Conducting Interviews With Child Victims Of Abuse And Witnesses Of Crime

This book is a practical and thoughtful guide for the forensic interview of children, presenting a synthesis of the empirical and theoretical knowledge necessary to understand the account of child victims of abuse or witnesses of crime. It is a complex task to interview children who are suspected of being abused in order to gather their stories, requiring the mastery of many skills and knowledge. This book is a practical one in that constant links are made between the results of the research and their relevance for the interventions made when interviewing child victims of abuse or witnesses of crime and in understanding their accounts. This book also presents in a detailed and concrete way the revised version of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD-R) Protocol, a forensic structured interview guide empirically supported by numerous studies carried out in different countries. The step-by-step explanations are illustrated with a verbatim interview with a child, as well as other tools to help the interviewer to prepare and handle an efficient and supportive interview. Conducting Interviews with Child Victims of Abuse and Witnesses of Crime is essential reading for stakeholders in the justice, social and health systems as well as anyone likely to receive allegations from children such as educators or daycare staff. Although the NICHD-R Protocol is intended for forensic interviewers, the science behind its development and application is relevant to all professionals working with children.

Investigation of child abuse is often hampered by doubts about the reliability of children as only sources of information. Over the last decade, consensus has been reached about children's limitations and competencies. New for the Wiley Series in the Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law, Tell Me What Happened summarizes key research on children's memory, communicative skills and social tendencies, describes how it can be incorporated into a specific structured interview technique and reviews evidence involving more than 40,000 alleged victims.

Investigation of child abuse is often hampered by doubts about the reliability of children as only sources of information. Over the last decade, consensus has been reached about children's limitations and competencies. New for the Wiley Series in the Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law, Tell Me What Happened summarizes key research on children's memory, communicative skills and social tendencies, describes how it can be incorporated into a specific structured interview technique and reviews evidence involving more than 40,000 alleged victims.

This wide-ranging volume combines the current findings and frontline knowledge working practitioners need to know about forensic interviewing of children in sexual abuse cases. Coverage begins with the basics: legal and ethical principles, interview planning and procedure, psychometric and cultural issues, pitfalls and how to avoid them. Perspectives from a trial lawyer and a district attorney lend real-life details on criminal court procedure, interview procedure, legal standards, and what is expected of expert witnesses. Not only is developmental understanding of salient issues concerning children's competency and suggestibility offered here, but also vital guidance on the controversies surrounding false memories and untrue accusations. Included in the coverage: Working with the multidisciplinary team. Childhood memory: an update from cognitive neuroscience. Disclosure failures: statistics, characteristics, and strategies to address them.Child abusers' threats and grooming techniques. Review of psychometrics of forensic interview protocols with children. Assessing the quality of forensic interviews with child witnesses. Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse brings a wealth of robust practical information to professionals working with children, including clinical and child psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers.

Grounded in the latest clinical and developmental knowledge, this book brings together leading authorities to examine the critical issues that arise when children and adolescents become involved in the justice system. Chapters explore young people’s capacities, competencies, and special vulnerabilities as victims, witnesses, and defendants. Key topics include the reliability of children’s abuse disclosures, eyewitness testimony, interviews, and confessions; the evolving role of the expert witness; the psychological impact of trauma and of legal involvement; factors that shape jurors’ perceptions of children; and what works in rehabilitating juvenile offenders. Policies and practices that are not supported by science are identified, and approaches to improving them are discussed.

Represents a scholarly and ambitious attempt to improve the quality of interviews received by the courts and minimize the risks of miscarriages of justice, for victims and defendants This book updates the previous review of research on children’s testimony—reexamining and readdressing how the quality of information provided by young witnesses is affected by the way they are questioned. Drawing upon both experimental and field studies conducted in different countries, it summarizes evidence supporting the effectiveness of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Protocol and showcases the Protocol’s superiority over other current interviewing techniques for eliciting detailed and forensically useful content from child complainants. Written with both child protection professionals and researchers in mind, Tell Me What Happened: Questioning Children About Abuse offers advice and opinions drawn from actual investigative interviews as well as academic research. Its insightful chapters cover: children’s testimony; interview and questioning strategies; how investigators typically interview alleged victims; the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocols; the impact that following the Protocol has on interviews and children’s responses; interviewing victims under the age of six; interviewing children with developmental disabilities; using tools and props to complement the Protocol; training and maintaining good interviewing practices; and more. Provides a primary source of guidance practitioners and professionals involved in child protection Updates guidance for interviewers by adding consideration of emotional and motivational factors to better understand children’s behavior during interviews Integrates the substantial body of research published over the last decade and reflects upon questions that the field should continue to address Tell Me What Happened: Questioning Children About Abuse deserves to be read by all practitioners involved in child protection, whether as investigators, interviewers, judges, or lawyers.

This handbook provides readers with coverage of the various interview and interrogation techniques used across the world with victims, witnesses, and suspected offenders. It includes exclusive coverage on countries rarely, if ever, previously reported upon in the literature to any substantive depth. Bringing together a collection of chapters from over 40 countries, this handbook advises and explains the practices used in crime interviewing and informs the reader of contemporary developments hitherto unreported in any current book on interviewing and interrogation. In doing so, the Routledge International Handbook of Investigative Interviewing and Interrogation showcases global exemplars of evidence-based practice informed by scientific research. Building on recent research, including protocols developed in a variety of countries, this book is particularly timely in the wake of the "Méndez Principles", a set of principles developed by the UN (i) to counter the ill-treatment of suspects during police questioning and (ii) to gather more reliable information. This handbook will be an essential reference text across criminology, criminal justice, policing and investigation studies, and law.