Lost in Application: Child Witnesses and Psychological Research on Trial

Background

The conference was organised around research Johanna Motzkau conducted from 2004-2006 for her PhD (Cross-Examining Suggestibility: Memory, Childhood, Expertise).
The idea for the conference was conceived as a result of collaboration between Johanna Motzkau and Ann Potter. In this sense the conference is organised as an opportunity not just to report results, but also to gather feedback on this research. True to the interactive aim of the initial research, the idea was for the conference to also aim to gather pilot data that could inform future research that can help further understanding the problems surrounding child witness practice. So while facilitating the dissemination of research findings and giving an opportunity for cross-disciplinary networking, the conference also constitutes a pilot study.

Previous research

Motzkau, J.F. (2006): "Cross-examining Suggestibility: Memory, Childhood, Expertise"

The study compared child witness practice in England/Wales and Germany. It focused on cases of alleged sexual violence and issues of suggestibility, credibility, memory, gender and agency. It specifically looked into the creation, use and impact of psychological expertise in legal practice.

Taking a transdisciplinary approach, the study combined a genealogy of history, theory and research into suggestibility with an ethnography of the English/Welsh and German legal system, and with the analysis of interviews conducted with legal (judges, barristers, police), social services and psychological practitioners and researchers (35 interviews in total).

One central aim was to feed back results into practice and to systematically examine what kind of contribution such research (theoretically driven systemic analysis), and particularly the international comparison, could make to improve child witness practice, and how change could be effected.

The conference aimed to:

• Sound out different disciplines' initial response to the research;
• See how those results resonate with current issues at the heart of child witness practice;
• Examine existence and nature of interagency rapport;
• Collect questions pertinent for practitioners;
• Explore, on a small scale, the potential positive impact (mutual) of encouraging international exchanges around child witness practice.