Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Milewska, Ewa

Titel

Psychologiczne opiniowanie zeznań świadków — możliwości i ograniczenia

Ist Teil von

• Prace Instytutu Profilaktyki Społecznej i Resocjalizacji Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 2012 (19), p.219-230

Ort / Verlag

Instytut Profilaktyki Społecznej i Resocjalizacji UW

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The paper points at the unsatisfactory state of the psychological assessments of witness statements, and argues that the code-enshrined definition of the aim of such assessment may be one of the causes of such state of affairs. The regulations limit the task of the psychologist to the evaluation of the cognitive processes of the witness, which may lead to wrong conclusions as to the validity of depositions, especially those made by children. In the next part, we present suggestions on how to make witness statement psychological assessments broader and more useful for the purposes of the proceedings. Moreover, we discuss some criteria of deposition assessment: psychological features, conditions and modalities of examination, and the motivations of witness to testify. As it has been demonstrated by examples, the application of such criteria may pave the way for a more valid and more useful assessment of depositions. In conclusion, it is argued that the psychological knowledge and assessments may be more useful in court proceedings save that their aim as well as the questions asked to the expert will be redefined. In other words, the object of the assessment, in particular in the case of depositions made by children, should be the psychological validity of the statements and not the diagnosis of the cognitive processes of the witness.