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This State Bar of Arizona handout examines testimony about children’s responses and behavior in child sexual abuse cases. It surveys issues including disclosure timing, changing accounts, continued contact, interviewing practices, possible confounds, confirmation bias, and research relevant to evaluating competing explanations.
This collection examines why people with intellectual disabilities may be especially vulnerable during police questioning and when evaluating confessions or waivers of rights. It summarizes case reports and studies involving suggestibility, acquiescence, decision-making, and Miranda comprehension, including findings that verbal ability predicted recall and vocabulary performance in one assessment study.
This resource surveys research and debates about false and unfounded sexual assault allegations, distinguishing intentional false reports from cases that are unproven or classified as unfounded. It summarizes studies with differing methods and estimates, including reviews of case files and reporting practices, and notes that classification choices and research limitations complicate prevalence estimates.
This United States Department of Justice bulletin consolidates guidance on conducting forensic interviews with children in alleged abuse cases. It discusses interview purpose, preparation, rapport, open-ended questions, interview stages, and team coordination, while emphasizing that children’s accounts and needs differ and that repeated or overly focused questioning can create problems.
This topic paper reviews diagnostic features of borderline personality disorder and literature addressing false sexual-assault allegations, including proposed pathways discussed by cited authors. It also summarizes research on false-report definitions, prevalence, motives, and investigative classification, and notes that people with BPD may themselves have histories of sexual or physical assault.
This page collects abstracts and citations on BDSM, consent, and distinctions between consensual practices and abuse. The referenced works discuss relationship dynamics, media depictions, consent frameworks, and clinical or educational approaches.
This questionnaire asks a family member or other close contact for background relevant to a psychological evaluation. Its sections cover the person’s legal situation, social support, relationships, childhood and development, education and work, mental health and substance use, and sexual interests; the form closes with instructions to bring it to the interview.
This affidavit outlines forensic psychology topics that its author proposed for consideration in a military case involving alleged online offenses against minors. It discusses distinctions between attraction to pubescent and prepubescent children, adolescent motivations in age-discordant relationships, and evaluation topics including risk, treatment, and sentencing context.
This 2022 affidavit discusses research and evaluation issues in a case involving online child-sexual-abuse images, emphasizing distinctions between noncontact online offenses and contact sexual offending. It summarizes recidivism studies and risk-assessment findings, then describes factors and professional tools relevant to evaluating risk and informing sentencing, treatment, and supervision decisions.
This 2021 sample affidavit explains how a forensic psychologist could assist defense counsel at sentencing after a client pleaded guilty to an adult contact sexual offense. It lists research-based aggravating and protective factors considered in a risk assessment and argues that expert testimony can help the court understand offense-specific risk, possible mitigation, actuarial findings, and treatment options.
