{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T13:46:27Z","timestamp":1793108787779,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"23-24","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,2]],"date-time":"2023-08-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1690934400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009633","name":"Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["HD087685"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HD087685"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009633","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Interpers Violence"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Myths and misconceptions surrounding the nature of sexual assault play a role in shaping the perceptions of victims as credible and perpetrators as culpable. Defense attorneys often capitalize on myths in court as an element of their defense strategies. Researchers have established that myths about both rape generally, and child sexual abuse (CSA) specifically, appear with regularity in criminal trials of children who have made an allegation of CSA. Yet no work has systematically and quantitatively examined the impact of a child\u2019s age on the probability that attorneys will ask a myth-consistent question in criminal trials of CSA. In the current study, we examine 6,384 lines of questioning across 134 criminal trials of CSA to assess whether defense attorneys employ developmentally sensitive strategies when asking children questions that draw upon myths about sexual violence (CSA myths: disclosure myths, extent of harm, a child\u2019s positive relationship with their perpetrator, and the presence of witnesses; Rape myths: force and resistance, motives to lie, victim precipitation, and character issues). We found that attorneys did not vary their use of CSA myths by the age of the child. However, the probability that a child would receive a rape myth-consistent line of questioning, increased with a child\u2019s age. This work suggests that attorneys are, at times, strategic in their use of myths and employ these adult rape myths in ways that are plausible, purposeful, and likely impactful. The strategic use of these questions may acknowledge young children\u2019s limited development but may place too great a demand on older children\u2019s developmental capacities. Prosecutors should be prepared to counterquestion these myths in redirect examination.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/08862605231189512","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,2]],"date-time":"2023-08-02T05:57:22Z","timestamp":1690955842000},"page":"11914-11934","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Developmental Considerations in How Defense Attorneys Employ Child Sexual Abuse and Rape Myths When Questioning Alleged Victims of Child Sexual Abuse"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"38","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9316-2997","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emily","family":"Denne","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8225-309X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Suzanne St.","family":"George","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8082-631X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stacia N.","family":"Stolzenberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-08862605231189512","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chiabu.2017.01.022"},{"key":"bibr2-08862605231189512","first-page":"362","volume-title":"The handbook of child language","author":"Barrett M.","year":"1995"},{"key":"bibr3-08862605231189512","first-page":"509","volume-title":"Handbook of eyewitness psychology","author":"Bottoms B. 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