open access
Psychological opinions in cases of suspected sexual abuse of minors
open access
Abstract
In cases of sexual abuse of the minors, psychological opinions are often crucial for the decisions
taken by the juridical authorities. In practice, however, more and more objections are raised
further to the principles of the conclusions formulated by the experts and the procedure of the
examination. The article discusses the main issues concerning the principles for the development
of an expert’s opinion in the light of the envisaged legal formal and substantive requirements. In
addition, attention was drawn to some specific problems for issuing psychological opinions.
Abstract
In cases of sexual abuse of the minors, psychological opinions are often crucial for the decisions
taken by the juridical authorities. In practice, however, more and more objections are raised
further to the principles of the conclusions formulated by the experts and the procedure of the
examination. The article discusses the main issues concerning the principles for the development
of an expert’s opinion in the light of the envisaged legal formal and substantive requirements. In
addition, attention was drawn to some specific problems for issuing psychological opinions.
Keywords
sexual abuse, psychological expert’s opinion, juvenile victim witness, assessment of testimony
About this articleTitle
Psychological opinions in cases of suspected sexual abuse of minors
Journal
Journal of Sexual and Mental Health
Issue
Article type
Review paper
Page views
977
Article views/downloads
15710
Bibliographic record
Seksuologia Polska 2015;13(2).
Keywords
sexual abuse
psychological expert’s opinion
juvenile victim witness
assessment of testimony
Authors
Teresa Jaśkiewicz-Obydzińska
Ewa Wach
