The truth and lie story: developing a tool for assessing child witnesses' ability to differentiate between truth and lies

Within the court arena, the credibility and competency of child witnesses often comes under scrutiny and the decision whether a child is considered to be credible or not strongly in?uences whether their evidence will be heard by the court. A child's ability to demonstrate that they understand the difference between truth and lies and the importance of telling the truth is synonymous with competency. Research suggests that many professionals undertaking the task of establishing competency ?nd it very dif?cult, especially with younger children (Aldridge and Wood, 1997, cited in Aldridge and Wood, 1998). This paper describes the process involved in developing an innovative tool for helping professionals assess whether a child understands the difference between truth and lies. The development of the tool arose from the concerns of of?cers from Northumbria Police Force (in the UK) relating to interviews following the protocol of the government's Memorandum of Good Practice (Home Of?ce and Department of Health, 1992) on interviewing child witnesses, and the need to establish whether child witnesses can differentiate between truth and lies. As an example of good practice, The Truth and Lie Story described here has now been included in the Home Of?ce (2002) guidance Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings, which is a revision of the 1992 Memorandum of Good Practice. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nationality Matters: SARS and Foreign Domestic Workers' Rights in Taiwan Province of China

Taiwan suffered the third largest national outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) during the first half of 2003. A crisis often illuminates issues of power and control, and the SARS crisis highlighted important patterns in Taiwan's utilization of foreign labour in general and foreign domestic labour in particular. Firstly, inequalities between Taiwanese citizens and non‐Taiwanese migrant domestic workers were both magnified and illuminated at the level of nation and at the level of household in terms of confinement. Secondly, the generalization and intensification of existing patterns of abuse resulted in this abuse coming to light in the public arena. Notably, these issues only became known when they were brought to the attention of both the public and the state, and this occurred largely through the actions of Filipina domestic workers via the media and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs). The reason that such issues could be brought into the open for public debate was a matter of nationality. Importantly, the epidemic served to articulate the issue of the differential access of migrant domestic workers to information about their rights and the range of factors that facilitate or impede such access. This paper explores the centrality of issues of nationality to understanding the migration experiences of Indonesian and Filipina domestic workers in Taiwan by considering how SARS played out for them in terms of their occupational location, their national background, their access to support and information networks regarding rights, and their official representation. The paper seeks to expand our understanding of the experiences of migrant domestic workers in Taiwan by means of my research on Indonesian domestic workers. However, I would argue that this case study is not just an empirical curiosity but that it is instructive in a broader theoretical sense. Understanding the nationality issue stands at the core of understanding the diversity of experiences of migrant domestic workers in any given geographic and temporal location. If we combine this factor together with the key variables of the relationship to the state and the relationship to the employer, as Bridget Anderson (2000) suggests, we move closer to a more incisive and less reductionist understanding of the factors which shape the living and working conditions of migrant domestic workers.     

Threat, Group Identification, and Children's Ethnic Prejudice

This experiment tested predictions from social identity development theory (SIDT, Nesdale, 1999 ), that children's tendency to show out‐group prejudice depends on the strength of their in‐group identification and/or their perception of threat from the out‐group. Anglo‐Australian children (N= 480) aged 6, 7, or 9 years were assigned to a high‐status team and their identification with the in‐group (high vs. low) was manipulated together with threat from the out‐group (present vs. absent). The members of the out‐group were revealed to be of the same (Anglo‐Australian) or different (Pacific Islander) ethnicity to the in‐group. Results supported the SIDT predictions. In addition, consistent with socio‐cognitive theory (ST, Aboud, 1988 ), dislike for the out‐group at 6 years gave way to increasingly neutral reactions by 9 years of age. Ethnic composition of the out‐group did not impact differentially on liking but it did affect the children's desire to change groups. Strongly identified children were reluctant to leave their group regardless of the ethnicity of the out‐group, whereas children with low in‐group identification were more willing to change into a same‐ than into a different‐ethnicity out‐group. It is concluded that both social identity and social cognitive processes are implicated in the development of prejudice in middle childhood.     

REVIEWS

Bigner, J. J., & Wetchler, J. L. (Eds.). (2004). Relationship therapy with same-sex couples .
Cling, B. J. (Ed.). (2004). Sexualized violence against women and children: A psychology and law perspective .
Folberg, J., Milne, A., & Salem, P., (Eds.). (2004). Divorce and family mediation: Models, techniques and applications .
Rholes, S. W., & Simpson, J. A. (Eds.). (2004). Adult attachment: Theory, research and clinical implications .
Sperry, L. (Ed.). (2004). Assessment of couples and families: Contemporary and cutting edge strategies .     

Control, stress, and job satisfaction in Canadian nurses

The main effects of four domains of control (task, decision, resource, physical environment) on job satisfaction and their interactions with three types of job stressors (task demands, role conflict, interpersonal conflict) were examined in a sample of 765 Canadian nurses. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the proportion of variance in job satisfaction that could be accounted for by job stressors, control, and the interaction of stressors and control in that order. The job stressors were analysed separately and as a composite job demands score, as were the four domains of control. The results indicated that the proportion of variance in job satisfaction increased with the addition of control for the composite scores and for task, resource, and physical environment control. However, decision control did not account for additional variance in job satisfaction above that for any of the job stressors. In addition, none of the stressor x control interactions were significant. The results support previous attempts to test the moderating effects of control, suggesting that perceived control is not a moderator of job stress but rather that it has a direct influence. The relevance of the different domains of control for nurses is discussed.     

Integration of migrants — an extraordinary undertaking? An analysis of Swiss policy and handling of resident immigrants; a municipal example—Bern

Migration and multiculturalism are key topics in politics, in the media, in education and in the social sciences. It is a phenomenon that has been discussed again and again during the last fifteen years with the aim to find solutions. A theoretical set of points of consideration is established in the first chapter in order to understand how migration is running counter to the ‘normal’ condition and development of society, and tends to cause problems in various contexts. Case histories in the second chapter show how communities are handling the consequences of immigration in practice and in the framework of the specific prevailing national and welfare state structures, and especially how communities are meeting the challenge politically and with their system of social services. In the final chapter the most important findings are summarized.     

The Use of Multiple Family Marathon as a Teaching Device

This paper discusses the rationale and methods for using a multiple family marathon as a teaching device in the context of an intensive group-supervision family therapy training program conducted by the authors. Procedures used in the marathon are described, as well as how the concept stimulates increased focus on issues common to family therapy and broadens the experience of the students. The effects of the marathon on the students' views of their therapy families and of themselves as family therapists are explored.     

Grief only? Client and social worker reactions to termination

What reactions do clients and social workers experience during termination? Reports from 59 experienced MSWs suggest that termination reactions more often include positive affect and evaluation of treatment goals and processes than negative affect.     

A SYSTEMIC TREATMENT APPROACH TO WIFE BATTERING

This article places the problem of wife battering or domestic abuse in a systemic framework. Literature that bears most directly on a systemic understanding and treatment of wife battering is reviewed. A comprehensive approach to treatment as it might be utilized by marriage and family therapists is outlined and a case example is presented.