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The structural linguistic complexity of lawyers’ questions and children’s responses in Scottish criminal courts

Andrews, Samantha J.; Lamb, Michael E.

Authors

Samantha J. Andrews

Michael E. Lamb



Abstract

In the first study to systematically assess the structural linguistic complexity of lawyers’ questions of children in Scotland, we examined 56 trial transcripts of 5- to 17-year-old children testifying as alleged victims of sexual abuse. Complexity was assessed using 8 quantitative measures of each utterance’s components (number of questions, phrases, clauses, sentences, false starts, average word count, word length, and sentence length) and a composite measure was used in the analyses. Lawyers did not alter the complexity of questions when prompting children of different ages. Defense lawyers asked more structurally complex questions than prosecutors. Directive questions were the least structurally complex questions, followed by option-posing questions. Suggestive questions, followed by invitations, were the most structurally complex questions. Option-posing and suggestive questions were more complex when asked by defense lawyers than prosecutors. Of suggestive questions, confrontation and tagged questions were more complex than any other question type. Increased structural complexity led to more unresponsiveness, more expressions of uncertainty, and more self-contradictions regardless of which lawyer asked, the question type, or the children’s ages. These findings highlight the additional risks associated with asking some types of questions in structurally complex ways and highlight the need for further innovations (e.g., the use of intermediaries) to facilitate the questioning of vulnerable witnesses in Scottish criminal courts.

Citation

Andrews, S. J., & Lamb, M. E. (2017). The structural linguistic complexity of lawyers’ questions and children’s responses in Scottish criminal courts. Child Abuse and Neglect, 65, 182-193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.01.022

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 29, 2017
Online Publication Date Feb 9, 2017
Publication Date 2017-03
Deposit Date May 25, 2023
Journal Child Abuse & Neglect
Print ISSN 0145-2134
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 65
Pages 182-193
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.01.022
Keywords Psychiatry and Mental health; Developmental and Educational Psychology; Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213417300339?via%3Dihub
Additional Information This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: The structural linguistic complexity of lawyers’ questions and children’s responses in Scottish criminal courts; Journal Title: Child Abuse & Neglect; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.01.022; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


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