Be sure that your paper contains:
An introduction.
The main body, which is subdivided by topic and subtopic.
A summary of your findings. Your summary (synthesis) should draw a conclusion (implications) based on your review of the research concerning the problem you focused on within the population you chose.
Your literature review will be 6-8 pages, and the findings and implications will mirror the second part of your Signature Assignment in your presentation, as you will elaborate on the gap/problem and implications to educate your audience through your presentation.
Length: 6-8 pages, not including title or reference pages
References: Include a minimum of 15-20 scholarly resources.
~~~PLEASE USE THIS Annotated Outline for the LITERATURE REVIEW ~~~~
Introduction
Thesis: Children can be reliable eyewitnesses as they can provide accurate and reliable information in criminal cases as eyewitnesses. However, to increase this reliability, several aspects must be considered, such as children's memory retention, age, interview format, and time factor.
Body of the Essay
Background Information in Children Eye-witnessing
Until the 1980s, Canada regarded children as unreliable witnesses in criminal cases as their witnesses were considered unreliable because of their easy manipulation and fortress.
Since then, there have been dramatic changes and reforms in professional practices which allow children who have been victims of different abuses to testify and work as eyewitnesses in criminal courts (Bala, 2018)
Many countries' old laws resulted from the belief that they were untrustworthy and prone to making fantasies about abuse.
Women's movements in the late 1970s created an environment where children survivors came out with accounts of their experiences
Psychological research started to test children's reliability as witnesses, as many courts were prone to now accepting children as witnesses.
Competence of children to testify
Before any child can testify, it is vital to test whether a child is competent enough through different methods and processes.
Children can provide accurate information about a crime, although their retrieval ability is affected by their memory retention and retrieval mechanism (pipe et al., 2004)
Children are more reliable than adults as their witnessing information is not contradicted or interfered with life experiences or prior knowledge on the case (Cambridge University, 2022)
Factors to consider when using children as eyewitnesses
Children are prone to more accurate and reliable information from their witness experiences in uniformed personnel and administrator presence.
The level of abuse is also a factor for consideration. Children who are severely abused are more prone to unreliable information than un-abused children (Lowenstein et al.,2010)
Repeated and clinician-assisted interviews generate more errors and unreliable information in children's reports in courts. (Melinder et al., 2010)
Age is also a factor of consideration when using children as eyewitnesses. Younger children will provide more accurate information than older children (Goodman et al., 2001)
Time for which the crime occurred. Children have shown sensitivity to time passage after a crime has occurred. In many cases, they tend to forget some critical information about the crime they witnessed after some time and so immediate witnessing is of great importance in providing efficient evidence (Flin et al., 1992)
How to facilitate children’s eyewitness Recall
Interviewing the children occasionally with a revised cognitive interview is more efficient for them recalling the crime scene than a standard interview (McCauley et al., 2000)
Edge Memory of children is affected by script knowledge, memory storage capacity, and memory strength; therefore, to help them recall most of the critical information during eyewitness, it is paramount to give attention to prior knowledge of the child (Segovia & Crossman)
Using narrative forms when structuring information about a crime. Children find it easier to structure all the information they witnessed about a crime through using a narrative form that is storytelling than question and answer form (Segovia & Crossman)
Conclusion
Children can be a source of reliable information regarding criminal cases.
However, it is vital to consider the child's memory retention and age before involving them in any criminal case as eyewitnesses.
The form of narration of the information details should also be considered in any case.
As with any other person, children are more reliable in the presence of uniformed administrators than non-uniformed ones.
Every child can produce reliable information; it is the adults involved and court personnel's responsibility to help them provide accurate and reliable information by boosting their memory retention.
Literature Review
Introduction
For a very long time, courts of law have relied on the testimony of eyewitnesses to decide the legitimacy of various cases. It could be because it is the most reliable way to establish the facts surrounding a criminal case. But in recent years, efforts from authorities like The Innocence Project, whose mission is to exonerate the wrongfully convicted, have cast doubt on the reliability and consistency of eyewitness testimony (Taylor & Dando, 2018). It is significant to provide a detailed discussion of instances when eyewitness testimony was used, as well as court cases where eyewitnesses gave crucial evidence to determine how reliable eyewitness testimony is and what factors affect the reliability of children’s eyewitnesses.
Background information
Children are increasingly involved in the judicial system due to issues like child abuse and custody battles, and as a result, the kid’s function as a witness has garnered a lot of attention as of late. A better knowledge of what circumstances impact a child’s capacity to offer accurate reports of events they observed is necessary if the child’s voice is to be heard and trusted (Carnevale et al., 2020). Recall reliability is affected by various factors, including the child’s age and developmental stage, the severity of the trauma, the context in which it occurred, and the nature of the questions asked.
Literature Review
Canada’s view of juveniles as untrustworthy witnesses in court trials did not change until the 1980s. In the years after, significant revisions to professional standards have made it possible for abused children to appear in criminal courts as witnesses. According to Pipe et al. (2004), witnesses cannot be relied upon because of forgetfulness and old age. Evidence suggests that older witnesses are not as reliable as their younger counterparts. Older witnesses are more adamant and confident than younger ones because they provide more inaccurate responses and are more convincing. Because of their limited field of view, eyewitness testimony might sometimes be discredited. Eyewitnesses need a solid visual presentation to back up their testimony in court (Cati, 2019). The police often use photo lineups to have potential witnesses identify suspects. This method may be useless in cases where an eyewitness can positively identify a suspect by comparing facial features. Distractions, such as violence that occur at the exact time of an occurrence might contaminate the testimony of eyewitnesses (Perez et al., 2022). Because of the prevalence of wrongful convictions, desensitized juries, and pressured confessions given to government officials, faith in eyewitness evidence has diminished.
The reliability of juvenile witnesses has long been questioned, making eyewitness testimony a potentially contentious issue. It is often via the testimony of an eyewitness that the jury or judge can reach a verdict of guilt or innocence in a case. Several investigations have been conducted to determine whether or not it is credible to use a youngster as an eyewitness in a legal proceeding (Callaghan et al., 2018). The testimony of a kid witness may have a profound impact and sway a jury in some cases. Whether or whether a child’s testimony of a past or present memory may be accepted or susceptible in a sentence has been questioned and is a worry of many individuals in the legal profession (Carnevale et al., 2020). There has been a study into what influences exist between an interviewer and a kid that might undermine the credibility of a child’s eyewitness evidence. The study demonstrates how children of varying ages produce reliable and unreliable information and highlights the need to provide the kid with high-quality data throughout the interview process.
According to Callaghan et al. (2018), lawyers often try to discredit a kid’s witness based on how they were interviewed; thus, it’s essential to pay attention when social workers, police officers, doctors, and others examine a youngster. There is “a fundamental need for clearer criteria for conducting interviews with children,” as Fouche and Hammond put it, and they agree with this assessment (Brubacher et al., 2019). Interviews with children are often ill-planned, leading to repeated attempts to elicit details about the events children were present. The young witness’s confusion and anguish may be exacerbated due to this. Children may experience “secondary victimization” as a consequence of court proceedings, according to research presented by Mastroberardino et al. (2012). Therefore, it is essential to pay great attention throughout the interviewing process to increase memory accuracy and lessen the likelihood of subsequent trauma. Data retrieval needs scrutiny to avoid unnecessary follow-up interviews with children.
According to Wise & Kehn (2020), criminals often get away with more when they target children. It is because of the widespread belief that children cannot provide reliable testimony and the general public’s perception of their helplessness. It is a prevalent misconception that youngsters can absorb and remember knowledge just as well as adults (Birkett, 1996); however, research shows this is not the case. Consequently, the methods of inquiry used during the interviewing phase play a crucial role in fostering reliable witness testimony from youngsters.
Long-held beliefs about children’s integrity are hard to dispel. According to the literature reviewed by Ariss (2021), children are more suggestible than adults and have weak recollections. Current debates on these topics will be expanded upon during this dissertation.
Because of the increased likelihood of rehearsing and solidifying the memories associated with repeated experiences, they may be distinct from those of once-only occurrences. In line with this, it is easier to recall commonalities between them than differences while recalling past events (Cati, 2019). Memory rep-presentations of repeated features are also more robust, indicating that they are less susceptible to suggestion and misinformation effects. However, children’s stories tend to omit details that remain consistent across encounters, making them more vulnerable to suggestions in at least some contexts. However, youngsters recall unique experiences more than children’s general or scripted memories (Penuel, 2020).
Whether or not the kid is smart enough to notice the event is a factor in whether or not they can witness it. According to Wyman et al. (2021), age and maturity will likely influence a child’s capacity to recall events and communicate. It begs the issue of whether or not the youngster can comprehend the inquiry and recall the data that was first saved at the time of the occurrence (Brubacher et al., 2019). It is crucial for the child not only to remember the events in question but also to be able to articulate their thoughts and feelings about them to testify in a criminal case as a child.
Some of the most useful leads in criminal investigations might come from the youngest witnesses: children. However, the child’s age and capacity for remembering details must be considered before they may be used as witnesses in a criminal proceeding (Meis, 2022). Details of the content and their presentation should be evaluated in every circumstance. Children, like adults, are more likely to cooperate with adults wearing uniforms. Every kid can provide correct information; it is the job of adults and court staff to assist them by improving their ability to remember details.
Defence counsel will utilize the law to cast doubt on the testimony of a juvenile witness by casting doubt on the witness’s competency and credibility; because of this, distinguishing between “competency” and “credibility” is crucial. According to London et al. (2021), the ability to see, remember and express the truth is what we mean by “competence” in the context of a kid. The judge presiding over the trial has the authority to evaluate whether or not a child witness is competent and to bar the kid from testifying if they do not. According to Henig et al. (2022), the credibility of a juvenile witness relates to how easily they may be believed as a witness. It has been maintained that even if a minor satisfies the legal definition of competence, it does not make them reliable witnesses.
For this reason, the child must have the cognitive capacity to sort out the event they have seen and to distinguish it from other ideas and fancies. The child’s mental, moral, and emotional abilities should be considered case-by-case when determining the child’s fitness to testify (Ariss, 2021). It emphasizes the need to consider the child’s development stage with the specifics of the situation and the child’s personality while dealing with them as witnesses.
In conclusion, children are increasingly being called upon to testify in court, making it imperative that we address the issue of their competence and legitimacy as witnesses. Interview data retrieval is the link between expertise and trustworthiness in this research. The interaction between the interviewer and the kid will shape the youngster’s testimony. Judges often base their rulings on the testimony of witnesses who saw what happened and were able to form their own opinions based on the information presented to them. It is crucial to know where a crime was committed to protect the scene, alert authorities, and collect evidence that can be used in court. Since kids can recall the crime committed with innocence and good memory, the weight of the testimony relies on the disclosed and documented unraveling events. However, the court may be exposed to false testimony from children who play the role of eyewitnesses because they are instructed to do so. Adult jurisprudence and the team’s investigative work are needed to persuade the court system of the gravity of the crime committed.
References
Ariss, R. (2021). Bearing witness: Creating the conditions of justice for First Nations children. Canadian Journal of Law and Society/La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société, 36(1), 113-133.
Birkett, M. (1996). The competency of children as eye witnesses: the effect question order has on the accuracy of recall (Doctoral dissertation).
Brubacher, S. P., Peterson, C., La Rooy, D., Dickinson, J. J., & Poole, D. A. (2019). How children talk about events: Implications for eliciting and analyzing eyewitness reports. Developmental Review, 51, 70-89.
Callaghan, J. E., Alexander, J. H., Sixsmith, J., & Fellin, L. C. (2018). Beyond “witnessing”: Children’s experiences of coercive control in domestic violence and abuse. Journal of interpersonal violence, 33(10), 1551-1581.
Carnevale, S., Di Napoli, I., Esposito, C., Arcidiacono, C., & Procentese, F. (2020). Children witnessing domestic violence in the voice of health and social professionals dealing with contrasting gender violence. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(12), 4463.
Cati, A. (2019). The vulnerable gaze of the migrant: Eye-witnessing and drifting subjectivity in documentary web series. Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, (18), 54-69.
Henig, L., & Ebbrecht-Hartmann, T. (2022). Witnessing Eva Stories: Media witnessing and self-inscription in social media memory. new media & society, 24(1), 202-226.
London, K., Kulkofsky, S., & Perez, C. O. (2021). Factors affecting the reliability of children’s forensic reports. Current Issues in Memory: Memory Research in the Public Interest, 104.
Mastroberardino, S., Natali, V., & Candel, I. (2012). The effect of eye closure on children’s eyewitness testimonies. Psychology, Crime & Law, 18(3), 245-257.
Meis, M. (2022). Civil-Resistance Videography as Human Rights Practice: The Non-Survivor Testimony and the Striving for Criminal Jurisdiction in Syria and Beyond. Journal of Human Rights Practice.
Penuel, J. (2020). Mussolini’s Death March: Eyewitness Accounts of Italian Soldiers on the Eastern Front. University Press of Kansas.
Perez, C. O., London, K., & Otgaar, H. (2022). A review of the differential contributions of language abilities to children’s eyewitness memory and suggestibility. Developmental Review, 63, 101009.
Pipe, M. E., Lamb, M. E., Orbach, Y., & Esplin, P. W. (2004). Recent research on children’s testimony about experienced and witnessed events. Developmental Review, 24(4), 440-468.
Taylor, D. A., & Dando, C. J. (2018). Eyewitness memory in face-to-face and immersive avatar-to-avatar contexts. Frontiers in Psychology, 507.
Wise, R. A., & Kehn, A. (2020). Can the effectiveness of eyewitness expert testimony be improved?. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 27(2), 315-330.
Wyman, J., Saykaly, C., & Talwar, V. (2021). The effectiveness of free-recall, cognitive instruction and closed-ended questions when students with and without disabilities provide eyewitness reports of another’s transgression. Psychology, Crime & Law, 27(9), 849-868.