Children's Testimonies

Every year some hundreds of thousands of children may be involved in the legal system. Most encounters have been with sexual assault cases. Although some children may be capable of giving an accurate testimony most are vulnerable to having their testimony and their memories distorted to the point where the truth may never be known. Children have problems distinguishing reality from fantasy, making them susceptible to the coaching of an authority figure. Award winning development …

…Childhood. inaccuracies. There have been programs developed to help children be more complete in their reports, and to ask for clarification on questions not understood. All involved in interviewing a child is confronted with the challenge of learning when and how to listen to a child. Through research we are able to find important principles. These findings will help to give more weight to the testimony of a child and help the course of justice.