When is a child's forensic statement deemed credible? A comparison of physical and sexual abuse cases.

A large national sample of 4,775 reports of child physical and sexual abuse made in Israel in 2014 was analyzed in order to examine whether assessments of credibility would vary according to abuse type, physical or sexual, and whether child and event characteristics contributing to the probability t...

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Main Authors: Hershkowitz, I, Melkman, E, Zur, R
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publications 2017
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author Hershkowitz, I
Melkman, E
Zur, R
author_facet Hershkowitz, I
Melkman, E
Zur, R
author_sort Hershkowitz, I
collection OXFORD
description A large national sample of 4,775 reports of child physical and sexual abuse made in Israel in 2014 was analyzed in order to examine whether assessments of credibility would vary according to abuse type, physical or sexual, and whether child and event characteristics contributing to the probability that reports of abuse would be determined as credible would be similar or different in child physical abuse (CPA) and child sexual abuse (CSA) cases. Results revealed that CPA reports were less likely to be viewed as credible (41.9%) compared to CSA reports (56.7%). Multigroup path analysis, however, indicated equivalence in predicting factors. In a unified model for both types of abuse, salient predictors of a credible judgment were older age, lack of a cognitive delay, and the alleged abusive event being a onetime less severe act. Over and beyond the effects of these factors, abuse type significantly contributed to the prediction of credibility judgments.
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spelling oxford-uuid:1b22f814-634a-4534-a9d9-b4faf8e50f762022-03-26T10:58:42ZWhen is a child's forensic statement deemed credible? A comparison of physical and sexual abuse cases.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1b22f814-634a-4534-a9d9-b4faf8e50f76EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordSAGE Publications2017Hershkowitz, IMelkman, EZur, RA large national sample of 4,775 reports of child physical and sexual abuse made in Israel in 2014 was analyzed in order to examine whether assessments of credibility would vary according to abuse type, physical or sexual, and whether child and event characteristics contributing to the probability that reports of abuse would be determined as credible would be similar or different in child physical abuse (CPA) and child sexual abuse (CSA) cases. Results revealed that CPA reports were less likely to be viewed as credible (41.9%) compared to CSA reports (56.7%). Multigroup path analysis, however, indicated equivalence in predicting factors. In a unified model for both types of abuse, salient predictors of a credible judgment were older age, lack of a cognitive delay, and the alleged abusive event being a onetime less severe act. Over and beyond the effects of these factors, abuse type significantly contributed to the prediction of credibility judgments.
spellingShingle Hershkowitz, I
Melkman, E
Zur, R
When is a child's forensic statement deemed credible? A comparison of physical and sexual abuse cases.
title When is a child's forensic statement deemed credible? A comparison of physical and sexual abuse cases.
title_full When is a child's forensic statement deemed credible? A comparison of physical and sexual abuse cases.
title_fullStr When is a child's forensic statement deemed credible? A comparison of physical and sexual abuse cases.
title_full_unstemmed When is a child's forensic statement deemed credible? A comparison of physical and sexual abuse cases.
title_short When is a child's forensic statement deemed credible? A comparison of physical and sexual abuse cases.
title_sort when is a child s forensic statement deemed credible a comparison of physical and sexual abuse cases
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