{"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":1793108787427,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,10,11]],"date-time":"2018-10-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1539216000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":365,"URL":"http:\/\/www.sagepub.com\/licence-information-for-chorus"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000923","name":"Australian Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DP150101798"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DP150101798"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000923","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Child Maltreat"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Recent decades have seen an explosion of research into children\u2019s eyewitness capabilities and resulted in legal reform to render the adversarial trial process more child friendly. Many, however, have been left with the feeling that the most intimidating legal process for child complainants\u2014cross-examination\u2014has not changed meaningfully despite its potential to distort children\u2019s evidence. To test this possibility, we compared the cross-examination questioning of Australian child sexual abuse complainants in the 1950s to that used in contemporary cases. We found that the format of cross-examination questions has remained largely consistent over time, with leading questions still making up the bulk of the questions asked. The changes that we did observe, however, are concerning. Cross-examination questions posed to contemporary child complainants were less likely to be open-ended and more likely to be complex, relative to those asked in the 1950s. Crucially, contemporary complainants were asked 3 times as many cross-examination questions as they were 60 years ago. These changes are likely to have detrimental effects on child complainants and their evidence and could reduce the ability of jurors to reach just outcomes in these cases.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1077559517733815","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,11]],"date-time":"2017-10-11T22:29:56Z","timestamp":1507760996000},"page":"186-195","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["The \u201cGood Old Days\u201d of Courtroom Questioning: Changes in the Format of Child Cross-Examination Questions Over 60 Years"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Rachel","family":"Zajac","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Psychology Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nina","family":"Westera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andy","family":"Kaladelfos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1077559517733815","volume-title":"Report of the advisory group on video recorded evidence","author":"Advisory Group on Video Recorded Evidence","year":"1989"},{"key":"bibr2-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/1076-8971.5.2.323"},{"key":"bibr3-1077559517733815","volume-title":"Strange language: Child victim witnesses under cross-examination","author":"Brennan M.","year":"1988"},{"key":"bibr4-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.psych.50.1.419"},{"key":"bibr5-1077559517733815","first-page":"209","volume-title":"Children as victims, witnesses, and offenders: Psychological science and the law","author":"Bussey K.","year":"2009"},{"key":"bibr6-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF01499027"},{"key":"bibr7-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-21097-1_8"},{"key":"bibr8-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.39.5.752"},{"key":"bibr9-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/13218719709524912"},{"key":"bibr10-1077559517733815","volume-title":"An evaluation of the live link for child witnesses","author":"Davies G.","year":"1991"},{"key":"bibr11-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/13218719809524919"},{"key":"bibr12-1077559517733815","volume-title":"The experiences of child complainants of sexual abuse in the criminal justice system","author":"Eastwood C.","year":"2002"},{"key":"bibr13-1077559517733815","first-page":"199","volume-title":"Mauet\u2019s fundamentals of trial techniques","author":"Eichelbaum T.","year":"1989"},{"key":"bibr14-1077559517733815","unstructured":"Evidence Act\n                      , (NSW) s.41 (Australia) (1995)."},{"key":"bibr15-1077559517733815","volume-title":"Sex crimes in the fifties","author":"Featherstone L.","year":"2016"},{"key":"bibr16-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1037\/0021-9010.83.3.347"},{"key":"bibr17-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-8624.2005.00828.x"},{"key":"bibr18-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/acp.1072"},{"key":"bibr19-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1540-4560.1984.tb01091.x"},{"key":"bibr20-1077559517733815","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1540-4560.2006.00488.x"},{"key":"bibr21-1077559517733815","volume-title":"Criminal law and procedure, New South Wales: Containing the Crimes Act, 1900, the Criminal Appeal Act of 1912 and other statutes","author":"Hamilton M. 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