| The present study was designed to examine the impact on children attending juvenile court hearings. Many articles discuss how children are called to testify in court are affected, but not children who are simply present. Sixty-one children, both male and female, between the ages of 12 and 17 years completed a Likert-type scale survey asking the children to agree or disagree to a number of statements related to attending court hearings. The data collected from the completed surveys were analyzed using a quasi-experimental design, using children's responses to a specifically designed questionnaire as the dependent measures. Results concluded that children are negatively impacted by attending court hearings. The degree to which children were impacted varied with the child's age, how many times previously the child had attended court, and the child's current life stressors. Implications for when children should be allowed to attend court hearings, along with the briefing and debriefing children require, are discussed. |
