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Psychiatry and Psychology

Wilfrid Laurier University

Child abuse

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Challenges Facing East Asian Immigrant Children In Sexual Abuse Cases, Kim Roberts, Hongyuan Qi, Huan Zhang Jan 2016

Challenges Facing East Asian Immigrant Children In Sexual Abuse Cases, Kim Roberts, Hongyuan Qi, Huan Zhang

Psychology Faculty Publications

Immigrants from East Asia make up 14.21% of the total number of immigrants in Canada. These families face many challenges as they acculturate to North America but, sadly, some of these children may be at risk for sexual abuse. In this position paper, we outline the ways in which East Asian children are at a particular disadvantage when considering prosecution of those who perpetrate abuse compared to Western non-immigrant children. We focus specifically on two areas of concern: 1) Cultural differences that can impact the disclosure of sexual abuse; and, 2) Language differences which reduce the chances that perpetrators will …


Children’S Use Of A ‘Time Line’ To Indicate When Events Occurred, Leanne L. Gosse, Kim P. Roberts Jan 2014

Children’S Use Of A ‘Time Line’ To Indicate When Events Occurred, Leanne L. Gosse, Kim P. Roberts

Psychology Faculty Publications

Children who allege abuse are often asked to provide temporal information such as when the events occurred. Yet, young children often have difficulty recalling temporal information due to their limited knowledge of temporal patterns and linguistic capabilities. As time is an abstract concept (we cannot see it), some investigators have begun to use ‘time-lines’ or pictorial representations of time to aid children. Yet, there is no published research testing whether children are able to use time-lines and whether they can provide adequate temporal information using them. We tested whether children could indicate the time-of-day of events using a pictorial time-line …


Subjective And Non-Subjective Information In Children’S Allegations Of Abuse, Jennifer E. Newman, Kim P. Roberts Jan 2014

Subjective And Non-Subjective Information In Children’S Allegations Of Abuse, Jennifer E. Newman, Kim P. Roberts

Psychology Faculty Publications

In this study, we were interested in how interviewers elicit subjective information in investigations of child abuse (e.g., descriptions of thoughts, emotions, opinions). Sixty-one interviews of children aged 4-12 years old were analyzed to determine the amount of subjective information versus non-subjective event details reported, and the type of question that elicited the information. Interviewers elicited more non-subjective than subjective information, although there was more focus on subjective information in the rapport-building phase than in the substantive phase when the allegations were elicited. Interviewer prompts and child responsiveness was congruent such that non-subjective questions elicited more non-subjective information, and subjective …