Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Children’s Knowledge of the Juvenile Dependency Court System

Abstract

The current study examined age differences in maltreated and nonmaltreated children's knowledge of juvenile dependency court vocabulary and proceedings. One hundred and sixty-seven children aged 4-14 years were questioned about their understanding of legal vocabulary and about the content of a story depicting a child involved in dependency court. Age-related increases emerged across all measures of children's legal understanding. Direct experience with the dependency system was also related to the accuracy of children's legal knowledge. Children with greater experience in the dependency system were more knowledgeable than children with no such experience, although even the oldest maltreated children with considerable dependency system experience evidenced some deficits in legal knowledge. Overall, findings suggest children and adolescents involved in dependency proceedings need help understanding some aspects of the dependency process, and this need exists regardless of whether children have been involved in cases ongoing for some time.

Supporting children in U.S. legal proceedings: Descriptive and attitudinal data from a national survey of victim/witness assistants.

“…Supporting children by providing information also requires less specialized training compared with emotional support and may be less redundant with the services provided by other individuals involved in the legal process such as social workers, counselors, or clinicians. Providing informational support is also consistent with empirical research documenting deficits in children’s understanding of legal terminology, roles, and processes (Cooper et al, 2010; Crawford & Bull, 2006; Flin et al, 1989; Freshwater & Aldridge, 1994; Saywitz et al, 1990; Warren-Leubecker et al, 1989) and studies indicating that such deficits are related to increased levels of stress for children participating in legal contexts (Goodman et al, 1998; Quas et al, 2009). …”

“…At the same time, however, Goodman et al observed that younger children were more likely to encounter adverse legal experiences such as repeated continuances, lack of maternal support, lack of corroborative evidence, the defendant being acquitted or case being dropped, and having to testify repeatedly compared with older children. These difficulties, combined with younger children’s more limited knowledge of court-related terminology, roles, and processes (Cooper, Wallin, Quas, & Lyon, 2010; Flin, Stevenson, & Davies, 1989; Saywitz, Jaenicke, & Comparo, 1990; Warren-Leubecker, Tate, Hinton, & Ozbeck, 1989), make an equally strong argument for always or often using support persons with younger children as well as older children.…”

“…Finally, deficits in children’s understanding of legal terminology, roles, and processes are not exclusively limited to criminal proceedings. Quas et al (2009) and Cooper et al (2010) observed that children involved in dependency court did not sufficiently understand the identity or function of key legal personnel and often had difficulty comprehending decisions made during their dependency court hearings. Similarly, a qualitative study of children whose parents were divorcing concluded that children rarely had a developmentally appropriate understanding of what the divorce process entailed and provided widely disparate definitions of lawyers and judges (Pruett & Pruett, 1999).…”

The use of ground rules in investigative interviews with children: A synthesis and call for research

“…This is an important omission given that many legal situations involve terminology that children have not yet acquired (Cooper, Wallin, Quas, & Lyon, 2010;Saywitz, Jaenicke, & Camparo, 1990) and questions that are semantically complex (Korkman, Santtila, Drzewiecki, & Sandnabba, 2008;Zajac, O'Neill, & Hayne, 2012). Children can say "don't know" to such questions, but this response may not accurately reflect their knowledge.…”

A audição da criança na tomada de decisão dos magistrados

“…Os estudos demonstram que as crianças têm um escasso conhecimento relativamente aos conceitos legais (e.g. Flin, Stevenson & Davies, 1989;Saywitz, Jaenicke & Camparo, 1990) e processos judiciais, o que pode levar a crenças disfuncionais e a sentimentos negativos relativamente ao cenário jurídico (Block et al, 2010;Cooper, Wallin, Quas & Lyon, 2010;Quas, Cooper, et al, 2009;Ribeiro, 2009). Fica patente em algumas investigações que as crianças revelam sentimentos negativos sobre a sua ida a tribunal, tais como ansiedade, medo, nervosismo e apreensão (Flin et al, 1989;Goodman et al, 1992).…”