Interviewing Children

7-1 © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Smart Talk: Contemporary Interviewing and Interrogation By Denise Kindschi Gosselin

Interviewing Children

Chapter 7

Smart Talk: Contemporary Interviewing and InterrogationBy Denise Kindschi Gosselin

© 2007 Pearson Education, Inc.Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

7-2

The Child Interview Criminal investigators

must determine what happened Need disclosure from

the child Reliability will be an

issue Social Service

investigators determine if something happened which requires child protection



7-3

Limitations on Reporting by Age Infancy: The first two years

Rely on medical documentation Early Childhood: Ages 2 to 6

Short attention span Time and space are difficult concepts Only in rare instances should the child be interviewed

more than ½ hour Middle Childhood: Ages 7 to 12

Language is well developed Play remains primary expression Emotion language possible Can distinguish fiction versus reality



7-4

Field Assessment: a First Responder Situation Explain the reason for the visit to the

caretaker The child may need to be visually

examined for bruises and marksSecure emergency medical

attention if needed Interview the child outside of the

presence of the caretaker



7-5

Step I: Risk Assessment Assessing the present

and future risk of harm to a child is a legal requirement in all states

The standard of proof for reporting suspected abuse or neglect is mere suspicion

Is there any reason to believe that the child has been abused, neglected, or witnessed abuse towards a parent or sibling?

Has the child received a suspicious injury?

Are there weapons or ammunition that are accessible to this child?

Does the primary caretaker abuse alcohol or drugs?

Is the child depressed or suffering from lack of medical attention?



7-6

Step 2: Models for Evaluating Abuse Choice of

evaluation model is based on the goals of the interview

Child Interview Model

Parent-Child Interaction Model

Multidisciplinary Team Approach



7-7

Child Interview Model Child interview is

central for abuse determination

Premise: children rarely make false allegations



7-8

Parent-Child Interaction Model Determination is based on

expected behaviors between offending and non-offending parent and their offspring

Should not be used for criminal complaint



7-9

Multidisciplinary Team Approach Input from child

professionals for abuse determination

Criminal investigator must have active participation



7-10

Step 3: Preliminary Considerations Checklist Determine the

Reason for questioning

Determine the Purpose of the questioning

Identify the Population

Identify the Interviewer

The interview reason determines its length

The purpose of the interview determines the model to be used

The interview population determines the limitations of the interviewee

The choice of interviewer depends on the population



7-11

Step 4: Remain Neutral What, if any, crime

occurred? Who is the

perpetrator? Where did it occur? When did it occur? Against who did it

occur? How was it

perpetrated?

Have crime elements been satisfied?

Has an offender been identified?

Has the location been specified?

Has the time frame been determined?

Has the victim been identified?

Have the specifics been articulated?



7-12

Forensic Child Interviewing Based on the multidisciplinary

approach A traditional structured format

Phase I: Caretaker Instructions

Phase II: Evaluation

Phase III: Child Preparation

Phase IV: Establish Rapport

Phase V: Interview



7-13

Forensic Child Interviewing Phase I: Caretaker Instructions Prior to meeting with

the child, instructions should be provided to the caretaker

Obtain necessary release forms



7-14

Forensic Child Interviewing Phase II: Evaluation Using the

preliminary considerations checklist (slide 7), conduct an evaluation of the upcoming interview



7-15

Forensic Child Interviewing Phase III: Prepare the Child Use the

Comprehensive Monitoring (CM) Preparation Model



7-16

Comprehensive Monitoring (CM) Preparation Model Prior to the interview this is a practice

session with the child interviewee conducted by a non-interviewing person

Practice identifying instances of non-comprehension

Practice responding with verbalizations that indicate lack of understanding

Increase the interviewee awareness of the negative consequences of responding to questions not fully understood



7-17

Forensic Child Interviewing

Phase IV: Establish Rapport Establish rapport

through age appropriate language



7-18

Forensic Child Interviewing Phase V: Conduct the Interview Establish that the child knows the

difference between the truth and a lie

Don’t use “cop talk” Avoid the use of leading questions



7-19

Practice Interview NIJ found that children

who experienced a practice cognitive interview about an unrelated event gave the most complete reports about the target event

A practice interview is highly recommended but not required



7-20

Basics of the Child Cognitive Interview 3 Phase Procedure Adapted from the adult version

Step 1 focuses on developing rapport Step 2 involves techniques designed to

elicit from the child as complete a narrative account of the crime as possible

Step 3 involves the use of additional memory-jogging techniques



7-21

Step 1: Rapport and Preparation Develop rapport with

the child in accordance with recommended guidelines

Prepare child for the interviewer's questions through a set of four instructions



7-22

Rapport Development Do not ask child’s name — “You must be

Mary. My name is Bob.” Ask simple questions about the child’s

world and provide information about yourself.

Do not ask questions that could be regarded as coercive — “Do you want to be my friend?”

Empathize with a nervous child’s feelings. Use positive, open-ended questions likely

to promote conversation — “What are your favorite TV shows?”



7-23

Prepare the Child with Four InstructionsGive the child permission: Not to know all of the answers!

There may be some questions that you don’t know the answers to, that’s ok.

Not to answer if they don’t want to! You don’t have to answer, just tell me.

Have them ask what you mean if they don’t understand! If you do not know what I mean, ask me to say it in

new words. Answer the same for repeat questions!

I may forget that I already asked you a question, you don’t have to change your answer.



7-24

Step 2: Narrative Report This step is the most important! In

the most recent version of cognitive interviewing these are the only two mnemonics used

Reconstruct the circumstances mnemonic

Be complete, report everything mnemonic



7-25

Interviewer Guidelines for Reconstruct the Circumstances Mnemonic Reconstruct circumstances. To keep the

child grounded in reality and minimize fantasy the interviewer must avoid such terms as “pretend” or “imagine.” Instead, instruct the child to “picture that time when … as if you were there right now. Think about what it was like there. Tell me out loud. Were there any smells there? Was it dark or light? Picture any other people who were there. What things were there? How were you feeling when you were there? Who else was there?”



7-26

Interviewer Guidelines for Report Everything Mnemonic Be complete/report everything. Instruct

the child to start at the beginning and tell everything that happened, from the beginning to the middle, to the end. Tell everything you remember, even little parts that you don’t think are important. Sometimes people leave out little things because they think little things are not important. Tell me everything that happened.



7-27

Suggestions for Step 2 Don’t interrupt while the child is

talking. If needed, prompt in a neutral way,

“and then what happened”. Take notes sparingly; ask for

clarification when the child is finished. Speak slowly so the child will do so

also. Use open-ended questions for

clarification.



7-28

Step 3: Changing the Order and Perspective Mnemonic Use memory-jogging techniques to

obtain new information Change the order mnemonic Change the perspective mnemonic



7-29

Memory-jogging Techniques

Backward-order recall Alphabet search Speech characteristics Conversation New perspective



7-30

Backward-order Recall

Ask the child to recall events in backward order, from the end of the incident to the beginning.

Prepare the child for the backwards technique before asked by prompting the child “what happened right before that?”



7-31

Alphabet Search If a child believes

that a name may have been mentioned during the incident, ask the child to go through the alphabet as an aid to recalling the first letter of the name



7-32

Speech Characteristics

Probe for speech traits. Did a voice remind the child of

another’s? If so, why and what was unusual

about the voice?



7-33

Conversation

How did the child feel about what was said?

Unusual words or phrases?



7-34

New Perspective Use this technique only after the child

seems to have exhausted his or her memory of the event.

Ask the child to recall the incident from the perspective of someone else present. “Put yourself in the body of … and tell me what you would have seen or heard if you had been that person?”

Ask the child to recount the incident from a different perspective, such as through the eyes of someone else who was present, or through the eyes of an inanimate object, such as a stuffed animal that was present.



7-35

Does the Technique Work? Tested by NIJ on 3rd and 6th Graders Memory recall improved by 45 percent

with cognitive method Older children recalled significantly more

facts than the younger children 3rd graders did not make more recall

errors than 6th graders When the backwards order technique

was used, it elicited new information 44 percent of the time



7-36

Positive Interviewers Appeared to develop rapport

effectively, showed interest in what the children were saying, maintained a high level of attention, and generated expanded responses through open-ended questions

They produced the most information and had the highest accuracy rate of 90 percent



7-37

The Child Reporter Accuracy

Account may be incomplete If leading questions are asked

inaccurate responses may occur Embarrassing or humiliating events

may be difficult to express Memory and fantasy

Investigate for corroborating evidence Avoid terms such as pretend or imagine



7-38

The Child Victim Use tools to assist the child in

expression Crayons, drawing, or dolls Allow the child to name and

explain any drawings without prompting

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Interviewing Children