Child Abuse Review最新文献

How do judges assess witness credibility? This question is particularly important in cases where child victims testify. These cases are usually of a sensitive nature (e.g., involving allegations of abuse) where there are no other testimonial or material evidence to corroborate the account of child victims. To better understand what actually happens when judges preside over trials about sexual interference, and how, in actual courtrooms, they use demeanour to assess the credibility of child victims, we conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of real courts judgements (n = 44). The results highlighted that when assessing credibility in actual courtrooms, judges make a variety of inferences from the demeanour of child victims who testify live, with striking differences (and similarities) when defendants are found not guilty than when they are found guilty. The results of our descriptive study also provided unique insights about (correct and incorrect) beliefs judges hold about child witnesses, and how, if children fail to display behaviour they are expected to display, or if they display behaviour they are not expected to display, child victims could face difficulties at several stages of the judicial process. We discuss the results based on the literature on nonverbal behaviour and child witnesses, explaining their scope for scholars and legal practitioners.

Adverse childhood experiences are a factor that can have a broad impact on different dimensions of health in different eras. This research aimed to investigate the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and smoking in children through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Three databases, including PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus, were selected for manuscript searches. These three databases were searched until July 2022. This search was limited to English. For this study, the odds ratio or risk ratio and 95% confidence interval were extracted. The odds ratio pool was performed using the random-effects method reported. An analysis was done based on the types of adverse childhood experiences and an analysis based on sex. The year of publication of the earliest and last publication included in this analysis was, respectively, 2003 and 2022. After screening the manuscripts, finally, 39 studies remained for this study. Adverse childhood experiences are associated with an increased risk of smoking in children [odds ratio 1.69; CI = 1.55–1.85; z = 11.80; p < 0.001; I² = 92.6%]. Components of adverse childhood experiences, including emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical maltreatment and physical neglect, were associated with increased smoking. The present study showed that adverse childhood experiences provide a context that increases the possibility of smoking in children. It is necessary to pay attention to the dimensions of health and behaviour in this group.

China has a high prevalence of child maltreatment and a culture accepting of harsh parenting with no consensus regarding its adverse outcomes. The current study seeks to address this issue by synthesising the effects of harsh parenting on the socio-emotional outcomes of Chinese children and youths through a systematic review of relevant literature. A systematic search was conducted to collect articles published from 1991 to 2021 based on the PRISMA guidelines. This study captured the bivariate relationships between harsh parenting and the socio-emotional outcomes of children and youths between the ages of 6–17. Forty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. Three domains of socio-emotional outcomes, including internalising problems, externalising problems, and social outcomes were identified. Studies consistently reported evidence of the significant association between harsh parenting and various externalising problems. However, mixed results were found regarding the association between harsh parenting and internalising problems. No study examined the physical health outcomes. More research is needed to further clarify the relationship between harsh parenting and internalising problems as well as health outcomes.

Young people's voices detailing how they experienced engagement with the criminal justice system following child sexual abuse, what was helpful or unhelpful and how services can be improved to minimise secondary victimisation and maximise the potential for healing are largely absent from the research literature. This paper draws on semi-structured interviews with a culturally diverse sample (n = 47) of young people aged 14 to 25 across Ireland and Canada about their experiences of disclosure and engagement with systems. Data were collected pertaining to experiences engaging with law enforcement personnel using thematic analysis with a trauma-informed lens. The research identified three key themes: the importance of feeling safe through kindness, transparency and being believed; the importance of having a say; and the importance of timely court processes. The study builds on the small body of qualitative research illustrating young people's lived experiences of engaging with the criminal justice system and provides empirical support for promoting a trauma-informed approach in how police engage with young people. Guidance is offered for police professionals on how to engage with adolescents following sexual abuse.

Existing literature documents connections between short birth spacing (birth-to-conception interval of under 18 months) and the risk of child maltreatment, but explanations for this relation are understudied. We hypothesise that short birth spacing predicts child maltreatment, and it mediates the association between maternal history of childhood maltreatment and their child's risk of abuse and neglect. We use data for second and higher parity children from the Prospective Study of Infant Development (n = 335) and fit logistic regression models with relevant covariates to examine the association between maternal history of childhood maltreatment, her offspring's short birth spacing and her offspring's child maltreatment (CM) as measured by Child Protective Services (CPS) assessments. Findings demonstrate that children of mothers who reported experiencing any abuse or neglect during childhood have a higher likelihood of being born shortly spaced and a higher likelihood of CM. Additionally, short birth spacing is associated with increased likelihood of CM. No evidence for mediation from maternal history of maltreatment to CM operating through short birth spacing was detected. We conclude that maternal history of childhood maltreatment and short birth spacing are independent, additive factors for CM risk.

The present study examined adults' interpretations of invitations using the word ‘time’. Recent research has demonstrated that children may misunderstand these invitations as solely requesting temporal information (Friend et al., 2022). This study tested whether adults perceive the ambiguity in these invitations and whether they understand the source of children's pseudotemporal errors. We examined 401 adult participants' perceptions of invitations using the word ‘time’, varying the phrasing of the invitation (about the time vs. what happened) and whether the participant had exposure to a child's pseudotemporal response. Adults largely interpreted the invitations as requests for what happened during an event, not requests for when an event occurred. They rated the invitations as clear, not difficult and appropriate for elementary-aged children. However, they were more likely to rate about the time invitations as temporal compared to what happened invitations. Additionally, their perceptions of clarity and age appropriateness decreased when they were exposed to children's overtly pseudotemporal responses. These results suggest that although adults typically fail to identify the ambiguity in invitations using the word ‘time’, they are able to adjust their interpretation of the questions, at least when they are provided clear evidence of children's misinterpretation.

Victims of child sexual abuse (CSA) in criminal proceedings face a range of stress factors. In response to this, collaboration between criminal justice and child protection professionals has been established both legally and informally, such as in the newly established Childhood Houses in Germany, which follow the model of the Scandinavian Barnahus to reduce stress and prevent revictimisation. This study intends to identify facilitating and inhibiting factors in the collaboration between the child protection and criminal justice systems in cases of CSA in Germany. Twenty-eight qualitative interviews with experts from child protection, like counselling centre employees (n = 5), psychosocial court supporters (n = 5) and youth welfare office workers (n = 5), and the criminal justice system, like prosecutors (n = 5), police officers (n = 5) and attorneys (n = 3). The interviews are structured by a questionnaire and analysed using Kuckartz's method of qualitative content analysis (QCA). Findings show that key factors like information flow, assessments of collaboration partners, uncertainties about laws and actors' perspectives on reporting and networking determine the success or failure of interagency collaboration.

Among the Dagbamba of northern Ghana, the customary practice of child fostering is not the sole responsibility of biological parents, but rather a collective responsibility of the extended family and the larger society. This makes child fostering an age-old, informal socio-cultural practice and an integral aspect of social life. Even though the intentions behind child fostering are often good, fostering may also be associated with some dangers such as child labour. In recent years, the debate as to whether child fostering amounts to child labour has been extended to northern Ghana's alleged witches' camps; places where elderly women accused of witchcraft are sheltered. Drawing on one-to-one interviews with selected children, alleged witches and community elders, and supplemented by personal experiences growing up in Dagbambaland, this article examines child fostering in relation to child labour in these settlements. Using qualitative ethnographic data, our findings show that what is described as child labour in these settlements is a necessary evil for the category of children who live in these settlements.