TY - JOUR
PY - 2021//
TI - What is a child-appropriate interview? Interaction between child witnesses and police officers
JO - International journal on child maltreatment : research, policy and practice
A1 - Melinder, Annika
A1 - Magnusson, Mikaela
A1 - Gilstrap, Livia L.
SP - 369
EP - 392
VL - 3
IS - 4
N2 - Over the past decades, researchers have recognized a need to develop more suitable forensic interview protocols to meet children's right to receive improved and adapted communication. This study examines to what extent a relatively novel implementation of an investigative protocol conducted by highly trained Norwegian police investigators helps children (n = 33), 3-15 years of age, to report more detailed information from a criminal allegation than a previous protocol. Additionally, we investigated the bidirectional dynamics between interviewees and interviewers. We predicted that children's spontaneous recollection would elicit more open-ended and focused questions from interviewers, and increase their likelihood of posing more open questions. We expected wh-questions to produce more central details regarding the abuse, which in turn allows the interviewers to resist employing suggestive and leading questioning.
RESULTS confirm an enriched communication after open-ended questions compared to suggestive and closed questions. Specifically, children reported more detailed central information regarding the abuse after cued recall and wh-questions (ps < .001), and interviewers followed up with more facilitators when children reported details (ps < .001). When the child was reluctant (e.g., said no) or a brief yes, interviewers produced more suggestive questions (ps < .01). We conclude that children may need more communication aids to recount their stressful experiences in an investigative context than what traditional interview protocols provide.
Language: en
LA - en SN - 2524-5236 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42448-020-00052-8 ID - ref1 ER -