Inaccuracies in Children's Testimony

Inaccuracies in Childrens Testimony combines the literature on obedience to authority with that on suggestibility to create a third literature. This book examines childrens testimony from several perspectives and gives you insightful suggestions for increasing childrens abilities to testify accurately about traumatic things that have happened to them. In doing so, youll learn how to ensure that those who abuse or sexually exploit children are brought to justice while those falsely accused are adequately protected.How children are questioned to learn what they have witnessed is crucial due to the effects the questioning sessions may have on their testimonies--improper questioning may lead to inaccurate answers. This is just one of the many areas of childrens testimony covered in Inaccuracies in Childrens Testimony. In each of the chapters youll discover new ways for increasing the accuracy and dependability of childrens testimony as you read about: factors that affect childrens testimonies suggestibility--definition and research, including sources of suggestibility how obedience to authority can explain childrens behavior as witnesses childrens memory in the courtroom and what they are able to remember how childrens involvement in the courts can be problematic free versus prompted recall--which is more accurate and why the worst method is often used with children Milgrams theory of obedience to authority tied to children as witnesses review of the literature on the effects of stress, prompting, and imagination on childrens recall ideas for future researchExperts in the field of legal testimony, legal personnel, child counselors, psychologists, social workers, and faculty and students of related courses will find Inaccuracies in Childrens Testimony an essential resource for understanding the importance of making the child victim/witness more believable and reliable.