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10 Using Grice’s Cooperative Principle as an Interactional-Pragmatic Approach in Assessing the Credibility of Child Witness Allegations of Sexual Abuse

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Manual of Romance Forensic Linguistics
This chapter is in the book Manual of Romance Forensic Linguistics

Abstract

Nicklaus/Stein (2022, 134-137) proposed using an interactional-pragmatic approach to incorporate technical linguistic knowledge into statement credibility assessment. This chapter takes it from there in applying Grice’s (1975) Cooperative Principle (CP) and associated maxims to assess the credibility of a child witness’ statement of alleged sexual abuse. This study addresses one main question: How does a fabricated statement impact Grice’s Cooperative Principle and its associated maxims? The analysis is grounded in forensic practice related to alleged sexual abuse against minor girls. The present study suggests using the co-occurrence of different types of nonobservance of the CP at the “free narrative” and “questioning” stages of the forensic interview as interactional-pragmatic cues of lying and deception.

Abstract

Nicklaus/Stein (2022, 134-137) proposed using an interactional-pragmatic approach to incorporate technical linguistic knowledge into statement credibility assessment. This chapter takes it from there in applying Grice’s (1975) Cooperative Principle (CP) and associated maxims to assess the credibility of a child witness’ statement of alleged sexual abuse. This study addresses one main question: How does a fabricated statement impact Grice’s Cooperative Principle and its associated maxims? The analysis is grounded in forensic practice related to alleged sexual abuse against minor girls. The present study suggests using the co-occurrence of different types of nonobservance of the CP at the “free narrative” and “questioning” stages of the forensic interview as interactional-pragmatic cues of lying and deception.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Manuals of Romance Linguistics V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Acknowledgements IX
  5. Preface XI
  6. Part I: Romance Forensic Linguistics and its Experts
  7. 1 The Context of Romance Forensic Linguistics 1
  8. 2 Expert Evidence Regulation in the Romance Language Countries 19
  9. Part II: Overview of Forensic Linguistics in Romance Languages
  10. 3 Forensic Linguistics in Brazil: Research and Practice 39
  11. 4 Forensic Linguistics in Romania: The Journey from Jurilinguistics to Language as Evidence 59
  12. 5 Forensic Linguistics in France 85
  13. Part III: Focus Research and Practice on Language as Evidence in Romance Languages
  14. 6 Dealing with Mitigation in Borderline Hate Speech Cases: Uncovering the Role of Deontic Modals and Scalar Focus Particles in a Lawsuit about Hate Speech and Incitement to Terrorism 107
  15. 7 Forensic Linguistics in Italy: Discourse Markers in Asylum Interpreting – Construing Evidence 135
  16. 8 Mafia Language Analysis and Detection Using Natural Language Processing Tools 171
  17. 9 He Makes Me, He Tells Me, “Do It or You Won’t Have Your Cellphone”: An Analysis of Reported Speech in the Narratives of Child Victims of Sexual Abuse 203
  18. 10 Using Grice’s Cooperative Principle as an Interactional-Pragmatic Approach in Assessing the Credibility of Child Witness Allegations of Sexual Abuse 225
  19. Part IV: Forensic Phonetics: Voice as Evidence
  20. 11 Forensic Phonetics in Brazil: Analysis of Voice and Speech as Evidence 265
  21. 12 Pasaporte Vocal: Profiling Suspects through the Analysis of Their Speech 293
  22. 13 An Exploratory Forensic Study of Intra- and Inter-Speaker Variability in Voicing Patterns of /s/ in a Multilingual Context 317
  23. About the Authors 355
  24. Subject Index 363
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110798173-010

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Manuals of Romance Linguistics V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Acknowledgements IX
  5. Preface XI
  6. Part I: Romance Forensic Linguistics and its Experts
  7. 1 The Context of Romance Forensic Linguistics 1
  8. 2 Expert Evidence Regulation in the Romance Language Countries 19
  9. Part II: Overview of Forensic Linguistics in Romance Languages
  10. 3 Forensic Linguistics in Brazil: Research and Practice 39
  11. 4 Forensic Linguistics in Romania: The Journey from Jurilinguistics to Language as Evidence 59
  12. 5 Forensic Linguistics in France 85
  13. Part III: Focus Research and Practice on Language as Evidence in Romance Languages
  14. 6 Dealing with Mitigation in Borderline Hate Speech Cases: Uncovering the Role of Deontic Modals and Scalar Focus Particles in a Lawsuit about Hate Speech and Incitement to Terrorism 107
  15. 7 Forensic Linguistics in Italy: Discourse Markers in Asylum Interpreting – Construing Evidence 135
  16. 8 Mafia Language Analysis and Detection Using Natural Language Processing Tools 171
  17. 9 He Makes Me, He Tells Me, “Do It or You Won’t Have Your Cellphone”: An Analysis of Reported Speech in the Narratives of Child Victims of Sexual Abuse 203
  18. 10 Using Grice’s Cooperative Principle as an Interactional-Pragmatic Approach in Assessing the Credibility of Child Witness Allegations of Sexual Abuse 225
  19. Part IV: Forensic Phonetics: Voice as Evidence
  20. 11 Forensic Phonetics in Brazil: Analysis of Voice and Speech as Evidence 265
  21. 12 Pasaporte Vocal: Profiling Suspects through the Analysis of Their Speech 293
  22. 13 An Exploratory Forensic Study of Intra- and Inter-Speaker Variability in Voicing Patterns of /s/ in a Multilingual Context 317
  23. About the Authors 355
  24. Subject Index 363
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