title: Maltreated and nonmaltreated children's knowledge of the juvenile dependency court system.
abstract: The current study examined age differences in maltreated and nonmaltreated children's knowledge of juvenile dependency court vocabulary and proceedings. One hundred and sixty-seven children aged 4-14 years were questioned about their understanding of legal vocabulary and about the content of a story depicting a child involved in dependency court. Age-related increases emerged across all measures of children's legal understanding. Direct experience with the dependency system was also related to the accuracy of children's legal knowledge. Children with greater experience in the dependency system were more knowledgeable than children with no such experience, although even the oldest maltreated children with considerable dependency system experience evidenced some deficits in legal knowledge. Overall, findings suggest children and adolescents involved in dependency proceedings need help understanding some aspects of the dependency process, and this need exists regardless of whether children have been involved in cases ongoing for some time.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
authors.forename: Alexia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Allison R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Wallin
authors.forename: Jodi A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Quas
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Lyon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007603:Jurisprudence; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
references.citation: Child Abuse Negl. 2010 Sep;34(9):659-70
references.pmid: 20719384
references.citation: Br J Psychol. 1989 Aug;80 ( Pt 3):285-97
references.pmid: 2790389
references.citation: Behav Sci Law. 2009 Jan-Feb;27(1):97-117
references.pmid: 19156680
references.citation: Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 1992;57(5):1-142; discussion 143-61
references.pmid: 1470193
references.citation: Dev Psychopathol. 2003 Fall;15(4):1067-91
references.pmid: 14984138
references.citation: Child Dev. 2008 Jul-Aug;79(4):914-29
references.pmid: 18717898
references.citation: Future Child. 1996 Winter;6(3):111-25
references.pmid: 9117357
references.citation: Law Hum Behav. 2003 Aug;27(4):333-63
references.pmid: 12916225