Essay --

Even though I am aware that in that location have been majuscule strides forward, especially deep down the past decade, in the implementation of safer and more constructive methods, in regards to nipper interviewing practices, I am appalled at the gross negligence of our arbiter system, in their failure to protect children from the brutal onslaught of such alter interrogation. Not only does it fail to safeguard a childs health and well-fare, but it also proves counterproductive in the gathering of trustworthy testimony, and so therefore does not ultimately serve the constructs of arbitrator, either. The criminal justice system, in the United States, has been very slow in recognizing and competently employing the certain volume of relevant research data that has been available, for the past century, on the idea of the significant differences in the psychological and neurological differences between children and adults. In Europe, there was substantial and illuminating resear ch being carried extinct, at the turn of the twentieth century. In the work of Alfred Binet (1900), on external forces of suggestibility, free recall, and the inherent pressures resulting from a childs eagerness to please adults, and William Sterns (1910) research, on the detrimental personal effects of repeated questioning and leading questions, which were found to literally alter future recall of the same event, there was an emergence of a lot valuable insight into the subject of child witness testimony (Bruck, 1993, p. 406). An account statement of why the U.S. was so slow to embrace these valuable findings lies in the differences in the judicial systems, of these countries. In much of Europe there is an inquisitorial spurt of trail, whereby a judge is answerable for interviewing witnesses. Th... ...g disorder, and an on-going battle with depression. In reading roughly this case, I am struck first and foremost, by the damaging effects of improper(a)ly executed child witnes s interrogation practices, and the enormous value of the immense body of research and the resultantly improved understanding of the effects of the proper handling of such a delicate undertaking. I cant help but feel that the interrogation process itself, can in effect be a traumatic event, and the manner in which it is carried tabu acting as either a benefit or an added stressor, to a child already in obvious distress. These considerations are directly responsible for so many cases of child abuse not being reported, out of a fear of worsening an already painful experience, and underline the great need for, and value of, such protective and progressive institutions, such as child advocacy centers.