Contrasting the Efficiency of the CBCA in the Assessment of Credibility in Violence Against Women Cases
Archival data reveal that in Spain the conviction rate for cases of gender violence is approximately 70%, whereas the conviction rate for other crimes is in the region of 90%. This dysfunction arises from a multiplicity of factors, chiefly the lack of evidence. As most gender violence occurs within...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid
2010-06-01
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| Series: | Psychosocial Intervention |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.copmadrid.org/webcopm/publicaciones/social/in2010v19n2a2.pdf |
| _version_ | 1798043776980090880 |
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| author | Ramón Arce Francisca Fariña Manuel Vilariño |
| author_facet | Ramón Arce Francisca Fariña Manuel Vilariño |
| author_sort | Ramón Arce |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Archival data reveal that in Spain the conviction rate for cases of gender violence is approximately 70%, whereas the conviction rate for other crimes is in the region of 90%. This dysfunction arises from a multiplicity of factors, chiefly the lack of evidence. As most gender violence occurs within the privacy of the home, the burden of proof rests exclusively or primarily on the victim’s testimony. Testimonies admitted in a court of law are often corroborated by circumstantial evidence (e.g., legal criteria of plausibility), and in particular the psychological report on testimonial credibility that plays a critical role in verdict outcome. An archive study of cases of gender violence revealed that psychological reports were admitted in 20% of the cases reviewed. Although Criteria Based Content Analysis (CBCA; Steller and Köhnken, 1994) is not valid for legal contexts, it has been observed to be the standard procedure for the evaluation of testimonial credibility in the archive cases of gender violence under review. Thus, a study involving 50 women (25 real victims and 25 feigners of gender violence) was undertaken to assess the efficacy of this procedure for the discrimination of real victims from feigners. The results reveal that real testimonies contained more reality criteria than faked testimonies. Nevertheless, the procedure, in line with the demands of forensic evidence in terms of the unacceptability of false positives (i.e., feigned case classed as real), erroneously detected 44% of real testimonies as false negatives (i.e., detected real case as feigned). The results are discussed in terms of the practical implications for forensic psychology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:54:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ace6f154d4d74e7884d3d38506606aa1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1132-0559 2173-4712 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:54:44Z |
| publishDate | 2010-06-01 |
| publisher | Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Psychosocial Intervention |
| spelling | doaj.art-ace6f154d4d74e7884d3d38506606aa12022-12-22T03:58:29ZengColegio Oficial de Psicólogos de MadridPsychosocial Intervention1132-05592173-47122010-06-0119210911910.5093/in2010v19n2a211320559Contrasting the Efficiency of the CBCA in the Assessment of Credibility in Violence Against Women CasesRamón ArceFrancisca FariñaManuel VilariñoArchival data reveal that in Spain the conviction rate for cases of gender violence is approximately 70%, whereas the conviction rate for other crimes is in the region of 90%. This dysfunction arises from a multiplicity of factors, chiefly the lack of evidence. As most gender violence occurs within the privacy of the home, the burden of proof rests exclusively or primarily on the victim’s testimony. Testimonies admitted in a court of law are often corroborated by circumstantial evidence (e.g., legal criteria of plausibility), and in particular the psychological report on testimonial credibility that plays a critical role in verdict outcome. An archive study of cases of gender violence revealed that psychological reports were admitted in 20% of the cases reviewed. Although Criteria Based Content Analysis (CBCA; Steller and Köhnken, 1994) is not valid for legal contexts, it has been observed to be the standard procedure for the evaluation of testimonial credibility in the archive cases of gender violence under review. Thus, a study involving 50 women (25 real victims and 25 feigners of gender violence) was undertaken to assess the efficacy of this procedure for the discrimination of real victims from feigners. The results reveal that real testimonies contained more reality criteria than faked testimonies. Nevertheless, the procedure, in line with the demands of forensic evidence in terms of the unacceptability of false positives (i.e., feigned case classed as real), erroneously detected 44% of real testimonies as false negatives (i.e., detected real case as feigned). The results are discussed in terms of the practical implications for forensic psychology.http://www.copmadrid.org/webcopm/publicaciones/social/in2010v19n2a2.pdfviolencia de géneromaltratotestimonio y credibilidadCBCApráctica forense |
| spellingShingle | Ramón Arce Francisca Fariña Manuel Vilariño Contrasting the Efficiency of the CBCA in the Assessment of Credibility in Violence Against Women Cases Psychosocial Intervention violencia de género maltrato testimonio y credibilidad CBCA práctica forense |
| title | Contrasting the Efficiency of the CBCA in the Assessment of Credibility in Violence Against Women Cases |
| title_full | Contrasting the Efficiency of the CBCA in the Assessment of Credibility in Violence Against Women Cases |
| title_fullStr | Contrasting the Efficiency of the CBCA in the Assessment of Credibility in Violence Against Women Cases |
| title_full_unstemmed | Contrasting the Efficiency of the CBCA in the Assessment of Credibility in Violence Against Women Cases |
| title_short | Contrasting the Efficiency of the CBCA in the Assessment of Credibility in Violence Against Women Cases |
| title_sort | contrasting the efficiency of the cbca in the assessment of credibility in violence against women cases |
| topic | violencia de género maltrato testimonio y credibilidad CBCA práctica forense |
| url | http://www.copmadrid.org/webcopm/publicaciones/social/in2010v19n2a2.pdf |
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