Legal dictates for the age at which a child is considered responsible and when a child has rights periodically change with the passage of new legislation or new Supreme Court decisions. Developmental child psychiatry, on the other hand, is a field where knowledge grows more slowly and therefore remains more stable. The body of knowledge about child development often directly bears on legal decisions about children's rights and responsibilities, although developmental child psychiatry is sometimes ignored in legal proceedings. Combining both legal and developmental child psychiatry concepts and principles, this book covers the age of reason and accountability; the legal system (criminal and property rights of children, drinking and driving, religious issues, and sexual and family issues); consent, assent, and dissent; social and personal rights of children; and the child as a witness in court (perception and memory under stress, hypnosis, and child witness credibility). It is contended that child psychiatrists must participate in the legal process, since an understanding of children's behavioral motivations, shifting mental states, and developing cognitive and emotional capacities is essential to rational court and government decisionmaking. 150 references.