@article{ref1,
title="Communication between courts and expert witnesses in legal proceedings concerning child sexual abuse in Sweden: a case review",
journal="Child abuse and neglect",
year="2001",
author="Gumpert, Clara Hellner and Lindblad, Frank",
volume="25",
number="11",
pages="1497-1516",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: The objective was to explore the communication between courts and expert witnesses in legal proceedings concerning child sexual abuse in Sweden. METHOD: A cross professional research team performed a qualitative text analysis of files covering 20 court cases (court report and expert witness statement) from 4 different years (1985, 1989, 1992, and 1997). RESULTS: Expert witnesses applied a wide variety of assessment procedures. Several patterns of communicative difficulties were identified, categorized as &quot;mismatch,&quot; &quot;misunderstanding,&quot; &quot;misuse,&quot; and &quot;missing pieces.&quot; Experts and courts sometimes used similar words (e.g., &quot;credibility&quot;) but seemed to apply different meanings to them, indicating a lack of a mutual conceptual framework. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of brief expert assignments and diverse assessment procedures turned out to be a specific risk factor for communicative impairment. Alternate strategies for improved communication are discussed.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0145-2134",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}