ISSN : 2093-3843
When a child becomes a victim of sexual violence, the victim’s statement often serves as the sole confirmation of what happened. However, the integrity of the statement is subject to the child’s age, cognitive abilities, personality traits, and communicative aptitude. Furthermore, the unfamiliar setting of a court testimony may induce stress and anxiety in child victims, leading to a decrease in the accuracy and concreteness of their statements, especially when the investigative interview is significantly delayed or repeated. Empirical evidence indicates that an affirming demeanor on the part of the investigator positively influences both the quantity and quality of a child’s statements. Conversely, the use of leading, succinct, or equivocal and intricate questions attenuates the precision and specificity of the statement. Notably, media scrutiny exacerbates the predicament for child victims, fostering skepticism regarding the reliability of their statements and imposing psychological duress. In light of these challenges, recommendations to mitigate secondary harm and secure meticulous and precise statements from children include, firstly, conducting court testimonies within environments tailored to the needs of juveniles to mitigate unfamiliarity-induced anxiety. Secondly, providing comprehensive education to children on court procedures and testimony methodologies preceding the actual testimony. Thirdly, engaging seasoned investigators possessing expertise in child development, psychological characteristics, and interview techniques to mediate court testimonies. Moreover, perpetual educational initiatives are imperative for judicial experts. Finally, the formulation of legislation pertaining to witness examination procedures, cognizant of the distinct features of child development, is deemed necessary.
A concealed information test is a type of lie detection test. In experimental studies, the accuracy of the autonomic nervous system-based concealed information test (ANS CIT) and the P300-based concealed information test (P300 CIT) is estimated to be high. However, there are many researchers who question the external validity of experimental research, and attempts also have been made to evaluate it. In the study, two factors those have the potential to affect the external validity of experimental research for CIT were evaluated. One was the level of anxiety that participants experienced when performing a crime in the mock crime paradigm, and the other was the memory duration of the test stimuli used in the personal item paradigm. The results showed that the level of anxiety did not affect the results in the ANS CIT and P300 CIT. In the personal item paradigm, a significant difference was found between the stimuli memorized for long period of time (birthday) and the stimuli for short period of time (student number) in the ANS CIT and P300 CIT. In the long-duration condition, the respiration line length for the relevant stimulus was shorter than that for the irrelevant stimulus, but in the short-duration condition, there was no difference in respiration line length between the two stimuli. Also, the P300 amplitude difference between relevant and irrelevant stimuli was larger in the long-duration condition than in the short-duration condition. The influence of these experimental results on the external validity of the ANS CIT and P300 CIT was discussed.
Cognitions of sexual crimes are key predictors of sexually aggressive behavior, yet prior studies have shown mixed results. This study aims to clarify the types and roles of cognitions involved in sexual crimes, focusing on attitudes toward rape. Attitudes were measured according to the traditional definition as positive or negative evaluations and examined through relationships with demographics, rape myths, and sexually aggressive behavior variables. A paper format ‘Rape Evaluation Implicit Association Test’ was developed to measure implicit attitudes in a pilot study, while explicit attitudes were assessed via self-reports on coercive and consensual sexual relationships. The study with 80 adults found that men had less negative implicit attitudes toward rape than women, with no significant gender differences in explicit attitudes. The only significant predictor of sexually aggressive behavior was the explicit attitude toward coercive sexual relationships. These findings discuss the significance and limitations of defining attitudes toward rape through evaluations.