title: Misconceptions about childhood sexual abuse and child witnesses: Implications for psychological experts in the courtroom.
abstract: Recent changes to the law in New Zealand have led to a marked increase in experts being called to give evidence in cases of alleged child sexual abuse. Here we outline some of the common misconceptions that are held by expert witnesses in these cases and we review research on patterns of abuse disclosure and retraction, symptoms of abuse, external influences on children's reports, and experts' ability to distinguish true from false reports. We also consider what experts can say about memory that has relevance for these cases. We conclude that many long-held notions of child sexual abuse and children's testimony that make their way into our courtrooms are not supported by empirical research, raising questions about who is-and who is not-qualified to act as an expert witness.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zajac
authors.affiliation: b School of Psychology , Victoria University of Wellington , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Maryanne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garry
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychology , University of Toledo , OH , US.
authors.forename: Kamala
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: London
authors.affiliation: d Department of General Practice & Primary Health Care , University of Auckland , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Felicity
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Goodyear-Smith
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Otago , Dunedin , New Zealand.
authors.forename: Harlene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hayne
keywords: Children's testimony; Expert witnesses; Sexual abuse