New Wave in Children’s Suggestibility Research: A Critique

Abstract

The new wave in children's suggestibility research consists of a prestigious group of researchers in developmental psychology who argue that children are highly vulnerable to suggestive interviewing techniques. Because of its scientific credentials, its moderate tone, and its impressive body of research, the new wave presents a serious challenge to those who have claimed that children are unlikely to allege sexual abuse falsely. Although we can learn much from the research, concerns over society's ability to detect abuse motivate three criticisms. First, the new-wave researchers assume that highly suggestive interviewing techniques are the norm in abuse investigations, despite little empirical evidence to support this claim. Second, the research neglects the characteristics of child sexual abuse that both make false allegations less likely and increase the need to guard against a failure to detect abuse when it actually has occurred. Third, the researchers' apparent value-free scientific treatment of the suggestibility issue obscures, rather than avoids, value judgments regarding the tradeoff between false allegations and false denials of sexual abuse. INTRODUCTION 1005 I. THE NEW WAVE'S CRrniQuE OF GOODMAN 1015 II. STUDIES OF THE NEW WAVE 1021 A. Leichtman and Ceci's Sam Stone Study 1022 B. Bruck, Ceci, Francoeur, and Barr's Inoculation Study 1023 C. Ceci, Crotteau Huffman, and Smith's Mousetrap Study 1023 D. Bruck, Hembrooke, and Ceci's Monkey-Thief Study. 1024 III. TiE REAL WORLD OF SEXUAL ABUSE INVESTIGATIONS ..... 1026 A. The Representativeness of Interviews the New Wave Reviews 1026 t Associate Professor, University of Southern California Law School, Los Angeles, California. Email: tlyon@law.usc.edu. Thanks to Scott Altman, Mark Everson, Brian Holmgren, Michael Lamb, Martin Levine, Edward McCaffrey, Jeffrey Rachlinski, Elyn Saks, Karen Saywitz, Eric Talley, Michael Wald, Helen Westcott, and the participants at the University of Southern California Law School Faculty Workshop for their comments on drafts. Thanks to Verinder Shaw and to Hazel Lord and her staff at the University of Southern California Law Library for research assistance.