Jurors' Reactions to Child Witnesses
- 1 July 1984
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Social Issues
- Vol. 40 (2) , 139-156
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1984.tb01098.x
Abstract
Adults often do not know when to believe children. There are few places where this uncertainty is more consequential than in a court of law where jurors may be forced to base their verdict largely on the testimony of children. Legal and cultural stereotypes undermine children's credibility as witnesses by portraying them as basically honest but highly manipulable, unable to differentiate fantasy from reality, and lacking in cognitive sophistication. In this article, we review juror, witness, and courtroom factors that influence a child's credibility. We also present the results of our own studies on reactions to child witnesses.Keywords
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