Children Who Witness Violence: Tortious Aspects

Clinical aspects of children who experience some type of trauma or abuse have been receiving increased attention. There is undoubtedly a long way to go to catch up with the work done in the field of adult psychiatry. Apart from the interest in the impact on children of physical and sexual abuse, there is increasing involvement of children in the legal process and trials. One area has been trials when they are put through the experience of being involved directly in an adversary system. Another area has been the claims of children who are plaintiffs in suits where they have been exposed to traumatic incidents. The interest encompasses diverse intermediary varia-bles such as the vulnerability of an individual child, the social support systems available, the role of therapeutic intervention, etc. A specific area is the focus of this article: the legal issues which arise when a child is exposed as a third-party victim-observer to an act of violence and the clinical application of our knowledge as psychiatrists to that issue. A separate article focuses on the clinical aspects seen in these children.