Journal of Social Issues, Volume 62, Number 4, 2006, Emerging Directions in Child Maltreatment Research: Perspectives on Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy

Bette L. Bottoms is Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research on the accuracy of children’s eyewitness testimony and jurors’ perceptions of children’s testimony has garnered awards such as the Saleem Shah Early Career Award for Contributions to Psychology and Law Research (sponsored by the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Academy of Forensic Psychology). She is the author of numerous scholarly articles and the co-editor of four books on children and legal issues. Professor Bottoms is a recipient of six teaching and mentoring awards as well as the Today’s Chicago Woman Foundation’s Rising Star Award for career and community contributions. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and Past President of the American Psychological Association’s Division 37 (Child, Youth, and Family Services) and its Section on Child Maltreatment.

Jodi Quas is Associate Professor at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses broadly on memory development and children’s involvement in the legal system. She has published extensively on such topics as the effects of stress on children’s memory, children’s eyewitness capabilities and suggestibility, and the consequences of legal involvement on child victims/witnesses. Her work has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The theoretical and applied significance of her work has been recognized by early career awards from the American Psychology-Law Society (Division 41 of the American Psychological Association) and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (Division 9 of the American Psychological Association).