Why Children are Not Good Eyewitnesses in Investigations or Court Proceedings

Forensic Psychology

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Forensic Psychology
Why Children are not good Eyewitnesses in Investigations or Court Proceedings
Using children witnesses in investigations is a bit hard and complicated. While children can be as accurate as adults, it does not always happen since they face various challenges. Some people have criticized the use of children as witnesses in investigations. However, it is good to note that in some cases, children are the victims of circumstances, and they are the core witnesses. Also, children are believed to be truthful. Nevertheless, care should be taken when interviewing children to assess the credibility of the information. Children’s witnesses are limited in various ways. Among the things that make children not good eyewitnesses are less developed memory, being prone to suggestibility, and being unable to control their emotions.
Children have a less developed memory as compared to adults. According to research, children’s memory improves as they grow. Therefore, children, especially those who are six and below, cannot be reliable eyewitnesses in investigations or court proceedings as they tend to forget easily. Also, children tend to remember some elements of an incident over others. For example, they remember the core or