Children as Witnesses to Homicidal Violence: What They Remember and Report

Abstract

The present study investigated how 96 children who have witnessed homicidal violence remember and report their experiences. The aims of the study were to describe the children's reporting pattern and to investigate background factors that could affect the children's reporting. Police interviews with the children were analysed regarding the amount and type of information reported, as well as frequency of denial, withholding and claims of memory loss. Results showed that the majority of children provided detailed reports about the homicidal violence they had witnessed, including critical details about the abuse. Results also revealed that the child's relationship to the perpetrator or the victim did not affect the children's reporting pattern, indicating that the children's willingness to report exceeds strong impact factors such as loyalty conflicts. These findings are applicable in different legal contexts dealing with child witnesses and can be used as guidance when interviewing children and evaluating their testimony.

Key words:

• children's memory
• eyewitness reports
• homicidal violence
• trauma

Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by a grant from the Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority. We are very grateful to the police investigators for sharing their cases for our research project.