Jeopardy in the Courtroom: A Scientific Analysis of Children's Testimony

Rating:
Summary: Data-driven and ethical forensic work
Review: An excellent guide to the state of current knowledge about memory, suggestibility, and unsuitable vs. suitable information-eliciting techniques, with regard to children's testimony. This book is distinguished from others on the same topic by the scientific reputations of the editors and chapter authors, as well as the cautious approach. Fits in very well with current Supreme Court strictures on the admissibility of expert/science based testimony---Daubert, Joiner, & Kumho decisions.

Rating:
Summary: Data-driven and ethical forensic work
Review: An excellent guide to the state of current knowledge about memory, suggestibility, and unsuitable vs. suitable information-eliciting techniques, with regard to children's testimony. This book is distinguished from others on the same topic by the scientific reputations of the editors and chapter authors, as well as the cautious approach. Fits in very well with current Supreme Court strictures on the admissibility of expert/science based testimony---Daubert, Joiner, & Kumho decisions.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for child care providers
Review: Child care center directors often shudder when the attempt to collect an overdue tuition bill angers the user of services. Money matters can turn into dangerous situations for a provider, if parents have shallow pockets, deep problems and reckless behaviors.This book should be read by lawyers, judges and people in the field of early childhood education.

Rating:
Summary: Good For A Time
Review: I don't always give low ratings. However, this book is long overdue a 2nd edition, and as it stands, it should not be relied upon as a "state of the art" book on childrens' eyewitness testimony.

The progenitor of most of the scientific research on the subject, Elizabeth Loftus, has come under fire two years after the publication of this book, as the detractors (or uncritical believers) mounted a resurgent challenge to her work. A revision ought to include a critical reanalysis of these challenges, as well as another decade of subsequent psychological, experimental, and legal work in the area.

The book is therefore of historical interest, but cannot stand alone in any clinic library.

Rating:
Summary: The most important book in my libarary
Review: This is the most important non-legal book in my library. Anyone who needs to evaluate the credibility of a child's statement should read this book. Even-handed in its approach, it points out those factors most important to consider when assessing a child's accusations.

Rating:
Summary: The most important book in my libarary
Review: This is the most important non-legal book in my library. Anyone who needs to evaluate the credibility of a child's statement should read this book. Even-handed in its approach, it points out those factors most important to consider when assessing a child's accusations.