The Child Witness

When referring to the child witness, never refer to the child as the "victim." Call the child the complaining witness or the child witness. If the defense is that there was no abuse, then there is no crime and with no crime there is no victim. If others refer to the child as the victim, make an objection or move for a mistrial. Also permitting the complaining witness to be identified as the victim may subtly but powerfully condition the jury to believe there was a crime. If the mental health professional ever, in reports, depositions, or notes, refers to the child as the victim, use this as evidence that the professional had made up his mind from the beginning.

Understanding the nature of memory is necessary in evaluating child sexual abuse. The fact that memory is reconstruction is generally accepted in the scientific community (Dawes, 1988; Goodman and Hahn, 1987; Loftus and Ketcham, 1991; Wakefield and Underwager, 1994b, 1994c). People may believe that their memories are a process of uncovering what actually happened, as though a videotape had been made and stored in the brain and is being replayed, but our memories are largely determined by our current beliefs and feelings. Through this process of reconstruction, people can come to believe firmly in events that never happened.

When there is an allegation of sexual abuse, children may be repeatedly interviewed by adults who believe that the abuse is real. The adults may ask leading questions and provide information to the child about what supposedly happened. They may even tell the child that they already know about the abuse. The child may be placed in "disclosure-based" play therapy and further encouraged to elaborate on the abuse. Through this process of social influence, adults may inadvertently encourage false stories about abuse which can become part of the child's memory.