American Psychological Association This 312-page book addresses the issues and current research concerning child witnesses, primarily in sexual abuse cases. The book is built around seven actual cases: the Salem Witch Trials, Little Rascals, Kelly Michaels, Bobby Fijnje, Country Walk, Devil's Dyke (England), and Frederico Martinez Macias. The relevant scientific research is discussed in terms of the interviews and investigation of these actual cases which "illustrate the potential for error and misinterpretation when scientific knowledge and common sense are banished from the forensic arena" (p. i). The authors note that a child's testimony, whether in interviews, preliminary hearings, or trials, may result in life-altering decisions so it is essential to understand the factors that influence children's testimony. In 18 chapters, Ceci and Bruck discuss the incidence and prevalence of sexual abuse, memory and suggestibility, contaminating interviewing techniques, anatomical dolls, delayed recall or recovered memory of "repressed" or "dissociated" abuse, and ethical and professional issues. As each topic is addressed the empirical research pertaining to the issue is described. Throughout, the points made are illustrated by the interviews and procedures in the actual cases. Although some researchers 10 or 12 years ago concluded that children could not be led through suggestion to make false statements about important, central, personally experienced events, this conclusion was based on limited research that did not begin to duplicate what happens in actual cases. As Ceci and Bruck and others reviewed documents and taped interviews from actual cases, they began to design studies that more closely approximated what happens in the real world. They discovered that many children not only produce false narratives about fictitious events, these narratives are often coherent and detailed and could not be detected as false by professionals. These newer studies have led to a significant change in the consensus of the scientific community about children and suggestive interviews. Unlike most books in this rapidly changing field, the research cited by the authors is up to date; some has not yet been published in journals. Ceci and Bruck carefully note that when children are interviewed skillfully and appropriately and encouraged to tell their story in their own words, they can provide accurate and forensically useful information. But when interviewers have preexisting biases and use suggestive, leading, and coercive questions to get the child to confirm these, they run a great risk of eliciting false statements about events that never happened. The writing is clear and readable and the book is intended for anyone who is concerned by the allegations of some young children and who wants to understand better their source and accuracy. This book is absolutely essential for any person — attorney, judge, social worker, therapist, investigator, mental health professional, etc. — who is involved in any way with child witnesses and sexual abuse allegations. Reviewed by Hollida Wakefield, Institute for Psychological Therapies, Northfield, Minnesota.
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