Our
Projects and Funding

How Maltreatment is Investigated and Prosecuted - National Institute of Justice 

This project focused on assessing attorney practices in Maricopa County with children alleging sex crimes (funded 2017- 2019). We examined, coded, and analyzed children’s testimonies and associated information on cases prosecuted from 2005-2015. We are now utilizing this data to assess how prosecution and defense strategies relate to case factors (e.g. child age, relationship to perpetrator, severity of the allegation), and how such factors influence children’s production of details or demonstration of inconsistency. 

Promoting Truthful and Accurate Disclosures - National Institute of Health

This grant examines best practices for investigative interviews with children across laboratory, field, and juror research, focusing on novel techniques that can elicit truthful disclosures from children. CITL's effort has focused on the field component, where we assess what happens in both forensic interviews and criminal trials, and then work with our collaborators to connect our findings back to both laboratory and juror research.

Children's Developmental Competencies and Vulnerabilities - National Science Foundation

This project examines how children’s credibility is challenged in subtle ways when they report abuse, while assessing the utility of such methods in the laboratory to best understand how children interpret and respond to questioning.