If a child falls victim to a crime, or becomes witness to it, they may well be questioned by the police. Perhaps even tasked with selecting a suspect from a line-up. But how reliable can a child be under such strenuous circumstances?

In this book, Dr. Ben Cotterill explores practices and influences that can increase or decrease the accuracy of children’s testimonies. Memory mechanisms and general developmental factors behind the capability of child witnesses are outlined, demonstrating their ability to describe or identify. Factors that affect jurors' perception of said children are also looked into in detail.

There have been many instances in which poor interviewing practices with children led to false imprisonments. Said occurrences demonstrate how both situational factors and individual differences can potentially compromise children’s eyewitness performance. Based upon what we now understand, can recommendations be made, so that, in a court of law, innocence is the key to achieving justice? 

Amazon US: https://amazon.com/dp/3031103815

Amazon UK: https://amazon.co.uk/dp/3031103815 

Editorial Reviews

“This is an excellent book. The book explains when children can be relied on to give accurate eyewitness testimony and provides important insights into why children can sometimes be inaccurate. Best of all the book includes many relevant examples of real life cases in which children have had to give evidence during police interviews or in courts of law. The book is well researched with extensive references to academic research. The book is very well written, and will be accessible to anyone. This book can be highly recommended to parents and to students of developmental psychology, sociology, law and linguistics, and to everyone who is involved with children who, for whatever reason, may be involved with the police and the courts.”

―Dr Mark Blades, Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

"I am delighted to endorse the book “Are children reliable witnesses” by Ben Cotterill. If you want to know more about how reliable children’s eyewitness accounts are, this is the book for you. There is a nice coverage of how well children can serve as witnesses to a crime with reference to social and cognitive factors that influence their accuracies. The author used a wide range of relevant high-profile cases drawn from a variety of jurisdictions and regions to anchor the development of each chapter. I am recommending this book as a valuable resource for academics and students in psychology, criminology, and law because there isn’t another in the market that fully captures children’s experience in the courtroom. Not only is it good for academics, but a great resource for social workers, forensic investigators and practitioners working within the Youth and Criminal Justice."

―Dr Tochukwu Onwuegbusi, University of Lincoln, United Kingdom