molesters, we portrayed defendant sexual orientation as either gay or straight and the victim as either a boy or girl. Jurors made more pro-prosecution decisions in cases involving a gay versus straight defendant, particularly when the victim was a boy. In boy-victim cases, jurors’ emotional feelings of moral outrage toward the defendant mediated these effects. On average, women jurors were more pro-prosecution than were men. Results have implications for understanding social perceptions of cross- and same-gender child sexual abuse and juror decision making in child sexual assault cases perpetrated by homosexual and heterosexual men.

International perspectives on child abuse and children's testimony : psychological research and law

International Perspectives on Child Witnesses - Bette L Bottoms and Gail S Goodman An Introduction to the Issues Research on Childrens Suggestibility - Amye R Warren and Lucy S McGough Implications for the Investigative Interview Childrens Testimony in The Netherlands - Francien Lamers-Winkelman and Frank Buffing A Study of Statement Validity Analysis Child Sexual Abuse Investigation in Israel - Kathleen J Sternberg, Michael E Lamb and Irit Hershkowitz Evaluating Innovative Practices Children and the Courts in Canada - Louise Dezwirek Sas, David A Wolfe and Kevin Gowdey The Effect of Child Witness Research on Legislation in Great Britain - Ray Bull and Graham Davies Childrens Evidence - Rhona Flin, Brian Kearney and Kathleen Murray Scottish Research and Law The Child Witness and Legal Reforms in Australia - Sandra Shrimpton, Kim Oates and Susan Hayes Accommodating Childrens Testimony - Margaret-Ellen Pipe and Mark Henaghan Legal Reforms in New Zealand Listening to Children in South Africa - Dap Louw and Pierre Olivier Childrens Evidence - Ting-Pong Ho Mandating Change in the Legal System of Hong Kong Children on the Witness Stand - Margaret Bull Kovera and Eugene Borgida The Use of Expert Testimony and Other Procedural Innovations in US Child Sexual Abuse Trials A Decade of International Reform to Accommodate Child Witnesses - John E B Myers Steps Toward a Child Witness Code Children as Witnesses - Uma A Segal India Is Not Ready