This study integrates social science research, social policy, and legal analysis related to children and the law. It provides the most cutting-edge information available on topics such as child abuse, children's eyewitness testimony, divorce and custody, juvenile crime, and children's rights. The volume is an important resource for researchers, attorneys, judges, policy makers, legislators, and mental health, social service, and police professionals.

Beliefs and expectancies influence our everyday thoughts, feelings, and actions. These attributes make a closer examination of beliefs and expectancies worthwhile in any context, but particularly so within the high-stakes arena of the legal system. Whether the decision maker is a police officer assessing the truthfulness of an alibi, a juror evaluating the accuracy of an eyewitness identification, an attorney arguing a case involving a juvenile offender, or a judge deciding whether to terminate parental rights-these decisions matter and without doubt are influenced by beliefs and...