Psychological analysis of child witness testimony

Abstract

Purpose of the study: Because children's own perception, memory and expressive powers differ significantly from those of adults, resulting in a difference between child and adult witnesses, the debate on the competence of the child as a witness has shifted to a judgement on the reliability of the child's testimony in the context of the development of psycho-cognitive science. Methodology: The physiological and psychological characteristics of child witnesses determine their deficiencies in the encoding, storage and extraction of memory information, and therefore the reliability of child testimonies is a key and difficult issue. For this reason, this paper uses documentary analysis to further analyse child witness testimony as the focus of the study. Main Findings: A psychological analysis of the multiple factors that affect the reliability of children's testimony. Two conclusions are drawn: 1. Children are in principle competent to testify. The development of children's testimonial competence leads to the conclusion that even very young children can remember events that happened long ago, especially if they already have prior knowledge about them. 2. Practical guidance for improving the truthfulness of the content of child witness statements improves the reliability of child witness testimony. Children can be influenced in a variety of ways to recount detailed and complete accounts of events that did not occur, such that professionals are unable to distinguish between false and truthful accounts. Perhaps the next step is to improve "questioning techniques". Novelty of the study: Correct and reliable witness testimony is key to the investigation and trial process. The importance of child witness testimony has become increasingly apparent in recent years as the number of cases involving children has increased. This issue has previously only been the focus of jurists, and this study analyses it from a psychological perspective, laying the groundwork for subsequent research in law and psychology.