Children's perceived emotional behavior at disclosure and prosecutors' evaluations

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychology
• Child Psychology
• Legal Psychology

Background:

• Understanding child victim emotional expression during forensic interviews is crucial.
• Prosecutorial decisions in child sexual abuse cases can be influenced by perceived child witness demeanor.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate perceived emotional behavior of child sexual abuse victims during forensic interviews.
• To determine if perceived emotions influence prosecutor evaluations of child witnesses and decisions to press charges.

Main Methods:

• Coded 98 videotaped forensic interviews (ages 4-17) for emotional indicators.
• Analyzed case files and district attorney evaluations.

Main Results:

• Children were not generally perceived as highly emotional during disclosure.
• Perceived emotional intensity increased during abuse disclosure versus neutral topics.
• Greater perceived emotional withdrawal correlated with negative prosecutor evaluations.
• Children's emotional behaviors predicted prosecutorial recommendations to file charges.

Conclusions:

• Perceived emotional withdrawal, not general emotionality, significantly impacts legal evaluations.
• Prosecutor perceptions of child victim emotional behavior are a factor in case processing.
• Findings highlight the nuanced role of emotional expression in forensic settings.