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 testimmo...