Empirical Research on Child Maltreatment and the Law

Abstract

Reviews empirical research on laws related to child protection. These laws have been based on psychological assumptions about child development, family life, and the effects of government action in such domains. In two specific areas, research about such assumptions has burgeoned: the quality of children's testimony and the factors affecting reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect. However, even in those areas research has been circumscribed. Relatively little research has been done to examine the effects (especially effects other than psychological adjustment) of the legal process (especially the events outside the courtroom) on children, and little is known about the effects of child abuse reporting on service delivery. There also is remarkably little research on the functioning of the child protection system itself. Researchers need to give attention to construction of a legal infrastructure for research itself, to encourage generation of knowledge relevant to child protection policy. Researchers also should use the existing developmental literature to design and evaluate ways to enhance the quality of children's statements and testimony, diminish the stress that they and their families experience, and strengthen the parties' and the community's perception that justice is being done.

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