Psychosocial intervention to help child and adolescent witnesses in court

The risk of crimes being committed against children and adolescents is part icularly high. These individuals should receive effective protection, Confr onted with judicial proceedings, they are exposed to enormous amounts of st ress. Often they are overwhelmed by feelings of fear and insecurity. Second ary victimization is likely to follow as a result of the negative experienc es they encounter with the judicial system. A victim assistance program has been set up in the regional and district court of Dusseldorf in order to p rotect against such trauma, Forty-seven child and adolescent victims and 53 adult victims, all turned witnesses, took part in the program. Standardize d questionnaires for mood and affect were applied. Results show that the yo unger witnesses perceive the experience of the court proceedings as stressf ul compared to adults. However, they also benefit mostly from the victim su pport services, Fear and stress were successfully alleviated. Qualified vic tim support interventions may play an important role in protecting children and adolescents in the courtroom from "secondary victimization".