Bette L. Bottoms

Bette L. Bottoms is a social psychologist known for her work on child abuse, children's eyewitness testimony, and jurors' perceptions of child offenders and victims. She is a Professor Emerita of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Education Bottoms received her bachelor's of arts degree in psychology at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in 1986. She then attended the University of Denver where she obtained her Masters of Arts in Cognitive Psychology (1989). In 1992 she received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Career After graduating with her Ph.D. in 1992, Bottoms was hired as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Chicago in the psychology department. In 2005 she was the Associate Dean for Legal Studies for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and held this position until 2008. . She is also the founding chair of the Student Section of the Editorial Board for Child Maltreatment. She also served as the President of the American Psychological Association's Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice, the APA Division 37 Section on Child Maltreatment, the APA Division 37: Child, Youth, and Family Services, and the Section on Child Maltreatment (of APA Division 37).

Advocacy work Throughout her career, Bottoms has spent time in a variety of volunteer positions. From 1995 to 2010 she served as a member of the Cook County Illinois's Sex Crimes Advisory board, Children's Advocacy Advisory Board, and Cook County Task Force on Intake and Interviewing Guidelines. Bottoms is specifically interested in socio-cultural and psychological factors that can lead people to believe abuse has occurred when it may not have. Additionally, she looks into how these claims can impact the reliability and validity of real abuse allegations.

Awards Bette Bottoms has received various awards from her research. Some of her awards are focused around her teaching career, APA, research, and AP-LS. She has earned awards from 1993 through 2018. These awards range from APA Division 41: American Psychology/Law Society First Place Dissertation Award to UIC Honors College Capstone Thesis Advisor of the Year. Many of her awards are given based on her teaching and divisions within the APA. She received an award from the Division 41 Saleem Shah Early Career Award for her additional research related to psychology and law.

She received awards based on her teaching, mentorship for her students, being a fellow, and contributions to communities. Some of the awards she earned were the APA Division 41 Award for Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring, UIC Honors College Fellow of the Award, the UIC Excellence in Teaching Award.

Books

Sorenson, E., Bottoms, B. L., & Perona, A. (1997). Intake and forensic interviewing in the children's advocacy center setting: A handbook. National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers.