Abstract
Communicative analysis of the allegations of child sexual abuse: The role of age. Many
studies have systematically explored the association between interviewing conditions and
the quantity and quality of information retrieved by child-witnesses in both laboratory and
forensic settings. Because alleged victims are often the only available source of information,
this study aims to investigate the interactional dynamics of question-response in the
allegations of child sexual abuse, with particular attention to the role of age of the child in
this process. Transcripts of 76 forensic interviews of alleged victims between the ages of 4
and 17 years were analyzed: each testimony was divided into utterances that were coded
according to the format of question and response. Our results showed that closed-ended
questions (yes/no questions) are the most used in the interviews and that there are age differences
in the way the interviews are managed and in the quality of the information obtained.
In particular, preschool children seem to have the greatest difficulty in entering into
the interaction process of the forensic interview.
Translated title of the contribution | [Autom. eng. transl.] Communicative analysis of the hearing of the child victim of sexual abuse: the role of age |
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Original language | Italian |
Pages (from-to) | 51-69 |
Number of pages | 19 |
Journal | Maltrattamento e Abuso all'Infanzia |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Keywords
- abuso sessuale infantile
- analisi dell’intervista
- child sexual abuse
- child testimony
- forensic interview
- intervista forense
- research interview
- testimonianza infantile