ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades, child abuse has steadily gained recognition as a major societal and legal problem. This deserved recognition has brought increasing numbers of children into contact with the legal system (Goodman, Emery, & Haugaard, 1998; Myers, 1992). When children enter our legal system, a system that was designed for adults, alarming issues are raised. One particularly troubling issue is the reliability of children’s testimony. Given the inherently private nature of an act of child abuse, especially child sexual abuse, there is often no evidence of abuse other than a child’s report (Myers, 1992, 1998). Thus, a child’s word is central to investigation and prosecution efforts. But can it be trusted? There are few topics these days that are as emotionally charged or hotly debated within public, private, and professional circles as the accuracy of children’s testimony. And with good reason-children’s reports can prompt investigations that lead to the discovery and prosecution of actual child abuse, or investigations that target innocent adults for abuse they did not commit. In any legal case that is built primarily on eyewitness testimony-adult or child testimony-there is the potential for justice or injustice, depending on the accuracy of the testimony.
