Children are minors whose cases are handled in special courts referred to as the juvenile courts. This is because whether a child acts as the plaintiff or the accused, their witness is always viewed to be sensitive. In circumstances where a child is sexually abused theirs follows trauma on the child leading to a series of memories that occur from time to time. Despite the age of the child, these memories recur and are very vivid even when the child grows up to be an adult.
This is because of cognition of the brain, such that even a very young child who is not able to express themselves through speech can recall the whole experience and later explain whatever happened. On the central, some cognitive psychologists have claimed that there are times that memories are not correct. An example is when one is allowed to view a slide of events on let us say a screen then asked to recall them sequentially. In other instances, people may recall memories that never existed; this may come in the form of illusions.
Psychologists have before claimed that memories that cause trauma are not flexible hence not easily manipulated. This has changed as most assault criminals are now using this as a weapon in their cases. The creation of non-existent or false memories is otherwise known as malleability or fallibility of memory. This happens in most cases in sexually abused children who are forced to recall other incidences other than the assault hence not giving the right evidence.
This, therefore, calls for the need to prevent the creation of false memories in sexually abused minors in a bid to seek justice. Some of the ways of preventing the creation of false memories include the following. The most important thing that should be done once a child has been sexually abused and found is preventing the child from interacting with many people. Not only will they traumatize the child more but they may be those to create false memories on the child.
Another way of preventing the creation of false memories in sexually abused children is letting them, witness, the right authorities within the shortest time after the incident. This gives the child an opportunity to tell out what happened when it is still fresh in their minds. However, this should be done on those children that are strong but not the emotional ones. Research done by some psychologists indicates that evidence given in very emotional situations has a higher degree of truth in it, especially those concerning children that have been sexually abused. There comes a point in time where the juvenile is not in a good position to recall the whole incidence of assault.
In such circumstances, the children are therefore supposed to be put in a group where the conditions allow them to only think about what happened during the assault. Such groups avoid interferences from other persons creating room for thinking hence reducing the chances of creation of false memories. Research done on sexually abused victims indicate that recovery of the memories on the incidences usually occurs when an individual is a home alone.
Last but not least method is placing the victim under therapy. During therapy, the children are asked questions and given guidelines that lead them to think in the way of the incidence. Those undergoing this method may take longer since it is a slow process. However, it is considered effective as the victim is in a position to recall their memory and erase the false memory that may have been developing or created. From this discussion, it is evident that false memories pose a great threat in the witnessing of cases concerning children abused sexually. This, therefore, calls for a need to prevent them from occurring.