Children who lie: a review of the literature

Abstract

In this paper we review 18 years of literature on the causes and management of lying in children. Developmental, psychoanalytic, interactional and sociological frames of reference have been applied in different papers to understand this phenomenon of childhood and adolescence. In recent years, some experimental studies confirm developmental concepts, yet others suggest that children of the eighties are changing in their moral development. The scarcity of references on the management of lying as a symptom is noted.