Expert psychological testimony in cases of alleged child sexual abuse

Communication between courts and expert witnesses in legal proceedings concerning child sexual abuse in Sweden: a case review

OBJECTIVE

The objective was to explore the communication between courts and expert witnesses in legal proceedings concerning child sexual abuse in Sweden.

METHOD

A cross professional research team performed a qualitative text analysis of files covering 20 court cases (court report and expert witness statement) from 4 different years (1985, 1989, 1992, and 1997).

RESULTS

Expert witnesses applied a wide variety of assessment procedures. Several patterns of communicative difficulties were identified, categorized as "mismatch," "misunderstanding," "misuse," and "missing pieces." Experts and courts sometimes used similar words (e.g., "credibility") but seemed to apply different meanings to them, indicating a lack of a mutual conceptual framework.

CONCLUSIONS

The combination of brief expert assignments and diverse assessment procedures turned out to be a specific risk factor for communicative impairment. Alternate strategies for improved communication are discussed.

Personality: individual differences and clinical assessment

Research in clinical personality assessment continues to be produced at a high rate. The MMPI/MMPI-2 remains the most popular instrument for both clinical application and psychopathology research. Two other clinical personality instruments, the Rorschach and TAT, continue to find a place in research and clinical assessment. Some new instruments have surfaced recently to deal with areas, such as personality disorders, that have been considered inadequately addressed. There is a growing recognition that the Five-Factor Model is too superficial for clinical assessment that requires more refined and broadened patient information. Clinical personality assessment has successfully survived a number of past challenges. The newest challenge stems from the health-care revolution, in which managed-care providers are reluctant to pay for assessment because of shrinking funds. Psychologists need to develop models for incorporating assessment information into the treatment process. The future is likely to see more extensive research and theoretical development in this endeavor.