INTERVIEWING CHILDREN AN ART AND A SCIENCE

PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE…  You only have about 45 minutes tops, less with younger children.  Write down your questions and strategies.  Find out about any –Behavioral problems –Disability problems –Health issues –On medication?

CREATE A COMFORTABLE ENVIRONMENT  Use a colorful, child-friendly environment  No interruptions and private from parents  The room should have a two-way mirror –Allows for monitoring –Limits the need for repeat interviews  Wear regular clothes (general rule)  Establish rapport –Talk about neutral things: hobbies, TV, play,… –Then talk about family and more personal “stuff” Who lives with you? Who is important in your life?

KNOW THEIR FEARS  Adults want the offender arrested, children almost always don’t  Unknown consequences  Other common fears: –I’ll get into trouble –Mommy won’t love me anymore –Everyone will know what happened –You’ll take me away –Will I have to go to court? –Will my mommy or daddy have to go to court? –If I tell you, will I have tell someone else?

HELP TO ALEVIATE THEIR FEARS  Find out what their fear is if they are not talking… –“I can see that you’re scared. What do you think will happen if you tell me?”  Give a clear response to the specific fear –For example, if the child fears that she will get into trouble for telling, then tell the child, “You won’t get into any trouble. I am hear to listen and to help.”

DETERMINE THE CHILD’S DEVELOPMENTAL AGE  Assess their level of functioning  Adjust your language to that of the child  Use crayons for counting (to see if the child understands it)  Say the ABC’s  What is the truth and what is a lie?  Inside/Outside… On top/underneath  Body parts

CLARIFY TERMINOLOGY  With young children, start with identifying animals, then body parts  Use the drawing technique and point to parts  What does “peepee” mean?  What is the “kittycat”?

GIVE PERMISSION NOT TO TALK  Say, “You’re not in trouble. If you don’t want to say certain things, you don’t have to.”  Gives the child some control over the process.  Gets information legally… not forced!  Otherwise, you may get a lot of “I don’t know” answers

CREDIBILITY CHECK  Determine if the child is susceptible to suggestion: –Use a marker and make a circle. –Call the circle the wrong color and see if the child corrects it. –If the child doesn’t, ask why…

ASK THE RIGHT TYPE OF QUESTIONS  Don’t lead them  Don’t believe all denials automatically  Use open-ended, non- leading questions –They can use their own words. –Stand up in court  Yes/No are not reliable answers  Say: Tell me about this. –What happened? –What happened then?  Don’t say: Did he do this?

REMEMBER THE GOAL  Investigate criminal abuse  Get the information  Determine what happened  Identify the victims  Prevent future harm to victims.

CONCLUSION QUESTIONS?