ORCID Profile
0000-0001-5092-1308
Current Organisation
Griffith University - Mount Gravatt Campus
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Forensic Psychology | Learning, Memory, Cognition And Language | Police Administration, Procedures and Practice | Criminology | Police Administration, Procedures And Practice | Psychology | Applied and developmental psychology | Detection And Prevention Of Crime; Security Services | Public Health and Health Services | Criminal Law and Procedure | Health, Clinical And Counselling Psychology | Environmental And Occupational Health And Safety | Memory and attention | Rehabilitation And Therapy: Hearing And Speech | Discourse And Pragmatics | Forensic psychology | Curriculum and Pedagogy Theory and Development | Clinical Social Work Practice | Social Program Evaluation | Clinical Sciences | Law | Psychology Not Elsewhere Classified | Applied and developmental psychology not elsewhere classified |
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Law enforcement | Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences | Youth/child development and welfare | Criminal Justice | Legal Processes | Behavioural and cognitive sciences | Crime Prevention | Child health | "Occupational, speech and physiotherapy" | Occupational health (excl. economic development aspects) | Learner and Learning Processes | Assessment and Evaluation of Curriculum | Occupational training | Hearing, vision, speech and their disorders | Mental health
Related Links
Publications
Specialist training in investigative and evidential interviewing: Is it having any effect on the behaviour of professionals in the field?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2002
Responding to orphanage trafficking from an informationgathering perspective
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2021
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2021.105222
Abstract: Estimates suggest that close to 3 million institutionalized children internationally have some family to whom they could go home. A proportion of these children is recruited from their communities under false pretenses and has false documentation that describes them as legal orphans. The orphanages where they live exploit them on the basis of their orphanhood. These children are known as paper orphans. The aim of the current article is to provide a profile of their origins and networks based on current available evidence, from an investigative interviewing perspective. Increased discussion and research of this problem will assist in supporting efforts towards reunification of children with families, investigations by law enforcement into orphanages, and successful prosecution of orphanage trafficking. The article provides an overview of the orphanage trafficking context, followed by a comparison of orphanage trafficking victims with other child trafficking victims from the perspective of investigative needs. Investigative needs are outlined with respect to two primary groups who would interview paper orphans and other involved parties (e.g., birth parents, orphanage staff)-law enforcement and reunification officers. In the final section of the article, we encourage further research on orphanage trafficking and provide initial guidance for interviewing in this unique context. This paper serves as a step to raise further awareness of paper orphans, orphanage trafficking, and the specific characteristics of their cases that affect research and planning into how to identify and interview them and others involved.
Synthesizing a Talking Child Avatar to Train Interviewers Working with Maltreated Children
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 06-2022
DOI: 10.3390/BDCC6020062
Abstract: When responding to allegations of child sexual, physical, and psychological abuse, Child Protection Service (CPS) workers and police personnel need to elicit detailed and accurate accounts of the abuse to assist in decision-making and prosecution. Current research emphasizes the importance of the interviewer’s ability to follow empirically based guidelines. In doing so, it is essential to implement economical and scientific training courses for interviewers. Due to recent advances in artificial intelligence, we propose to generate a realistic and interactive child avatar, aiming to mimic a child. Our ongoing research involves the integration and interaction of different components with each other, including how to handle the language, auditory, emotional, and visual components of the avatar. This paper presents three subjective studies that investigate and compare various state-of-the-art methods for implementing multiple aspects of the child avatar. The first user study evaluates the whole system and shows that the system is well received by the expert and highlights the importance of its realism. The second user study investigates the emotional component and how it can be integrated with video and audio, and the third user study investigates realism in the auditory and visual components of the avatar created by different methods. The insights and feedback from these studies have contributed to the refined and improved architecture of the child avatar system which we present here.
International sex offender registration laws: research and evaluation issues based on a review of current scientific literature
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-12-2014
Investigative interviewers' perceptions of the value of different training tasks on their adherence to open-ended questions with children
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-2008
The Suggestibility of Child Witnesses: Directions for Future Research
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-1999
Multimodal Virtual Avatars for Investigative Interviews with Children
Publisher: ACM
Date: 21-08-2021
Prosecutorial discretion about special measure use in australian cases of child sexual abuse
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 24-09-2019
Testing the effectiveness of a blended vulnerable witness training for forensic interviewers
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 23-03-2021
International sex offender registration laws: research and evaluation issues based on a review of current scientific literature
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2013
An examination of the questioning styles of police officers and caregivers when interviewing children with intellectual disabilities
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2006
Children's Memory of an Occurrence of a Repeated Event: Effects of Age, Repetition, and Retention Interval across Three Question Types
Publisher: JSTOR
Date: 10-1996
DOI: 10.2307/1131605
A qualitative evaluation of the challenges faced by dieticians when interviewing children
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2016.02.014
Abstract: Investigative interviewing is a critical and challenging skill involved in the assessment and design of appropriate interventions for children's dietary problems. The current study provided an evaluation of the challenges faced by professional dieticians when conducting child investigative interviews, in the hope that this would provide a framework for the development of further guidance and resources in this important area. Fourteen professional dieticians were interviewed they were asked about the information that they needed to elicit from children in particular situations and the questions that they would ask to do so. They were also asked to describe the strengths and limitations of the techniques that they used. The results revealed that professionals faced three main challenges. The first challenge was eliciting information from children who did not want to answer questions. The second challenge was determining the level of accuracy in children's (and caregivers') responses. The third challenge was eliciting very specific information in particular situations, such as determining the cause of an allergic reaction. Overall, professionals had difficulty articulating the questions that they would use to elicit the information that they required indeed, their responses focused more on the content that they wanted to elicit (such as specific details) rather than the overall process that they would use to do so. Professionals may benefit from the development of guidelines to assist them in their interviews with children, based on what is currently known about interviewing children generally.
The effects of face-to-face versus live video-feed interviewing on children's event reports
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-06-2017
DOI: 10.1111/LCRP.12098
Techniques used by investigative interviewers to elicit disclosures of abuse from child witnesses: a critique
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-2204
Mental context reinstatement reduces resistance to false suggestions after children have experienced a repeated event
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-06-2010
Errors in the Identification of Question Types in Investigative Interviews of Children
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-2013
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2013.15.2.308
Abstract: This study examined the incidence and nature of the errors made by trainee coders during their coding of question types in interviews in which children disclosed abuse. Three groups of trainees (online, postgraduate and police) studied the coding manual before practising their question coding. After this practice, participants were given two-page field transcripts to code in which children disclosed abuse. Their coding was assessed for accuracy any errors were analysed thematically. The overall error rate was low, and police participants made the fewest errors. Analysis of the errors revealed four common misunderstandings: (1) the use of a ‘wh’ question always denotes a specific cued-recall question (2) ‘ Tell me’ always constitutes an open-ended question (3) open-ended questions cannot include specific detail and (4) specific questions cannot elicit elaborate responses. An analysis of coding accuracy in the one group who were able to practise question coding over time revealed that practice was essential for trainees to maintain their accuracy. Those who did not practise decreased in coding accuracy. This research shows that trainees need more than a coding manual they must demonstrate their understanding of question codes through practice training tasks. Misunderstandings about questions need to be elicited and corrected so that accurate codes are used in future tasks.
Children's Memories for Repeated Events
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2008
A Comparison of Adult Witnesses' Suggestibility Across Various Types of Leading Questions
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-03-2012
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.1793
Professionals' Perceptions of a New Model of Sexual Assault Investigation Adopted by Victoria Police
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2012
Oral language competence in incarcerated young offenders: Links with offending severity
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-06-2011
DOI: 10.3109/17549507.2011.578661
Abstract: Previous research in Australia and overseas has shown that young offenders serving community-based orders are at high-risk for undetected but clinically significant oral language difficulties. However, this phenomenon has received little attention in incarcerated s les, and links with offending severity, mental health, and other markers of early risk have not previously been systemically examined. A cross-sectional examination of 100 young offenders (mean age 19.03 years) completing custodial sentences in Victoria, Australia was conducted. A range of standardized oral language, IQ, mental health, and offending severity measures was employed. Forty-six per cent of participants were classified as language impaired (LI), and these were compared with the non-LI sub-group on background and offending variables. When the sub-group with high scores on a measure of offending severity was compared with those with (relatively) lower offending scores, significant differences on a range of language measures were identified. A range of early risk indicators (such as placement in Out of Home Care) was also examined with respect to language impairment in this high-risk group. Results are discussed with respect to policy and practice pertaining to early intervention for vulnerable children, and implications for service delivery within the justice system. In particular, emphasis is placed on the need to closely examine the oral language skills of children who struggle with the transition to literacy and then display behavioural difficulties in the classroom. Once a young person is engaged with youth justice services, a high index of suspicion should be maintained with respect to their oral language skills for ex le, in relation to forensic interviewing and the ability to benefit from verbally mediated interventions.
Investigative interviewing
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date: 29-04-2010
Particularisation of Child Abuse Offences: Common Problems when Questioning Child Witnesses
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-2007
Forensic interviewers' perceptions of the utility of mock interviews with trained actors as a training tool for child interviewing
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
A direct examination of the nonlinear (quadratic) association between intelligence and suggestibility in children
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-06-2006
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.1213
Children's Ability to Recall Unique Aspects of One Occurrence of a Repeated Event
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-04-2011
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.1696
An examination of the degree to which IQ, memory performance, socio-economic status and gender predict young children's suggestibility
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2002
Lost in the detail: Prosecutors' perceptions of the utility of video recorded police interviews as rape complainant evidence
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 07-12-2017
Abstract: This study explored the perceptions of ten Crown Prosecutors about the utility of police interviews as video evidence-in-chief for adult sexual assault complainants to determine how to improve these interviews. A themed analysis of prosecutors' responses indicated three major concerns about these interviews: the interviewer using wordy instructions, the lack of chronology and logical structure, and the relentless pursuit of unnecessary detail. These findings suggest that prosecutors' concerns are primarily due to police using cognitive interview methods that attempt to enhance the amount of detail recalled by a complainant. The authors discuss why generating large amounts of detail may be problematic in interviews with sexual assault complainants and provide recommendations for how police can adapt interview practices to better meet evidential needs.
Usefulness of an e-Simulation in improving social work student knowledge of best-practice questions
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 05-07-2021
Do Cognitive Interview Instructions Contribute to False Beliefs and Memories?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-08-2017
DOI: 10.1002/JIP.1371
A comparison of preschoolers' recall of experienced versus non-experienced events across multiple interviews
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2003
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.932
Evaluation of a Comprehensive Interactive Training System for Investigative Interviewers of Children
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 08-2015
DOI: 10.1037/LAW0000052
Effects of practicing episodic versus scripted recall on children's subsequent narratives of a repeated event
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 05-2011
DOI: 10.1037/A0022793
Disrupting the Encoding of Misinformation Delivered in Closed Specific and Open Presumptive Questions
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-12-2015
Expert Testimony in Child Sexual Abuse Cases: The Effects of Evidence, Coherence and Credentials on Juror Decision Making
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2010
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.1565
Assessing the training needs of medical students in patient information gathering
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-03-2020
DOI: 10.1186/S12909-020-1975-2
Abstract: Effective communication is at the heart of good medical practice but rates of error, patient complaints, and poor clinician job satisfaction are suggestive of room for improvement in this component of medical practice and education. We conducted semi-structured interviews with experienced clinicians ( n = 19) and medical students ( n = 20) to explore their experiences associated with teaching and learning clinical communication skills and identify targets for improvements to addressing these skills in medical curricula. Interviews were thematically analysed and four key themes emerged the importance of experience, the value of role-models, the structure of a consultation, and confidence. The findings reinforce the need for improvement in teaching and learning communication skills in medicine, with particular opportunity to target approaches to teaching foundational skills which can establish a strong grounding before moving into more complex situations, thus preparing students for the flexibility required in medical interviewing. A second area of opportunity and need is in the engagement and training of clinicians as mentors and teachers, with the findings from both groups indicating that preparation for teaching and feedback is lacking. Medical programs can improve their teaching of communication skills and could learn from other fields s to identify applicable innovative approaches.
The effect of question type on resistance to misinformation about present and absent details
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-09-2020
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.3742
A Meta-Analysis of Cross Sectional Studies Investigating Language in Maltreated Children
Publisher: American Speech Language Hearing Association
Date: 06-2015
DOI: 10.1044/2015_JSLHR-L-14-0056
Abstract: In this review article, meta-analysis was used to summarize research investigating language skills in maltreated children. A systematic search of published studies was undertaken. Studies were included in the meta-analysis if they investigated language skills in groups comprising maltreated and nonmaltreated children. Studies were selected if these 2 groups of children were of comparable age and from a similar socioeconomic background. A total of 26 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. Results from the meta-analysis showed that maltreated children demonstrated consistently poorer language skills with respect to receptive vocabulary ( k = 19 standardized mean difference [SMD] = .463 95% confidence interval [CI .293, .634] p .001), expressive language ( k = 4 SMD =.860 95% CI [.557, 1.163] p .001), and receptive language ( k = 9 SMD =.528 95% CI [.220, .837] p .001). Together, these results indicate a reliable association between child maltreatment and poor language skills. 0.23641/asha.6170318
What makes a good investigative interviewer of children? A comparison of police officers' and experts' perceptions
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 13-03-2007
DOI: 10.1108/13639510710725604
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine police officers' perceptions about their role in interviewing children, and to compare these perceptions with those of child eyewitness memory experts. A erse s le of 23 police officers (from three states of Australia) in idually participated in in‐depth interviews where they were asked to define what makes a good interviewer in the area of child abuse investigation. Irrespective of the background of the officers, the important role of interviewers' personal attributes was emphasised (e.g. having a relaxed, empathetic, warm nature). Such personal attributes were more prominent in the participants' descriptions than knowledge of legislation and children's development, prior job experience, and interviewing techniques. The paper shows that while child eyewitness memory experts acknowledge the importance of establishing a bond of mutual trust between the interviewer and the child, the importance of utilising an open‐ended questioning style for enhancing rapport, and for eliciting a detailed and accurate account of abuse cannot be overstated. The possible reasons for the police officers' emphasis on personal qualities are discussed. This paper has revealed that limitations in the competency of police officers in interviewing children is not merely a problem of “doing” (i.e. learning to ask open‐ended questions), but may also reflect ingrained attitudinal and organisational barriers.
Police officer perspectives on the implementation of a sex offender community notification scheme
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 28-09-2016
Abstract: Community notification statutes, popularly known as ‘Megan’s Law’, were passed in rapid succession throughout the United States following the enactment of landmark legislation in the state of Washington in 1990. Calls for the adoption of similar legislation in Australia gained momentum following the introduction of ‘limited disclosure’ schemes in the United Kingdom and, in 2012, one Australian state introduced a limited form of community notification. This study presents an analysis of in-depth interviews with specialist police officers ( N=21) who are responsible for coordinating the ongoing management, registration and monitoring of sex offenders who live in the community in this jurisdiction to understand their perspectives on the scheme’s implementation. Systematic thematic analysis revealed that the officers were particularly interested in understanding the impact that notification has on offenders, victims and the broader community, and the police agency. The practice-based wisdom distilled from these interviews is used to inform a discussion about the more widespread implementation of this type of public policy both in Australia and in other countries that may be giving this consideration.
Special Measures in Child Sexual Abuse Trials: Criminal Justice Practitioners’ Experiences and Views
Publisher: Queensland University of Technology
Date: 25-01-2018
Abstract: Special measures have been implemented across the globe to improve evidence procedures in child sexual assault trials. The present study explored the day-to-day experiences and views on their use by five groups of Australian criminal justice practitioners (N = 335): judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers, police officers and witness assistance officers. Most practitioners reported routine use of pre-recorded police interviews and CCTV cross-examination of child complainants, but rare use with vulnerable adults. Despite persistent technical difficulties and lengthy waiting times for witnesses, high consensus emerged that special measures enhanced trial fairness and jury understanding. The perceived impact of special measures on conviction rates erged widely. Defence lawyers disputed that this evidence was as reliable as in-person testimony. All practitioner groups endorsed expanded use of expert witness evidence and witness intermediaries. Ongoing professional development in all practitioner groups will further enhance justice outcomes for victims of child sexual abuse.
Identifying the characteristics of child sexual abuse cases associated with the child or child's parents withdrawing the complaint
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2016.05.004
Abstract: Most child sexual abuse cases do not result in a full trial or guilty plea rather, case attrition occurs at earlier stages of the criminal justice system. One reason for the attrition of these cases is the withdrawal of complaints, by children or their caregivers. The aim of the current study was to determine the case characteristics associated with complaint withdrawal in child sexual abuse cases by the child or his or her parents once a report has been made to authorities. All child sexual abuse incidents reported to authorities in one jurisdiction of Australia in 2011 were analyzed (N=659). A multinomial logistic regression was used to predict the following case outcomes: (1) withdrawn by the child or his or her parents, (2) exited for other reasons (e.g., the alleged offender was not identified, the child refused to be interviewed), and (3) resulted in a charge. Five predictors significantly added to the prediction of case outcome: child age, suspect gender, suspect age, child-suspect relationship, and abuse frequency. These results should contribute to the design of interventions in order to reduce complaint withdrawals if these withdrawals are not in the child's best interests.
The relationship between job status, interviewing experience, gender, and police officers' adherence to open-ended questions
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2009
A field assessment of child abuse investigators' engagement with a child-avatar to develop interviewing skills
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2023
The effect of uniform and prior knowledge on children's event reports and disclosure of secrets
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-2000
DOI: 10.1007/BF02802655
Skill in Interviewing Reduces Confirmation Bias
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-02-2012
DOI: 10.1002/JIP.1357
Getting the story from child witnesses: exploring the application of a story grammar framework
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-2009
The impact of community notification on the management of sex offenders in the community: An Australian perspective
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 17-03-2014
Abstract: Western Australia recently passed legislation that allows information about convicted sex offenders to be disclosed to the general public. After critically appraising the rationale behind community notification, this paper considers its impact on offenders’ reintegration into the community and their subsequent risk of reoffending, its potential deterrent effect and usefulness as a management tool, and implementation issues. This discussion identifies several factors that potentially moderate the effectiveness of community notification schemes and some directions for future research and the development of policy and practices in this area.
An Evaluation of a Self-Initiated Practice Exercise for Investigative Interviewers of Children
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 09-2009
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2009.11.3.141
Abstract: The current study extends debate and research on the important role of practice in promoting and sustaining complex skills in investigative interviewing. Specifically, we explored the use of self-initiated practice as one avenue for facilitating ongoing development of professionals who interview children about abuse. A group of 40 investigative interviewers were required to organise and administer their own practice opportunities and to document these sessions in a diary. The professionals were aware of the important role of practice and what constitutes best-practice interview guidelines however no instruction was given about the desired format, structure and timing of the practice sessions. A combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed poor adherence to self-initiated practice, and the practice (among those who adhered to this model) had negligible impact on performance. Overall, these findings highlight the need for careful monitoring and evaluation of all interviewer practice tasks.
Professionals' Views on Child Sexual Abuse Attrition Rates
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 14-11-2015
Prosecutors' recommendations for improving child witness statements about sexual abuse
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-04-2014
Prosecutors' perceptions of how to improve the quality of evidence in domestic violence cases
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 23-06-2017
The relationship between child sexual abuse and academic achievement in a sample of adolescent psychiatric inpatients
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2005
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2004.12.013
Abstract: To examine the relationship between sexual abuse and academic achievement in an adolescent inpatient psychiatric population. In idual factors expected to influence this relationship were measured to explore the way they each interacted with sexual abuse and its relationship to academic achievement. Eighty-one adolescent psychiatric inpatients participated in the study (aged 12--18 years: M=16.0). Participants were administered tests of academic achievement (dependent variable) and intelligence, and completed a number of self-report measures of their experience of different types of maltreatment, their perception of the parenting they received, socio-economic status, substance abuse, and psychopathology. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that intelligence was the main predictor of academic achievement (uniquely explaining 26% of the variance). A number of interaction effects were also significant indicating that intelligence, substance abuse, internalizing behavior problems, externalizing behavior problems all influenced the relationship between sexual abuse and academic achievement. Examining the impact of sexual abuse is complex because it is typically an experience embedded in a range of other risk factors, such as poverty, family dysfunction, and other types of maltreatment. This study demonstrated coexistence between sexual abuse and a number of other variables, including other maltreatment types and parental overprotection, underscoring the requirement for complex models of research that more accurately reflect the experience of abused children.
Language functioning, mental health and alexithymia in incarcerated young offenders
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 15-10-2016
DOI: 10.3109/17549507.2015.1081291
Abstract: Previous studies describe high rates of language impairment in young offenders however, important correlates such as mental health status and alexithymia have received little attention. This study describes a cross-sectional study of the language, emotion recognition and mental health of 100 young people completing custodial sentences in New South Wales (Australia). The s le comprised 70 young people from non-indigenous backgrounds (n = 60 male) and 30 from indigenous backgrounds (n = 25 male). The mean age of the s le was 17.1 years. It was hypothesized that, in addition to elevated rates of language impairment, alexithymia would be over-represented in this group. It was further predicted that impoverished language skills would contribute to alexithymia scores. Only a quarter of the s le overall achieved Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-4) Core Language Scores in the expected range rates of language impairment were higher in indigenous males than in non-indigenous males and in the females. Alexithymia was present in 59% of the s le, but appeared to be associated with poor mental health, rather than with language impairment. Interventions for young offenders (e.g. psychological counselling, restorative justice conferencing) should be framed around these difficulties. Validated language measures for use with young indigenous offenders are needed.
Similarities in modi operandi of institutional and non-institutional child sexual offending: Systematic case comparisons
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2018.08.002
Abstract: Little is known about the extent to whichinstitutional child sex offending differs from non-institutional offending. Strategies to secure the compliance of child victims were systematically compared to compare the modi operandi (prior to, during and following abuse), and the type of power (intimate, aggressive, coercive) applied by child sexual offenders in institutional versus non-institutional settings. A s le of 59 of the most recent child sexual abuse cases referred for prosecution in three Australian states was manually reviewed and coded. Of these, six were cases of institutional abuse, one of which involved crossover offending. Based on complainant age and gender and patterns in offending behaviors, institutional cases were matched with cases of non-institutional abuse. Complainants of both genders ranged in age from 5 to 16 years at abuse onset. Offenders were male family members or friends, priests, an employer and one female school teacher. Results demonstrated commonalities in the modi operandi and grooming methods applied in institutional and non-institutional contexts. Implications for abuse prevention are summarized.
Child testimony in custody cases: A review
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2002
An Examination of Police Officers' Beliefs About How Children Report Abuse
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 27-06-2014
Professionals’ views on how to conduct investigative interviews with adults with limited expressive language
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-06-2020
Evaluation of a Collaborative Operation to Improve Child Sexual Abuse Reporting in Western Australian Indigenous Communities
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 08-09-2015
Abstract: This study presents an evaluation of Operation RESET, a community engagement intervention designed to help remote Indigenous communities and human service agencies to uncover, respond to, and prevent child sexual abuse. The primary aim of this evaluation was to determine whether the intervention was associated with increased reporting. Data were obtained for six Western Australian regions between 2007 and 2012. Number of reports and arrests significantly increased in the intervention areas during the intervention compared with the pre-intervention time period but not in the control areas. Arrest rates significantly increased during the intervention and increased further following the intervention. There were no changes in arrest rates in regions that did not participate in the operation. This evidence suggests that the reforms led to a marked improvement in some key outcomes for Indigenous victims of child sexual abuse and supports the adoption of this collaborative approach by other jurisdictions.
The treatment of multicultural issues in contemporary forensic psychology textbooks
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2003
Issues related to the interviewer's ability to elicit reports of abuse from children with an intellectual disability: A review
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2003
Investigative Interviewing of Child Sex Offender Suspects: Strategies to Assist the Application of a Narrative Framework
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-05-2011
DOI: 10.1002/JIP.135
A guide to clarifying evidence in Australian child forensic interviews
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 09-05-2016
Abstract: – Interviewing victims of child sex abuse requires considerable care in order to minimise error. Due to children’s heightened suggestibility any question asked of a child could potentially incite error that could undermine the witness’s credibility. A focus group was conducted in order to facilitate the development of guidance for interviewers around the circumstances in which it is necessary to ask children follow-up questions in an interview. The paper aims to discuss these issues. – Seven Crown prosecutors representing every Australian state and territory (with the exception of one small state) were issued with 25 hypothetical narrative accounts of child abuse and asked to indicate what information, if any, required follow-up in the child’s narrative. Their responses and rationale for requiring following up in some cases and not others were discussed. – Thematic analysis revealed three recommendations to guide questioning: whether the case involved identification or recognition evidence the presence of contextual features that may influence the witness’s memory, or that should trigger a particular line of questioning and whether the information can or should be sought at a later stage by the trial prosecutor, rather than by the interviewer. – The recommendations are discussed within the context of their implications for interviewing, that is, how each recommendation could be implemented in practice. – The present study extends prior literature by elucidating principles to guide decision making across interview topic areas. The need for such guidance is highlighted by research suggesting that topics such as offender identity, offence time and place, and witnesses are a source of overzealous questioning in interviews.
The use of a guided peer review assessment for investigative interviewers of child witnesses
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 03-12-2021
Abstract: Investigative interviewers assess their colleagues' interviews (‘peer review’) as a necessary part of their practice, and for their self-development. Yet, there is little guidance around what the process involves and how they might do it. Research suggests that effective peer review is supported by using guidance material. The goal of the present work was to describe the use of such a guide by a group of professionals who regularly conduct investigative interviews with children, to share what was learned with other professionals seeking to create a formalized peer review process. Sixty US child witness interviewers completed a guided peer review assessment of an anonymous interview, as an assignment at the conclusion of an 18-hour training program that focused on developing their interviewing skills. They consented to the use of their learning data in research, and the research was approved by the university's research ethics board. Peer reviews were coded for the extent to which they used the guide to support their evaluations, and the overall quality of the review to assess the utility of the guide in supporting them to conduct effective assessments. In general, the guide and instructions for providing feedback were moderately effective in supporting the peer assessments, but results suggested specific training in how to deliver peer review would be useful. Through this process, the authors identified components that would be helpful to further increase the efficacy of peer review. The aim of this work was to spark a greater conversation among practitioners and academics about professionalizing the peer review process and aiding interviewers to develop peer review tools that would support their continued growth. The authors conclude with five key tips for professionals that stem from the experiences creating and evaluating the guide in combination with existing literature and three areas for future investigation.
Professionals' Perceptions of Electronically Recorded Interviews with Vulnerable Witnesses
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2009
Victims' perceptions of a new model of sexual assault investigation adopted by Victoria Police
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2013
A qualitative examination of police officers' questioning of children about repeated events
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-2009
Practical Guidelines for Conducting Investigative Interviews with Aboriginal People
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2000
She Wanted to Know the Full Story: Children's Perceptions of Open Versus Closed Questions
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 07-01-2019
Abstract: The current study explored children’s perceptions of open and closed questions in an interview setting. Children aged 7–12 ( n = 83) years watched a short film and were questioned about it by an interviewer who asked only open questions and an interviewer who asked only closed questions (counterbalanced). A third interviewer subsequently invited perceptions of each interview by asking children to compare the interviews on 10 attributes (e.g., length, perceived interviewer interest). Children’s comparisons on each of the 10 attributes were analyzed quantitatively and their responses to the follow-up questions underwent thematic analysis. Overall, children tended to find closed questions easier than open questions because they required less thought to answer but felt more listened to and better able to give their stories in response to open questions. Their perceptions frequently matched findings in the literature about the utility of open versus closed questions. The research has implications for interviews with child victims.
Police officers' perceptions of the challenges involved in Internet Child Exploitation investigation
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 12-08-2014
DOI: 10.1108/PIJPSM-08-2013-0080
Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to explore police officers’ perceptions of the challenges and work stressors of working in Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) investigation. – Participants were a heterogeneous s le of 32 ICE investigators across nine Australian jurisdictions. Officers’ perceptions of ICE work were elicited via in idual, open-ended, anonymous, telephone interviews, which focused on both the nature and impact of work-related stressors and challenges. – Thematic analysis revealed that viewing ICE material was not perceived to be a major stressor or particularly traumatic facet of ICE investigation. Rather, the challenges related to three areas work relationships, workload and resources and the physical environment. Participants also suggested some improvements to their work environment which could reduce the impact of these challenges. – The stressors identified by ICE investigators in this study place physical, psychological and social restrictions on investigative capacity. Modifications to the workplace environment that facilitate more effective professional collaboration, reduce workload and enhance investigator efficiency and functionality of the physical work environment would likely reduce the potential for harm associated with ICE investigation and improve ICE investigators’ capacity to perform their role. – This is the first study to use a broad research framework to examine the full range of stressors that ICE investigators face (both organisational and operational). The findings are important for developing comprehensive theories regarding workplace traumatisation as well as holistic intervention models to assist the prevention and management of stress related to ICE investigation.
The effect of an intervening interview on children's ability to remember one occurrence of a repeated event
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-1997
The importance of enhancing the communication skills of incarcerated mothers
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2023
Trial of Three Investigative Interview Techniques With Minimally Verbal Adults Reporting About Occurrences of a Staged Repeated Event
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 11-2019
DOI: 10.1037/LAW0000206
Police Officers’ Perceptions of their Reactions to Viewing Internet Child Exploitation Material
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-04-2015
Prosecutors' Perceptions on Questioning Children about Repeated Abuse
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2017
Improving Police Officers' Perceptions of Sexual Offending Through Intensive Training
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 02-05-2013
Abstract: We examined whether specialist police training on the dynamics of sexual offending can modify officers’ victim-blaming attitudes and negative perceptions regarding likely case authorization. The s le included 77 Australian police officers specialising in sexual assault investigation. The training, delivered face to face over 4 weeks, included focus on identifying elements of grooming in offending relationships and how these elements can be elicited from victims and suspects within a narrative interviewing framework. Officers’ perceptions of cases were assessed immediately pre- and posttraining using a series of case scenarios. For each scenario, officers rated (on a 10-point Likert-type scale) their confidence that the case should be authorised to proceed to prosecution and the responsibility attributable to the victim. For each case, officers also listed up to 5 factors to justify their case authorization decision. Overall, confidence in case authorization increased from pre- to posttraining, whilst perception of victim “responsibility” decreased. The pattern of results, including the qualitative evidence to justify officers’ decisions, support that the attitude change was due to greater understanding of the dynamics of sexual offending. The implications for police trainers, and directions for future research, are discussed.
Identifying the characteristics of child sexual abuse cases that exit the criminal justice system before the forensic interview
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 20-04-2016
Abstract: Most child sexual abuse cases do not result in conviction rather, they result in attrition at an earlier point in the system. Although research has looked at case characteristics associated with attrition at later stages of the system (i.e. the laying of charges and prosecution stages), to date, no research has studied the case characteristics associated with attrition as soon as a report has been made to authorities. The aim of this study was to determine the case characteristics (child complainant, suspect and additional case characteristics) associated with attrition when a case first enters the criminal justice system before a forensic interview is conducted. All child sexual abuse incidents reported to police in one jurisdiction of Australia in 2011 were examined. Three case characteristics were found to predict attrition: previous disclosure, abuse frequency and the child complainant’s age. Specifically, cases were more likely to result in attrition when the child had not previously disclosed the abuse to an adult, the abuse was a single incident rather than repeated, and a curvilinear relationship was found for child age. Cases involving children aged 7–12 years were less likely to result in attrition than cases involving younger (0–6 years) and older (13–15 years) children. This information should assist professionals and researchers in developing interventions to reduce the attrition when necessary during this early stage of the criminal justice system.
COGNITIVE-PROCESSES UNDERLYING THE BEHAVIOR-CHANGE IN COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR-THERAPY WITH CHILDHOOD DISORDERS - A REVIEW OF EXPERIMENTAL-EVIDENCE
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 07-1991
DOI: 10.1017/S0141347300013288
Abstract: While Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has been widely used for treatment of childhood disorders, the process underlying the success of CBT in this area is still unclear. This paper attempts to examine empirically the above issue, using the literature from 1974 to 1989 to see whether there is support for the underlying changes in cognitive processes that are assumed to mediate the therapy. The results show that while CBT is relatively effective in treating some childhood disorders, there is little empirical evidence to support the underlying cognitive models of childhood disorders.
The effect of using trained versus untrained adult respondents in simulated practice interviews about child abuse
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2008
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2008.05.005
Abstract: A single study tested the hypothesis that simulated practice interviews for investigative interviewers of children are more effective when the role of the child respondent is played by trained actors (i.e., postgraduate psychology students) than untrained fellow participants (i.e., child protection workers). The interviewers included 50 child protection service workers. Each interviewer received instruction in the use of open-ended questions and then engaged in two simulated practice interviews. The role of the child respondent in the practice interviews was played by either a trained psychology student or an untrained fellow participant. The key outcome measure was the proportion of open-ended questions, which was assessed immediately prior to and after the practice sessions, as well as 12 weeks post-training. Interviewers who had practiced with trained actors had higher post-training performance (M=.83, SD=.12) compared to those who had practiced with untrained fellow participants (M=.73, SD=.13, p<.05), even at the 12-week follow up (M actors=.66, SD=.25 M untrained actors=.49, SD=.23, p<.05). Training programs that make better use of practice opportunities (e.g., by using trained respondents) will be more effective in improving the performance of investigative interviewers. A single study investigated the relative effectiveness of two simulated practice exercises for professionals who interview children about abuse. This research is relevant to professionals who design investigative interviewer training programs because it indicates that practical exercises, which are currently chosen on an 'ad hoc' or convenience basis, can vary markedly in their effectiveness in encouraging adherence to open questions.
Improving child investigative interviewer performance through computer-based learning activities
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-08-2016
Investigative interviews with adult sexual assault complainants: Challenges and future directions
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 21-02-2019
Elements Underpinning Successful Implementation of a National Best-Practice Child Investigative Interviewing Framework
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-08-2015
The effect of repeated experience on children's suggestibility across two question types
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2002
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.801
Contrasting memory for temporal-source and memory for content in children's discrimination of repeated events
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-1997
DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(199708)11:4<339::AID-ACP460>3.0.CO;2-O
What Themes Trigger Investigative Interviewers to Ask Specific Questions When Interviewing Children?
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 03-2013
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2013.15.1.301
Abstract: Recent research has established that investigative interviewers have difficulty adhering to open-ended questions and instead ask specific questions when interviewing children about abuse. The current study aims to examine the themes in abuse-related interviews that trigger investigators to ask specific questions. Twenty police officers who were authorised to conduct investigative interviews with children completed a mock interview with an expert in child abuse interviewing who had been trained to play the role of an abused child. During the interview, the officers were stopped by a researcher and asked to reflect on why they had asked specific questions. Overall, the results revealed five areas where the officers deviated from open-ended questions. These related to: (1) the identity of the alleged offender (2) the meaning of terms used by the child to describe genitals (3) whether or not penetration occurred (4) the offender's intent and motives and (5) the timing of the abuse and where it occurred. Each of these themes is discussed, along with the implications for trainers and researchers in child abuse interviewing.
INVESTIGATING AND REPORTING CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE - REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLINICAL-PRACTICE
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-1991
A comparison of the effectiveness of two suggestibility paradigms in predicting preschoolers' tendency to report a non-experienced event
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2004
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.1074
A Comparison of Responses to Substantive Transition Prompts in Interviews With Children
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 21-02-2018
Abstract: This study examined children’s responses to two alternate prompts used to transition to the substantive phase of an interview. Children ( N = 401) experienced four scripted events and were later interviewed. After rapport building, half of the children were asked, “Tell me what you’re here to talk to me about today,” whereas the other half were asked, “Tell me why you’re here to talk to me today.” Children’s responses were coded as informative (e.g., nouns) or uninformative (e.g., “don’t know”). The what prompt elicited more informative responses than the why prompt, and 7- to 9-year-olds were more informative than 5- to 6-year-olds regardless of the type of prompt they received. Given that the what prompt elicited more informative responses, the present study provides initial support for this phrasing when forensic interviewers transition to the substantive phase.
An analysis of police officers' decisions about whether to refer cases of child abuse for prosecution
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2010
Evaluation of the Questions Used to Elicit Evidence About Abuse from Child Witnesses: Australian Study
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2009
An Examination of Police Officers' Notes of Interviews with Alleged Child Abuse Victims
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2009
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2009.11.4.147
Abstract: This study provided a critical examination of handwritten records (notes) of interviews contained in a s le of 89 police case files about alleged child abuse. Some of the notes examined related to initial disclosure (complaint) interviews which were not electronically recorded and were meant to be recorded verbatim. Notes of electronically recorded interviews, which merely constituted a convenient summary of the case details, were also examined. Collectively, the analyses focused on the accessibility, completeness and accuracy of the notes, and the degree to which the interviewers' questions and witnesses' answers were differentiated. In relation to the disclosure interviews, a substantial proportion of these were not accessible. Of those where the notes were obtained, the detail recorded was not a complete record of conversation, and there was often poor delineation of questions and responses. Analysis of the electronically recorded interviews showed that these were not an entirely accurate summary of event details even though the note takers' sole task was to document the interview. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Oral Language Competence, Young Speakers, and the Law
Publisher: American Speech Language Hearing Association
Date: 10-2012
DOI: 10.1044/0161-1461(2012/11-0065)
Abstract: This paper highlights the forensic implications of language impairment in 2 key (and overlapping) groups of young people: identified victims of maltreatment (abuse and/or neglect) and young offenders. Two lines of research pertaining to oral language competence and young people’s interface with the law are considered: 1 regarding investigative interviewing with children as victims or witnesses in the context of serious allegations of sexual abuse, and the other pertaining to adolescent offenders as suspects, witnesses, or victims. The linguistic demands that forensic interviewing places on these young people are also considered. Literature concerning the impact of early maltreatment on early language acquisition is briefly reviewed, as is the role of theory of mind in relation to the requirements of investigative interviewing of children and adolescents. High-risk young people (i.e., those who are subject to child protection orders because of suspected or confirmed maltreatment, and those who are engaged with the youth justice system) face an elevated risk for suboptimal language development but may need to draw on their language skills in high-stakes forensic interviews. Implications for early intervention policy and practice are identified, and the need for greater speech-language pathology advocacy and engagement in forensic interviewing research is emphasized.
Police officers' and legal professionals' perceptions regarding how children are, and should be, questioned about repeated abuse
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2006
Investigative interviewing of suspected sex offenders: A review of what constitutes best practice
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2009
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2009.11.4.143
Abstract: Research on the topic of investigative interviewing of suspected sex offenders is still in its infancy, with the majority of work to date focusing on developing theories underlying confessions, and reflecting on the value of specific interview techniques that have been observed in the field. This paper provides a synthesis of the literature in order to produce a preliminary guide to best practice for the interviewing of this particular interviewee group. Specifically, this review is structured around five elements that should be considered when planning for and administering the interview. These elements include: (a) establishing rapport, (b) introducing the topic of concern, (c) eliciting narrative detail, (d) clarification/specific questions and (e) closure. The unique contribution of this paper is its practical focus, and its synthesis of findings across a variety of streams, including the general eyewitness memory literature, legislation and case law, therapeutic literature, and research specifically related to the interviewing of offenders (including confessions). At the conclusion of the review, recommendations are offered for further research.
Are all complainants of sexual assault vulnerable? Views of Australian criminal justice professionals on the evidence-sharing process
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2022
DOI: 10.1177/13657127211060556
Abstract: Cases of historic child assault typically rely on the complainant's narrative due to lack of corroborating evidence. Although it is important that complainants give their best evidence, concern has been expressed that evidence-sharing procedures are suboptimal. This study explored criminal justice professionals’ perspectives on the utility of introducing reforms to the evidence-sharing process. We interviewed judges, prosecutors, defence counsel and witness assistance officers ( N = 43) on the utility of regulating the questioning of complainants and of using video-recorded interviews as evidence-in-chief. Many professionals perceived that adult complainants of child assault were vulnerable and supported reforms to evidence-sharing. Primary objections to these reforms were the belief that all adult complainants should share evidence in the same way and the poor quality of investigative interviews. This study illuminates potential barriers to the implementation of reforms which would change how adult complainants of child assault give evidence.
Child abuse investigation - An in-depth analysis of how police officers perceive and cope with daily work challenges
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 07-2006
DOI: 10.1108/13639510610684728
Abstract: The purpose of the current study was two‐fold: to explore police officers' perceptions of the daily challenges involved in child abuse investigation and how those challenges affect their ability to undertake child abuse investigations, and to explore how these challenges are managed on a daily basis. This study employed a qualitative research design. In‐depth interviews were conducted with a erse s le of 25 police officers working in child abuse units across three Australian states. Inductive thematic analysis revealed that heavy caseload and collaboration with other professional groups are two key sources of negative work stress frequently associated with child abuse investigation. Further, despite the provision of organisational strategies aimed at reducing work stress, the officers tended to rely predominantly on informal coping mechanisms. This study has raised many questions for further research aimed at developing interventions to assist police organisations in managing work stress. This paper provides an in‐depth analysis of the key challenges associated with child abuse investigation and the coping mechanisms employed for overcoming these challenges from the unique perspective of police officers authorised to investigate child abuse.
Examination of the Effect of Mental Reinstatement of Context Across Developmental Level, Retention Interval and Type of Mnemonic Instruction
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-2012
Individual differences in children's suggestibility: a comparison between intellectually disabled and mainstream samples
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2003
Indigenous Perspectives on Operation RESET: An Initiative to Improve the Identification and Prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse Incidents in Remote Indigenous Communities
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2019
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12349
Memories of separate occurrences of an event: Implications for interviewing children
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-1997
Abstract: The authors review the empirical literature relating to factors that affect children's ability to remember specific occurrences of a repeated event and draw implications for professionals who conduct investigatory interviews with children. Issues addressed include the timing of the interview, the type of errors, the questioning techniques, the age of the child, the consistency of the child's account and the impact of an intervening interview.
Developmental language disorders and adolescent risk: A public-health advocacy role for speech pathologists?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2004
Enhancing questioning skills through child avatar chatbot training with feedback
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 13-07-2023
DOI: 10.3389/FPSYG.2023.1198235
Abstract: Training child investigative interviewing skills is a specialized task. Those being trained need opportunities to practice their skills in realistic settings and receive immediate feedback. A key step in ensuring the availability of such opportunities is to develop a dynamic, conversational avatar, using artificial intelligence (AI) technology that can provide implicit and explicit feedback to trainees. In the iterative process, use of a chatbot avatar to test the language and conversation model is crucial. The model is fine-tuned with interview data and realistic scenarios. This study used a pre-post training design to assess the learning effects on questioning skills across four child interview sessions that involved training with a child avatar chatbot fine-tuned with interview data and realistic scenarios. Thirty university students from the areas of child welfare, social work, and psychology were ided into two groups one group received direct feedback ( n = 12), whereas the other received no feedback ( n = 18). An automatic coding function in the language model identified the question types. Information on question types was provided as feedback in the direct feedback group only. The scenario included a 6-year-old girl being interviewed about alleged physical abuse. After the first interview session (baseline), all participants watched a video lecture on memory, witness psychology, and questioning before they conducted two additional interview sessions and completed a post-experience survey. One week later, they conducted a fourth interview and completed another post-experience survey. All chatbot transcripts were coded for interview quality. The language model’s automatic feedback function was found to be highly reliable in classifying question types, reflecting the substantial agreement among the raters [Cohen’s kappa (κ) = 0.80] in coding open-ended, cued recall, and closed questions. Participants who received direct feedback showed a significantly higher improvement in open-ended questioning than those in the non-feedback group, with a significant increase in the number of open-ended questions used between the baseline and each of the other three chat sessions. This study demonstrates that child avatar chatbot training improves interview quality with regard to recommended questioning, especially when combined with direct feedback on questioning.
A New Child Protection Strategy for Aboriginal Communities in Western Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2012
Family Functioning, Parental Psychological Distress and Child Behaviours: Evidence from the Victorian Child Health and Wellbeing Study
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2013
Oral language competence, social skills and high-risk boys: What are juvenile offenders trying to tell us?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-12-2008
The origin, experimental basis, and application of the standard interview method: An information‐gathering framework (Book review)
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2020
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12468
An Examination of the Prevalence of Temporally Leading Questions in Child Witness Interviews
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 03-2014
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2014.16.1.324
Abstract: Leading questions are generally defined as those that raise details not provided by the witness. Leading questions can raise content details (eg, actions, objects, persons) or can refer to the time when details occurred. The latter questions are referred to as temporally leading. Study 1 compared the incidence of content and temporally leading questions in field interviews conducted by police officers when eliciting accounts from children about repeated, or a single episode of, abuse. Study 2 extended the analysis to use standardised mock rather than field interviews, where there was a precise record of what events occurred. In both studies, temporally leading questions were more frequent than content-leading questions, but only in situations in which multiple occurrences of the event were being discussed. The implications of these results are discussed.
Retrieval of Episodic Versus Generic Information: Does the Order of Recall Affect the Amount and Accuracy of Details Reported by Children About Repeated Events?
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.1037/A0025864
Abstract: Children (N = 157) 4 to 8 years old participated 1 time (single) or 4 times (repeated) in an interactive event. Across each condition, half were questioned a week later about the only or a specific occurrence of the event (depth first) and then about what usually happens. Half were prompted in the reverse order (breadth first). Children with repeated experience who first were asked about what usually happens reported more event-related information overall than those asked about an occurrence first. All children used episodic language when describing an occurrence however, children with repeated-event experience used episodic language less often when describing what usually happens than did those with a single experience. Accuracy rates did not differ between conditions. Implications for theories of repeated-event memory are discussed.
The effect of contextual cues on children's ability to remember an occurrence of a repeated event
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2003
An Overview of Current Initiatives to Improve Child Witness Interviews about Sexual Abuse
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2013
Interventions for improving medical students' interpersonal communication in medical consultations (Protocol)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-11-2016
The effects of e-simulation interview training on teachers' use of open-ended questions
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2015
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2015.02.004
Abstract: Teachers in many parts of the world are mandated reporters of child abuse and maltreatment but very little is known concerning how they question children in suspicious circumstances. Teachers (n=36), who had previously participated in a mock interview scenario designed to characterize their baseline use of various question-types when attempting to elicit sensitive information from children, were given online training in choosing effective questions. They engaged in simulated interviews with a virtual avatar several times in one week and then participated in a mock interview scenario. The amount and proportion of open-ended questions they used increased dramatically after training. The overall number of questions, and amount and proportions of specific and leading questions decreased. In particular, large decreases were observed in more risky yes-no and other forced-choice questions. Given that most teachers may feel the need to ask a child about an ambiguous situation at some point during their careers it is worthwhile to incorporate practice asking effective questions into their training, and the present research suggests that an e-learning format is effective. Additionally, effective questions encourage the development of narrative competence, and we discuss how teachers might include open-ended questions during regular classroom learning.
An examination of the types of leading questions used by investigative interviewers of children
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 30-05-2008
DOI: 10.1108/13639510810878695
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of leading questions used by a representative s le of investigative interviewers of children. In particular, it examined whether these interviewers use the type of questions that are known to elicit reports of false activities or events among child s les. A total of 82 police officers who were authorized to conduct interviews with alleged child abuse victims conducted in idual mock interviews with children aged 5‐7 years. The focus of the interviews was an event that was staged in the children's school a week earlier. Prior to the interview, each officer was provided with accurate and inaccurate information about the event, including details about an activity that did not occur. The officers' task was to elicit as detailed and accurate account of the event as possible using the techniques they would “normally” use in the field. Although the officers refrained from using coercive interview techniques, two problematic types of questions were relatively common. These include: questions that presumed that an activity/detail occurred that had not been previously mentioned by the child and questions that included highly specific details about an activity. Both of these techniques had featured in prior laboratory research on children's false event narratives. These results support the need for better training techniques for assisting officers to avoid the use of leading questions. While it is well established that investigative interviewers do sometimes use leading questions when interviewing children, this is the first study to specify the incidence of various types of leading questions.
Examination of the Subjective Well-Being of Australian Internet Child Exploitation Investigators
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2015
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12119
Using item response theory modelling to understand criminal justice professionals' perceptions of cross-examination in child sexual abuse trials
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-02-2023
The Effects of Practice on Children's Ability to Apply Ground Rules in a Narrative Interview
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-2015
DOI: 10.1002/BSL.2194
Abstract: Despite the widespread use of ground rules in forensic interview guidelines, it is unknown whether children retain and apply these rules throughout narrative interviews. We evaluated the capacity of 260 five- to nine-year-olds to utilize three ground rules. At the beginning of the interview all children heard the rules half also practiced them. Children then responded to open-ended prompts about a repeated laboratory event and were assessed for their application of the rules. Logistic regressions revealed that practice only benefitted the use of the "don't know" rule. Although the children accurately answered "don't understand" and "correct me" practice questions, practice appeared to give no greater benefit than just hearing the rules. Results suggest that the current format of ground rule practice in interview guidelines is appropriate for the "don't know" rule, but the other rules may require more extensive practice with this age group.
How well does the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale for Children, version 2 predict the recall of false details among children with and without intellectual disabilities?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2007
An examination of implementation of special measures in child sexual assault trials and the problems that arise
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-04-2022
The makings of a reliable interview with a child witness
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2001
A test of three refresher modalities on child forensic interviewers’ posttraining performance.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 05-2021
DOI: 10.1037/LAW0000300
Mental reinstatement of context with child witnesses: does it matter whether context is reinstated 'out loud'?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2010
Evaluation of the usefulness of 'Marvin'; a computerized assessment tool for investigative interviewers of children
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2002
What's the story? An exploration of narrative language abilities in male juvenile offenders
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2005
The attrition of Indigenous and non-Indigenous child sexual abuse cases in two Australian jurisdictions.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1037/LAW0000119
Stakeholders' perceptions of the benefit of introducing an Australian intermediary system for vulnerable witnesses
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 14-08-2015
Abstract: Vulnerable witnesses (e.g. children and adults with communication impairment) face many barriers to testifying and achieving justice when participating in the criminal justice system. To date, reforms have been implemented in Australia to address these, yet the barriers remain. Several other countries have implemented an intermediary scheme, whereby an independent third party assists vulnerable witnesses to understand the questions and processes encountered during interviews and trials, and helps witnesses to be understood. This study provides a qualitative analysis of stakeholders' ( N = 25 professionals) perceptions regarding the potential benefits of implementing an intermediary scheme in Australia. While all participants demonstrated an open-minded attitude to new reform in this area, their perspectives did not support the introduction of an intermediary scheme at this time. Stakeholders highlighted the need for improved use and effectiveness of current measures, and expressed concern about adding further complication to the system.
The association between investigative interviewers' knowledge of question type and adherence to best-practice interviewing
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-12-2014
DOI: 10.1111/LCRP.12000
Consistency amongst pairs: How consistent are child co-witnesses with one another?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-05-2023
DOI: 10.1111/LCRP.12243
Abstract: When multiple children are asked about the same event, the consistency of their reports may be used as a heuristic for credibility. Little research has considered how consistent child co‐witnesses are likely to be. In this study, we explored how likely child co‐witnesses were to report the same details from a mutually experienced event. Pairs of children participated in an educational science event during which the target attempted to coax the children into breaking preestablished rules for the session (i.e., commit transgressions). Children were in idually interviewed about their experience on two subsequent occasions. Co‐witnesses tended to be quite inconsistent: 32%–55% of all details recalled were only mentioned by one co‐witness. Various factors were associated with co‐witness consistency, including delay before the interview, centrality of details recalled, and children's age and forthcomingness. The findings indicate that inconsistency between co‐witnesses reflects a natural memory phenomenon, and that practitioners should be cautious of using co‐witness consistency as an indicator of credibility.
Improving Communicative Practice: Beyond the Cognitive Interview for Adult Eyewitnesses
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-10-2016
The Video Suggestibility Scale for Children: How generalizable is children's performance to other measures of suggestibility?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-07-2002
DOI: 10.1002/BSL.492
Abstract: This study explored the generalizability of the Video Suggestibility Scale for Children (VSSC), which was developed by Scullin and colleagues (Scullin & Ceci, 2001 Scullin & Hembrooke, 1998) as a tool for discriminating among children (aged three to five years) who have different levels of suggestibility. The VSSC consists of two subscales Yield (a measure of children's willingness to acquiesce to misleading questions) and Shift (a measure of children's tendency to change their responses after feedback from the interviewer). Children's (N = 77) performance on each of the subscales was compared with their performance using several other measures of suggestibility. These measures included children's willingness to assent to a false event as well as the number of false interviewer suggestions and false new details that the children provided when responding to cued-recall questions about an independent true-biased and an independent false (non-experienced) event. An independent s les t-test revealed that those children who assented to the false event generated higher scores on the Yield measure. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that Yield was a significant predictor of the number of false details reported about the false activity, but not the true-biased activity. There was no significant relationship between the Shift subscale and any of the dependent variables. The potential contribution of the VSSC for forensic researchers and practitioners is discussed.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF INTERPARENTAL CONFLICT AND GLOBAL MARITAL ADJUSTMENT TO AGGRESSION, ANXIETY, AND IMMATURITY IN AGGRESSIVE AND NONCLINIC CHILDREN
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-1991
DOI: 10.1007/BF00925820
Abstract: Seven patients of Chinese origin who had haemoglobin (Hb) Q-H disease were studied. They were found to have a similar clinical phenotype to that of patients with deletional Hb H disease, who have a near identical genotypic configuration. The complete absence of Hb A in Hb Q-H disease and the similar clinical phenotype to deletional Hb H disease lends support to the observation that Hb Q-Thailand shares similar functional properties with Hb A.
An Examination of the Limitations in Investigative Interviewers' Use of Open-Ended Questions
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2008
Narrative practice may foster comfort but not enhance cognition in adult witness interviews about a mock sexual assault
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 25-07-2020
E-simulations for the purpose of training forensic (investigative) interviewers
Publisher: IGI Global
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-189-4.CH005
Abstract: One of the most critical issues facing investigative organisations is how best to administer effective practice opportunities in investigative interviewing on a global scale. Interviewer evaluation research across the world has highlighted inadequacies in the adherence to and maintenance of best-practice interview approaches, and insufficient opportunities for practice and feedback are the major reasons attributed by experts for poor interviewer competency. “Unreal Interviewing: Virtual Forensic Interviewing of a Child” (an e-simulation created at Deakin University, Australia) was developed as a way to ‘expand the reach’ of trainers in the investigative interviewing area. The simulation enables trainers to provide ongoing professional development for forensic interviewers in dispersed work environments, without the financial burden on organisations of extracting large numbers of professionals from the workplace to the classroom. This chapter provides readers with: an overview of the key stages involved in the development of Unreal Interviewing and the education and technical decisions that needed to be made and a review of the application of “Unreal Interviewing” in the training and continuing professional development of trainees in their workplace.
Children’s conception of police authority when responding to requests for assistance
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2008
Organisational challenges to delivering child investigative interviewer training via e-learning
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 05-05-2015
Abstract: This article examined organisational challenges arising from the implementation of a new training course for investigative interviewers of vulnerable witnesses. The course was delivered via e-learning (computer exercises) and also involved mock interviews conducted over the telephone. Thematic analysis was conducted of: (a) trainees’ anonymous written feedback submitted to an online discussion forum on the training programme’s website, (b) trainees’ responses to face-to-face questions during semi-structured qualitative interviews, and (c) correspondence between trainees and trainers regarding the training programme. Despite unanimous support for the new training programme, three challenges were identified: limited allocated work time to complete the training, conflicting work practices arising from staggered course enrolment, and difficulties associated with computer and technical skills. These organisational challenges must be addressed to ensure that any future evaluation of the programme on skill performance provides a true indication of the programme’s impact on skill development. From a managerial perspective, organisational challenges need to be addressed in order to maximise the accessibility, completion and long-term success of an e-learning training model for interviewers.
What criteria do police officers use to measure the success of an interview with a child?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-2007
Police Officers' Ability to Play the Role of the Child during Investigative Interview Training
Publisher: Vathek Publishing
Date: 12-2012
Prosecutors’ perceptions on improving childwitness interviews about abuse
Publisher: Springer New York
Date: 2014
Differential effects of general versus cued invitations on children's reports of a repeated event episode
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-05-2017
Improving the Quality of Professionals' Contemporaneous Notes Taken During Interviews about Alleged Child Abuse
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 27-10-2011
Clients who stalk psychologists: Prevalence, methods, and motives
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 10-2005
Investigative Interviewing of Aboriginal Children in Cases of Suspected Sexual Abuse
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 18-05-2016
DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2016.1158762
Abstract: This study examined the investigative interviewing of Australian Aboriginal children in cases of alleged sexual abuse, with a focus on three commonly included components of interview protocols: ground rules, practice narrative, and substantive phase. Analysis of 70 field transcripts revealed that the overall delivery and practice of ground rules at the beginning of the interview was positively associated with the spontaneous usage of rules in children's narratives of abuse. When specifically examining the "don't know" rule, however, only practice had an effect of children's usage of the rule (as opposed to simple delivery or no delivery at all). Children spoke more words overall, and interviewers used more open-ended prompts during the substantive phase when the interviews contained a practice narrative. Children most often disclosed sexual abuse in response to an open-ended prompt however, they produced the most words in response to suggestive prompts. This article concludes with a discussion of the effectiveness of ground rules, practice narratives, and questioning with Aboriginal children.
Information Gathering in Investigative and Medical Interviewing: Drawing Parallels Across Contexts
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-12-2019
DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2019.1700884
Abstract: Information gleaned from a patients' medical history is a core determinant of a medical diagnosis. Accurate and effective history-taking is, therefore, a foundational skill for medical practitioners and is introduced early in medical training. Recognizing and developing the skills of effective medical interviewing is an ongoing challenge for medical students and experienced clinicians alike. Important parallels exist between the information gathering skills required in medicine and health, and those required in investigative interviewing. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 19 experienced medical professionals from a range of specialty areas. They were asked about the role of the medical interview in their discipline, and about challenges they experience when gathering information from patients. Both theory-driven and grounded-theory approaches were used in combination to identify common themes. The interviews were rich with themes including approaches to introductory phases of the interview, eliciting a narrative account, and several topics that specifically paralleled issues in interviewing of vulnerable witnesses. We explore these themes through a lens of investigative interviewing by applying the knowledge of effective interviewing skills and structures to the data gained from the medical context. In general, themes indicated that there are numerous parallels to information gathering approaches in both contexts. As such, there may be scope for medical education to adopt some of the training techniques employed in the investigative interviewing field. Further, it is hoped that the present findings be used to spark an interdisciplinary conversation about communication from which both sides can learn.
Evaluating police interviewing practices with suspects in child-sexual abuse cases
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 15-04-2014
Australian stakeholders’ views on improving investigative interviews with adult sexual assault complainants
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-09-2019
Discussions about child witness interviews during Australian trials of child sexual abuse
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-11-2019
Australian police officers' perceptions of sex offender registries
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-04-2014
Evidence of metacognitive awareness in young children who have experienced a repeated event
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2005
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.1145
The relationship between investigative interviewing experience and open-ended question usage
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-07-2014
The Effects of Evidence, Coherence and Credentials on Jury Decision-Making in Child Sexual Abuse Trials
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 05-2011
The effect of intellectual disability on the adherence of child witnesses to a story grammar framework
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2008
DOI: 10.1080/13668250701829811
Abstract: This study examined the ability of 78 children (aged 9-12 years) with an intellectual disability (ID) to provide a narrative account of a staged event they had participated in four days earlier. The children were interviewed using open-ended questions. The quality of their responses (using a story grammar framework) was compared with that of two control groups: mainstream children matched for mental and chronological age. While the children with an ID and those matched for mental age provided narratives of similar length and used similar proportions of each story grammar element, the ID group was less likely than both control groups to provide a narrative account at all. Among those children with an ID who did provide a narrative account, their accounts included proportionately fewer story grammar elements than those of both control groups. Children with an ID are disadvantaged as witnesses with respect to their ability to provide a detailed and coherent narrative account of events under optimal investigative interviewing conditions.
When good intentions are not enough: Professionals’ perceptions of the South Australian communication partner scheme
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-03-2022
DOI: 10.1002/AJS4.208
Abstract: Children and other vulnerable parties such as those with a cognitive, social or communication impairment frequently struggle to understand, and be understood in, the criminal justice environment. One way this has been addressed in jurisdictions around Australia and overseas is through the introduction of intermediary (or communication partner) schemes, whereby an independent third party assists vulnerable witnesses, and in some cases, defendants, with their communication needs. The South Australian Government introduced a trained volunteer communication partner scheme for defendants and prosecution witnesses as one element of its Disability Justice Plan in 2016. However, the scheme had relatively limited use and ceased operation on 1 March 2020. This study provides a qualitative analysis of stakeholders’ ( N = 23 professionals) perceptions of how the scheme was implemented, the factors that constrained the usefulness of the scheme and how the initiative could be improved. Participants highlighted the need for a future communication partner service to include highly trained and specialized professionals situated within a government agency.
A Guide to Interviewing Children: Essential Skills for Counsellors, Police, Lawyers and Social Workers
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 12-11-2001
How Interviewers Navigate Child Abuse Disclosure After an Unproductive Start in Forensic Interviews
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-07-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S42448-022-00121-0
Abstract: Obtaining abuse disclosure from children in forensic interviews can be challenging for interviewers. The present study explored strategies interviewers used when children did not disclose abuse in response to the initial invitation to provide the interview purpose. The s le included 116 forensic interviews with 4- to 16-year-olds who ultimately disclosed abuse (85% sexual). Interviewer strategies were coded following the non-productive initial invitation until the point of children’s eventual disclosure. Four main types of strategies were found: re-phrasing the initial transition prompt, asking a follow-up question, introducing prior information, and using a minimal encourager (e.g., “Uh-huh”). Strategies were coded as high- or low-quality. Consistent with predictions, 85% of children’s disclosures followed high-quality strategies. In a cycle of effective communication, such interviewer strategies predicted informative child responses, which then led to subsequent high-quality interviewer strategies. Both interviewers and children demonstrated consistency in their question and response patterns, respectively. Coupled with additional exploratory sequential analyses of interviewer-child reciprocal communication and the prior research literature, the present data suggest practical ways that interviewers can break ineffective cycles of communication in the process of obtaining child abuse disclosures.
Association between Interview Quality and Child Sexual Abuse Trial Outcome
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-03-2019
Eliciting children's recall of events: how do computers compare with humans?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2002
Inconsistencies in complainant's accounts of child sexual abuse arising in their cross-examination
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 23-06-2201
Factors Related to the Accuracy of Self-Reported Dietary Intake of Children Aged 6 to 12 Years Elicited with Interviews: A Systematic Review
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.JAND.2015.08.024
Abstract: Understanding the relationship between children's dietary consumption and health is important. As such, it is crucial to explore factors related to the accuracy of children's reports of what they consumed. The objective was to evaluate factors related to the accuracy of self-reported dietary intake information elicited by interview methods from children aged 6 to 12 years. A systematic review of English articles using PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, PsycEXTRA, PsycBOOKS, CINAHL Complete, Global Health, and MEDLINE Complete was performed. Search terms included interview, diet, children, and recall studies were limited to those published from 1970 onward. Additional studies were identified using the reference lists of published articles. Studies that assessed children's dietary intake using direct observation, doubly labeled water, or the double-portion method and compared it with their recall of that intake (unassisted by parents) using an interview were included. The 45 studies that met the inclusion criteria showed that specific interview techniques designed to enhance children's recall accuracy had little effect. Rather, the timing of the interview appeared most important: The shorter the retention interval between children's consumption and their recall, the more accurate their memories. Children's age, body mass index, social desirability, food preferences, and cognitive ability were also related to accuracy. Factors related to the accuracy of children's dietary reporting should be taken into consideration when asking about consumption. Further research is required to examine whether other interview techniques, such as those developed to enhance children's recall of repeated staged events, can improve children's dietary reporting accuracy.
An evaluation of the question types used by criminal justice professionals with complainants in child sexual assault trials
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-01-2022
DOI: 10.1177/26338076211068182
Abstract: The way that complainants of child sexual assault are questioned about their experiences can profoundly influence the accuracy, credibility, and consistency of their evidence. This is the case for all people, but especially children whose language, social, and cognitive capacity is still developing. In this study, we examined the questions used by a representative s le of Australian prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges/magistrates to determine if this is an area that warrants improvement. Our focus was the type of questions used by the different professionals and how (if at all) these varied across complainant age groups (children, adolescents, and adults, total N = 63). Our findings revealed that each complainant group was questioned in a manner known to heighten misunderstanding and error (e.g., complex and leading questions were used frequently by all professional groups). There was also little indication of question adaption according to age (e.g., prosecutors asked children more complex questions than they asked adults). When the results are considered in the context of the broader literature on the impact of different question styles, they suggest that professional development in questioning would improve the quality of trial advocacy and judicial rulings.
The roles of prior experience and the timing of misinformation presentation on young children's event memories
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-2007
DOI: 10.1111/J.1467-8624.2007.01057.X
Abstract: The current study addressed how the timing of interviews affected children's memories of unique and repeated events. Five- to six-year-olds (N=125) participated in activities 1 or 4 times and were misinformed either 3 or 21 days after the only or last event. Although single-experience children were subsequently less accurate in the 21- versus 3-day condition, the timing of the misinformation session did not affect memories of repeated-experience children regarding invariant details. Children were more suggestible in the 21- versus 3-day condition for variable details when the test occurred soon after misinformation presentation. Thus, timing differentially affected memories of single and repeated events and depended on the combination of event-misinformation and misinformation-test delays rather than the overall retention interval.
An Evaluation of the Impact of Australia's First Community Notification Scheme
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2017
Describing individual incidents of sexual abuse: a review of research on the effects of multiple sources of information on children's reports
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2001
DOI: 10.1016/S0145-2134(01)00290-3
Abstract: For successful prosecution of child sexual abuse, children are often required to provide reports about in idual, alleged incidents. Although verbally or mentally rehearsing memory of an incident can strengthen memories, children's report of in idual incidents can also be contaminated when they experience other events related to the in idual incidents (e.g., informal interviews, dreams of the incident) and/or when they have similar, repeated experiences of an incident, as in cases of multiple abuse. Research is reviewed on the positive and negative effects of these related experiences on the length, accuracy, and structure of children's reports of a particular incident. Children's memories of a particular incident can be strengthened when exposed to information that does not contradict what they have experienced, thus promoting accurate recall and resistance to false, suggestive influences. When the encountered information differs from children's experiences of the target incident, however, children can become confused between their experiences-they may remember the content but not the source of their experiences. We discuss the implications of this research for interviewing children in sexual abuse investigations and provide a set of research-based recommendations for investigative interviewers.
Adult Mock Sexual Assault Witness Perceptions and Non-Verbal Behaviors Across Different Interview Frameworks
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-05-2022
Guidelines for teachers to elicit detailed and accurate narrative accounts from children
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2016
Prosecutors' perceptions of the utility of 'relationship' evidence in sexual abuse trials
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 20-08-2014
Abstract: For successful prosecution of sex offences, defined elements that comprise each charge (such as the acts that occurred and offenders’ identities) need to be established beyond reasonable doubt. This study explored the potential benefit (from a prosecution perspective) of eliciting another type of evidence evidence regarding the relationship between the victim and perpetrator that may explain the victim’s responses. Fourteen prosecutors representing every major Australian jurisdiction participated in in idual interviews or a focus group where they were asked to reflect on the perceived relevance of relationship evidence in sex offence trials, and the potential impact of this evidence on court process and outcomes. All prosecutors gave strong support for the premise of including relationship evidence in victim and witness statements, as well as in suspect interviews however, this type of evidence was not routinely being included in interviews or admitted in trials. The majority of the discussion centred on: (a) the benefits and prevalence of eliciting relationship evidence (b) how relationship evidence is best elicited in police interviews and (c) challenges in presenting relationship evidence at trial. Each of these areas, their practical implications and directions for future research are briefly discussed.
The impact of experienced versus non-experienced suggestions on children's recall of repeated events
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2007
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.1299
Children‘s ability to remember an occurrence of a repeated event
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 1997
Tracking labels for occurrences of alleged child abuse from police interviews to trials
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-01-2019
DOI: 10.1111/LCRP.12146
Abstract: Labelling (i.e., naming) in idual occurrences of repeated abuse allegations with explicit and consistent terms may improve children's reporting of these offences. The aim of the present study was to track labels for occurrences of alleged child sexual abuse from the police interview to court proceedings. We examined the labels used in the police interviews and trials of 23 child complainants (5–15 years old at interview). The initiator of each label (child, interviewer, lawyer, or judge), stage of the process in which the label was generated, and the type of information used to label specific occurrences of abuse were recorded. Any subsequent reuse or replacement of the labels was also recorded. Most labels were created by police interviewers. Few children generated labels. Most occurrences of abuse were labelled early in the legal process 82% were first labelled either in the police interview or in the prosecution's opening statement. The labels were frequently replaced with alternate terms, with an average of three different labels for the same incident. After original labels were established for occurrences, they were just as likely to be replaced as they were to be reused. The most frequently observed label replacement was by defence lawyers during cross‐examination. Labels were used inconsistently throughout the police interview and trial. To give children the best chance of describing specific occurrences of abuse during legal proceedings, labels should be created from children's words wherever possible and used consistently thereafter by all justice professionals.
Improving children's recall of an occurrence of a repeated event: Is it a matter of helping them to generate options?
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2003
Abstract: Three experiments were conducted to explore whether children's recall of an occurrence of a repeated event could be improved by encouraging them to consider various details that occurred across a series of events prior to making a judgment about which details were included in the target (to-be-recalled) occurrence. Experiment 1 explored whether children's recall of the target occurrence was better after the interviewer presented all the items from the series prior to the child identifying the final item. Experiment 2 explored whether having the children generate all the items facilitated their subsequent recall of the target occurrence. Finally, Experiment 3 directly compared the effectiveness of the above 2 procedures. Regardless of the children's age, the retention interval, or the type of item, children's capacity to identify which details were included in a target occurrence was enhanced when they were initially provided with all the possible details from the series of events. However, without relying on the interviewer to generate the options, the benefit of the technique was directly contingent on the children's ability to generate content details this was a distinct source of difficulty for the children. Indeed, having children generate options had no beneficial effect on decisions about the temporal position of items unless performance was made conditional on the children's ability to remember the relevant details in the first place. The implications of the findings for the legal setting and for future research are discussed.
Developmental Differences in the Ability to Provide Temporal Information About Repeated Events
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-03-2015
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.3118
Professionals’ perceptions of a multi-agency computerised data sharing system
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 23-11-2021
Professionals' Perspectives about the Challenges of Using Interpreters in Child Sexual Abuse Interviews
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 13-07-2017
Improving the competency of police officers in conducting investigative interviews with children
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2010
The Relationship Between Children's Age and Disclosures of Sexual Abuse During Forensic Interviews
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 26-10-2017
Abstract: Children’s disclosures of sexual abuse during forensic interviews are fundamental to the investigation of cases. Research examining the relationship between age and disclosure has shown mixed results the aim of the current study was to clarify and extend our knowledge by modeling linear, quadratic, and interaction effects of age on disclosure. Child sexual abuse reports made by children, their caregivers, or mandated reporters over a 12-month period to police in one state of Australia were examined. Of the 527 children (age range 3–16 years) offered a forensic interview, 81% disclosed abuse during it. The other 19% did not disclose or refused the interview. Age had both linear and quadratic effects, whereby disclosure increased with age until 11 years, after which disclosure decreased with age to 16 years. The effect of age on disclosure was moderated by five variables: abuse severity, the child–suspect relationship, suspects’ violence histories, delay of report to police, and children’s previous disclosures. Particular groups of children had lower likelihoods of disclosing abuse in forensic interviews than others, such as adolescents who alleged abuse against suspects with histories of violent offending. By identifying these groups, targeted strategies may be developed to help increase their disclosure rates.
Improving the reliability of child witness testimony in court: The importance of focusing on questioning techniques
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-2005
‘Marvin the Mouse’; Can he Assist Police to Elicit Evidence from Young Children?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-2004
An overview of mock interviews as a training tool for interviewers of children
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2022.105685
Abstract: Mock (simulated) interviews can be used as a safe context for trainee interviewers to learn and practice questioning skills. When mock interviews are designed to reflect the body of scientific evidence on how questioning skills are best learned, research has demonstrated that interviewers acquire relevant and enduring skills. Despite the importance of this exercise in learning interview skill and its prevalence as a learning tool in other fields such as medicine and allied health, there has been relatively little discussion about mock interviews from an educational perspective in investigative interview training. This paper addresses that gap by providing the first comprehensive overview of the way mock interviews have been used in training interviewers of children. We describe the research that supports their utility, and the various ways they can be implemented in training: providing insight to learners allowing opportunities for practice, feedback, and discussion and as a standardized way to assess skill change over time. The paper also includes an overview of the cutting-edge use of avatars in mock interviews to enhance efficiency, provide unique learning experiences, and ultimately reduce training costs. We explain why avatars may be particularly useful in basic training, freeing up human trainers to facilitate mock interviews around advanced topics and discussion.
A comparative analysis of Australian sex offender legislation for sex offender registries
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2011
Abstract: Australia has followed the course taken by other English-speaking countries in recent years of enacting legislation that requires convicted sexual offenders to register personal details with law enforcement agencies. These laws have been enacted to protect the public from the perceived threat posed by sex offenders, but have been written with little apparent reference to the available research literature about the nature and extent of this threat. In addition, there is no empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of legislatively based sex offender registries to either reduce sexual offending or to enable the police to investigate sex crimes and apprehend offenders. This article compares and contrasts the current laws governing sex offender registration enacted by the various states and territories in Australia, and offers a critical analysis of their provisions in light of the research literature on sexual offending.
Special measures in child sexual abuse cases: views of Australian criminal justice professionals
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-04-2020
Effects of interviewer familiarity and supportiveness on children's recall across repeated interviews
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 12-2019
DOI: 10.1037/LHB0000346
Abstract: Child witnesses often describe their experiences across multiple interviews. It is unknown whether talking with a familiar interviewer increases disclosures, however, or whether any benefits of a familiar interviewer could be achieved by ensuring that interviewers (regardless of familiarity) behave in socially supportive ways. This study tested the effects of interviewer familiarity and social support on children's reports of an adult's transgressions. We predicted that familiarity and supportiveness would increase transgression reports at a second interview and that children who spoke with familiar, supportive interviewers would disclose the most transgressions. Children (N = 160, 5 to 9 years) participated in a science event involving 6 transgressions. Across 2 interviews, they spoke with the same trained university student interviewer or different interviewers, and these interviewers engaged in supportive or neutral behaviors. Interviews were coded for overall information reported, number of transgressions, and confabulations. There were no effects of support in the first interview or on total details reported in either interview. Children reported more transgressions to supportive than neutral interviewers in the second interview (IRR = 1.19), even during open-ended prompting (IRR = 1.26), and they omitted fewer transgressions that had been reported in the first interview (IRR = 0.69). Confabulations were infrequent. There were no condition differences in the total number of confabulations reported across interviews, but these errors occurred more often in the second interview in the supportive condition. Interviewer support may play a greater role than familiarity in facilitating children's testimony. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
Teaching child investigative interviewing skills: Long-term retention requires cumulative training.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 02-2022
DOI: 10.1037/LAW0000332
The effect of intra- versus post-interview feedback during simulated practice interviews about child abuse
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2008
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2007.08.002
Abstract: This study compared the effectiveness of two types of instructor feedback (relative to no feedback) on investigative interviewers' ability to adhere to open-ended questions in simulated practice interviews about child abuse. In one condition, feedback was provided at the end of each practice interview. In the other, the instructor stopped the interviewer at various stages during the practice interviews to provide feedback. The relative effect of these conditions was examined by measuring interviewers' performance in a standardized mock interview paradigm immediately prior to, immediately after, and 12 weeks after the practice and feedback sessions. Prior to and 12 weeks after the practice sessions were administered, there was no significant difference in participants' adherence to open-ended questions irrespective of the nature of the feedback, or whether feedback was received. At the immediate post-practice assessment interval, however, the participants who received feedback during the practice interviews performed better (M proportion of open-ended questions=.85, SD=.13) than the other participants (post-interview feedback M=.67, SD=.18, p<.001 no feedback M=.56, SD=.16, p<.001). This heightened use of open-ended questions was associated with a greater tendency among the interviewees to provide abuse-related details in response to open-ended questions (M=.91, SD=.11) compared to the other participants (post-interview feedback M=.77, SD=.15, p<.05 no feedback M=.69, SD=.16, p=.001). Different types of feedback can be differentially effective in training child abuse investigators to adhere to open-ended questions. The benefits of any training program, however, are likely to be short-lived without ongoing practice. A single study compared the relative effectiveness of two types of instructor feedback (relative to no feedback) on investigative interviewers' ability to adhere to open-ended questions in simulated practice interviews about child abuse. This research is relevant to trainers of investigative interviewers because there is currently large variability in the type of feedback employed in training programs. This study is one of the first to empirically demonstrate that different types of feedback may be differentially effective in improving the performance of investigative interviewers.
The effect of a suggestive interview on children’s memory of a repeated event: Does it matter whether suggestions are linked to a particular incident?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2000
Children's Eyewitness-Memory Research: Implications for Practice
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-1994
DOI: 10.1177/104438949407500402
Abstract: The authors review the empirical literature relating to child-witness testimony and draw implications for professionals who conduct investigatory interviews with preadolescent children about alleged offenses. Issues related to the quality of communication between the child and interviewer, the interview setting, and specific interviewing techniques are addressed. Practical recommendations are offered regarding the techniques likely to maximize the accuracy and completeness of children's recall of events.
A review of the use of special measures for complainants’ evidence at trial
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2020
Eliciting children's recall regarding home life and relationships
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-10-2018
An overview of best practice investigative interviewing of child witnesses of sexual assault
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2020
The effects of repeated experience on children's suggestibility
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 1999
Forensic risk assessment interviews with youth: how do we elicit the most reliable and complete information?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 18-03-2020
The Influence of Transition Prompt Wording on Response Informativeness and Rapidity of Disclosure in Child Forensic Interviews
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 05-2022
DOI: 10.1037/LAW0000347
Designing Effective Training Programs for Investigative Interviewers of Children
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2008
Best-practice interviewing spans many contexts.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 12-2019
Assessing the Incestuous Family's Readiness for Reconstitution
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 09-1992
DOI: 10.1177/104438949207300704
Abstract: Given the lack of empirical data concerning factors associated with successful vs. unsuccessful treatment of incestuous families, professionals urgently need to develop systems for coordinating and evaluating ongoing therapeutic efforts. The authors outline the factors that are usually considered important for making decisions about the appropriateness of family reconstitution during or after the treatment of intrafamilial sexual abuse. Attributions of responsibility for the abuse, protection of the child from further abuse, overall level of family functioning, and characteristics of the abuse and the offender are discussed. Problematic assessment issues are discussed in relation to the use of these factors as a guide for decision making, and questions are raised on which to base research regarding each factor's ability to predict further abuse.
The Effect of Victim Age on Police Authorisation of Charges in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 25-07-2016
Eliciting an offence narrative: what types of questions do forensic mental health practitioners ask?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-06-2023
Children's use of sexual body part terms in witness interviews about sexual abuse
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2017.02.001
Abstract: For successful prosecution, investigative interviews with child sexual abuse victims need to establish the nature of the alleged offence by determining the body parts that were involved. To date, however, there has been a paucity of research on the extent to which children clearly identify sexual body parts in interviews and how they respond to interviewers' attempts to clarify ambiguous terms. The present study sought to explore children's use of sexual body part terms in field interviews, and their responses to questions aimed at clarifying ambiguous terms. Analyses were conducted on 161 transcripts of field interviews with children aged 4-17 years old, coding for the content of interviewers' questions and of children's responses. Results revealed that many children, even some in their late teens, struggled to provide clear terms for their sexual body parts, either initially, or when asked to provide an alternate term. Questions about body part location or function tended to elicit content appropriate responses in children, irrespective of age. The study discusses the capacity (or willingness) of children to provide clear body part terms in witness interviews and the utility of particular questions. The findings imply a need for caution when following up on the meaning of terms or asking particular clarifying questions, and highlight the importance of childhood education around body parts.
Special Measures for Children in Court: Law in Action in a Multi-agency Committee
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 26-06-2019
Police interviewing of sexual assault victims: Current organizational responses and recommendations for improvement
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 11-09-2020
Probing general routines and specific episodes for decision-making purposes in the family law context.
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 02-2019
DOI: 10.1037/PRO0000208
Workplace stressors for investigative interviewers of child-abuse victims
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 16-08-2013
DOI: 10.1108/PIJPSM-05-2012-0039
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify the nature and prevalence of workplace stressors faced by interviewers of child sexual assault victims. Totally, 68 professionals (police and child protection workers) were invited to anonymously post their perceptions of workplace stressors on an internet forum as part of an investigative interviewing online training course. Specifically, participants were asked to reflect on salient sources of stress encountered in their role of interviewing sexually abused children. Three key stressors were identified across the study's professional groups: inadequate recognition of specialised skills high‐workload demands and interagency tensions. Consistent with previous research, exposure to child‐abuse reports was not raised as a stressor. The study generated suggestions for modifying management practices however, future research should identify and trial strategies for improving workplace climate in child‐abuse investigation. As the stressors isolated by participants related to workplace climate rather than exposure to victims’ accounts of child abuse, minimising negative consequences of work stressors requires changes to workplace culture and practice. Workplace climates need to be modified so that the demands are offset by resources. Because of its online, anonymous nature, this was the first study to offer participants the opportunity to honestly disclose primary sources of stress in child‐abuse investigation. The research also makes a much‐needed contribution to an area of police practice that is vital yet often overlooked.
Enhancing narrative coherence in simulated interviews about child abuse
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 31-05-2011
DOI: 10.1108/13639511111131049
Abstract: Simulated child interviews, where adults play the role of a child witness for trainee investigative interviewers, are an essential tool used to train investigators to adhere to non‐leading, open‐ended questions. The aim of this study is to examine whether the use of a training procedure that guides persons playing the role of a child in simulated interviews results in interviewees producing more coherent narratives (measured by the number of story grammar details). A total of 80 police officers in idually engaged in ten‐minute interviews, whereby an untrained (colleague), or trained respondent, played the role of the child interviewee. For each child respondent condition, the interviews varied according to child age (five or eight years). As predicted, trained respondents reported a higher proportion of story grammar elements and a lower proportion of contextual information than the untrained respondents, as well as more story grammar elements in response to open‐ended questions. However, there were limitations in how well both groups tailored their story grammar to the age of the child they were representing. These findings demonstrate that our training procedure promotes a more coherent interviewee account, and facilitates a response style that is more reinforcing of open‐ended questions.
“We’re All Time Poor”: Experienced Clinicians’ and Students’ Perceptions of Challenges Related to Patient Communication
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 31-03-2022
DOI: 10.1080/10401334.2021.1893175
Abstract: Communication is a complex and essential element of clinical practice. It is widely accepted that communication skills can be taught and learned, but challenges remain for clinicians in achieving effective communication with patients. This study explored the patient-communication challenges faced by both medical students and experienced clinicians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty medical students and nineteen experienced clinicians from a range of medical disciplines. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and transcriptions subjected to thematic analysis and coding to quantify the challenges discussed. There was remarkable consistency in the challenges described by both groups of participants, with eight predominant challenges identified: time constraints and chaotic environments, rapport building, patient characteristics, reluctance, omissions, assumptions, decision-making, and keeping conversations focused. Medical curricula often focus on communication challenges associated with complex or sensitive clinical situations, but many of the challenges identified occur in routine consultations. Both pre-service and post-graduate medical training should adopt strategies to help build students' and clinicians' skills in managing these challenges from the outset of training.
Inconsistency, Omissions, and Confidence as Indicators of the Accuracy of Sexual Assault Victim’s Recollections
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2021
Guidelines for interviewing children during child custody evaluations
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2003
The ability of adults with limited expressive language to engage in open-ended interviews about personal experiences
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-08-2022
Urgent issues and prospects at the intersection of culture, memory, and witness interviews: Exploring the challenges for research and practice
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-12-2021
DOI: 10.1111/LCRP.12202
Abstract: The pursuit of justice increasingly relies on productive interactions between witnesses and investigators from erse cultural backgrounds during investigative interviews. To date, the role of cultural context has largely been ignored by researchers in the field of investigative interviewing, despite repeated requests from practitioners and policymakers for evidence‐based guidance for the conduct of interviews with people from different cultures. Through examining cultural differences in human memory and communication and considering specific contextual challenges for investigative interviewing through the lens of culture, this review and associated commentaries highlight the scope for considering culture and human ersity in research on, and the practice of, investigative interviewing with victims, witnesses, and other sources. Across 11 commentaries, contributors highlight the importance of considering the role of culture in different investigative interviewing practices (e.g., rapport building, questioning techniques) and contexts (e.g., gender‐based violence, asylum seeking, child abuse), address common areas of cultural mismatch between interviewer–interviewee expectations, and identify critical future routes for research. We call for an increased focus in the investigative interviewing literature on the nature and needs of our global community and encourage constructive and collaborative discussion between researchers and practitioners from around the world to better identify specific challenges and work together towards evidence‐based solutions.
Do simple “groundrules” reduce preschoolers’ suggestibility about experienced and nonexperienced events?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2003
Attentional difficulty is a risk factor for interrogative suggestibility in preschoolers
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Improving the Legal Aspects of Police Interviewing of Suspects
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2011
Does Extensive Free Narrative Prompting Minimise the Effect of Mental Reinstatement on Children's Recall of Events?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 30-07-2014
Interventions for improving medical students' interpersonal communication in medical consultations (Review)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-02-2021
Judges' delivery of ground rules to child witnesses in Australian courts
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2017.08.005
Abstract: Ground rules directions are given to children in forensic interviews to explain what is expected of them, and to reduce their tendency to acquiesce to erroneous or incomprehensible questions. Ground rules may also be necessary when children provide testimony in court. Drawing on research conducted for the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the present study examined the use of ground rules directions delivered in court in 52 trials by 24 presiding judges in three jurisdictions to 57 child complainants (aged 7-17.5 years). Eleven categories of rules were identified. The number of words spoken to deliver each rule was counted, and grade-level readability scores were calculated as a proxy for the complexity of the ground rules. When judges asked comprehension or practice questions, the question types were coded. More than one third of the children (35%) received no ground rules directions from the judge the remaining 65% received directions on an average of 3.5 types of ground rules out of a maximum of 11 types. While comprehension questions were common, practice questions were rare. Comprehension questions were most often presented in a yes/no format that implied the expected response, although this form of question is unlikely to provide an effective assessment of a child's comprehension. Neither the number of rules delivered nor the number of words used was related to children's age. Implications for children's court testimony are discussed.
Patterns of Nonverbal Rapport Behaviors Across Time in Investigative Interviews with Children
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-04-2019
Children's Perceptions of the Role of Police: A Qualitative Study
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2008
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2008.10.4.099
Abstract: A qualitative methodology, using open-ended questions, was employed to explore the perceptions of 112 children regarding the role of police. The children, aged 5 to 6 and 7 to 8 years, were asked to comment on what police officers do when they go to work, what direct and indirect experiences they have had with the police, and the positive and negative aspects of being a police officer. The findings revealed that children emphasise the punitive role of police very few children identified with non-punitive roles. This punitive theme was evident irrespective of the children's experiences, age, and whether they could recall television shows involving police. The practical implications of our findings for police relations with children, particularly in a forensic interview context, are discussed.
Examination of the stability and consistency of investigative interviewer performance across similar mock interview contexts
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2010
Challenges in translating interview protocols for alleged child victims of sexual abuse to different languages: A case study
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2019.104033
Abstract: Adequate interviewing of alleged victims of child sexual abuse is critical for the investigation and for preserving the welfare of the child. Investigative interview protocols for children (IIPCs) have been developed to meet this twofold purpose. This article focuses on one previously unexplored issue related to applicability of IIPCs: how well they translate into other languages. This case study provides an in-depth analysis of an ex le of the translation of an IIPC to a new language and its adaptation to a particular cultural setting. Using an interpretive description approach and a mixed-method, stages and outputs of the adaptation process are described, as well as the amount, type and nature of difficulties in translation that were identified and corrected across the process. The main threats to translation equivalence arose from differences among languages, but also from cultural and contextual differences. Prompts to children and interviewers within the protocol presented different translation challenges. Consultation with experts and the protocol's advisors, along with team discussions, were beneficial in identifying and solving translation issues. Typical translation issues and practical recommendations on how to translate and culturally adapt IIPCs effectively are discussed.
Interviewing juvenile offenders: The importance of oral language competence
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2004
Interviewing and Assessing Clients from Different Cultural Backgrounds: Guidelines for All Forensic Professionals
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-03-2005
Police and Prosecutors' Perceptions of Adult Sexual Assault Evidence Associated with Case Authorisation and Conviction
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-01-2015
The effect of intellectual disability on children's recall of an event across different question types
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 2004
DOI: 10.1023/B:LAHU.0000029139.38127.61
Abstract: This research examined the performance of 80 children aged 9-12 years with either a mild and moderate intellectual disability when recalling an innocuous event that was staged in their school. The children actively participated in a 30-min magic show, which included 21 specific target items. The first interview (held 3 days after the magic show) provided false and true biasing information about these 21 items. The second interview (held the following day) was designed to elicit the children's recall of the target details using the least number of specific prompts possible. The children's performance was compared with that of 2 control groups a group of mainstream children matched for mental age and a group of mainstream children matched for chronological age. Overall, this study showed that children with either a mild or moderate intellectual disability can provide accurate and highly specific event-related information. However, their recall is less complete and less clear in response to free-narrative prompts and less accurate in response to specific questions when compared to both the mainstream age-matched groups. The implications of the findings for legal professionals and researchers are discussed.
Suggestibility in neglected children: The influence of intelligence, language, and social skills
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2018.01.005
Abstract: We administered the GSS-2, a standardised measure of suggestibility, to 5- to 12-year-old children to ascertain whether neglected children's responses to leading questions distinguish them from those of their non-neglected counterparts. Neglected children (n = 75) were more likely than an age-matched s le of non-neglected children (n = 75) to yield to leading questions, despite no difference in their ability to recall the test stimuli. Subsequent collection of in idual difference data from the neglected s le revealed that this effect could not be attributed to intelligence, language ability, problem behaviours, age at onset of neglect, or time spent in out-of-home care. With respect to social skill, however, suggestibility was positively correlated with communicative skill, and marginally positively correlated with assertion and engagement. While on the surface our social skills findings seem counter-intuitive, it is possible that maltreated children with relative strengths in these areas have learned to comply with adults in their environment as a way to protect themselves or even foster belonging. Our data, while preliminary, raise interesting questions about whether targeted interventions could help these children to more actively participate in decisions about their lives.
Examination of the consistency of interviewer performance across three distinct interview contexts
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2010
The influence of self-assessment practices on online training for investigative interviewing skills
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2023
Does free recall moderate the effect of mental context reinstatement instructions on children's cued recall?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2013
Contrasting the Perceptions of Child Testimony Experts, Prosecutors and Police Officers Regarding Individual Child Abuse Interviews
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-2011
The effects of a computerised interview on children's recall of an event
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-1999
The roles of child temperament and interviewer support on children's reports of adult wrongdoing
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2021
Prosecutors' Perspectives on Clarifying Sexual Acts in Child Abuse Interviews
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 30-03-2015
Child Sexual Abuse Research: Challenges of Case Tracking Through Administrative Databases
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 05-05-2015
Narrative language skills of maltreated children living in out-of-home care
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-05-2019
The utility of ground rule instructions with younger and older adult witnesses
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-03-2020
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.3648
Reporting rates of child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities in two Australian jurisdictions
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2017.03.019
Abstract: Child sexual abuse is a significant problem in many Indigenous communities there is also evidence of chronic under-reporting of this crime. This study aimed to compare reporting rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cases of child sexual abuse across two Australian jurisdictions. Datasets comprising child sexual abuse reports from the Police Information Management Systems of the two jurisdictions were used to calculate reporting rates, and to compare case characteristics and case progression. Results indicated that the reporting rate for child sexual abuse of Indigenous children was between two and four times that of non-Indigenous children. In the Indigenous cases, the second jurisdiction had lower reporting rates than the first jurisdiction. Further analysis of the Indigenous cases only found that cases in the second jurisdiction were more severe, more likely to have a forensic interview, and more likely for the suspect to be charged, than in the first jurisdiction. However, there were no significant differences in conviction rates between the two jurisdictions. Differences observed in severity and case progression suggest that the lower reporting rates observed in the second jurisdiction may be due to comparatively high levels of under-reporting, rather than lower actual levels of child sexual abuse. In conclusion, reporting rates of child sexual abuse can be better understood when further information, such as case characteristics and case progression rates, is available.
A psychometric evaluation of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales: Problems associated with measuring suggestibility as a difference score composite
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2009
Claiming Justice: An Analysis of Child Sexual Abuse Complainants' Justice Goals Reported during Investigative Interviews
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 12-01-2023
DOI: 10.3390/LAWS12010009
Abstract: Investigative interviewing of children who report sexual victimisation focuses on helping children tell in their own words what happened. Children may say other things important to them such as their justice goals. We conducted the first research into this possibility in an exploratory analysis of 300 transcripts of actual interviews with child complainants aged 3 to 15 years. Building on an earlier study involving adults, we explored what goals children may articulate, when in the interview process their goals are relayed and in response to which interviewer prompts. Our analysis revealed that most children did articulate one or more justice goals during these interviews, especially their desire for acknowledgement of the victimisation and its wrongfulness. Children articulated their justice goals spontaneously and largely without any direct prompting by the police officer. These findings suggest that there is more that institutions [and researchers] can learn from carefully listening to children and understanding them as agents claiming justice.
Guide to questioning children during the free-narrative phase of an investigative interview
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-01-2007
Life Satisfaction Amongst Police Officers Working in the Area of Child Abuse Investigation
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 06-2011
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2011.13.2.225
Abstract: Child abuse investigation is an area of work reported to be associated with high levels of work stress. This potentially places professionals at risk of psychological harm and may lead to lower life satisfaction than in the general population. The current study examined this issue within a large s le of Australian police officers. Specifically, 214 officers working in the area of child abuse investigation responded to a single global measure of life satisfaction (LS) known to be highly related to other measures of subjective wellbeing as well as clinical depression. The results revealed that, irrespective of the officers' gender or degree of exposure to child abuse cases, the mean score from LS score was within the expected adult normative range. Further, the overall incidence of low LS in this s le (1.9 per cent) was not significantly different from the general population (4.3 per cent). The implications of these findings for police organisations are discussed.
Professionals' Views About Child Interviews for Family Law Assessments
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-2018
DOI: 10.1111/FCRE.12379
Online child sexual offenders' language use in real-time chats
Publisher: Australian Institute of Criminology
Date: 15-12-2021
DOI: 10.52922/TI78481
Abstract: We analysed chat log communications between 38 adult males and children who were accessed by the men via social media for sexually exploitative purposes. Our goal was to understand how sexual offenders engage with children online and the dialogue they use to elicit compliance with sexual requests. Results revealed 72 discrete linguistic tactics, contained within eight overarching dialogue-based ‘moves’. Tactics were non-sequential (ie dynamic) and focused mainly on requests for sexual activity. Three distinct subgroup patterns of tactic use were evident. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Investigative Interviewers' Perceptions of Their Difficulty in Adhering to Open-Ended Questions with Child Witnesses
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2006
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2006.8.4.316
Abstract: Best practice guidelines for conducting investigative interviews of children emphasise the importance of obtaining free narrative accounts with the use of open-ended questions. However, research indicates that most investigative interviewers underutilise open-ended questions, even following intensive training in their use. The aim of the current study was to explore investigative interviewers' perceptions of their difficulty in asking open-ended questions. During a training course on how to use open-ended questions, eight child abuse investigators were in idually interviewed about why they had asked specific questions in a 10-minute mock interview conducted immediately earlier with a school child. Overall, three reasons were identified. These related to: 1. the specificity of the information required from children 2. the unfamiliar nature of the open-ended discourse style and 3. the complex distinction between open-ended versus specific questions. Each of these themes is discussed, along with the implications for trainers and researchers in child investigative interviewing.
Evaluation of Operation RESET: An initiative for addressing child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 05-2015
Abstract: This paper presents a qualitative evaluation of Operation RESET: a multi-agency child protection strategy for remote Western Australian Aboriginal communities. RESET is a proactive engagement strategy involving a mobile multi-disciplinary specialist child abuse team comprising detectives and social workers. It is underpinned by the principles that preventing and responding to child sexual abuse must be a shared responsibility, address the underlying causes and contextual issues and enhance children's safety and well-being by empowering families and communities. The evaluation procedure consisted of in-depth interviews with 64 stakeholders of various backgrounds and affiliations who lived or worked in regions where RESET had been deployed for the past 18 months. Collectively, the interviews revealed strong support for Operation RESET's implementation and outcomes. Stakeholders highlighted four elements as being valuable components of the reform: the programme's proactive outreach approach, dedication to capacity building, holistic focus and the establishment of relationships that facilitated trust. These findings are discussed within the broader literature and suggestions for further research are offered.
Does the Cognitive Interview Promote the Coherence of Narrative Accounts in Children With and Without an Intellectual Disability?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2013
Assessing the Effectiveness of the Cognitive Interview for Children with Severe Intellectual Disabilities
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2013
Context Reinstatement Effects in Children's Cued Recall of Strongly and Weakly Associated Word Pairs
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2011
DOI: 10.1375/AEDP.28.2.91
Mental context reinstatement or drawing: Which better enhances children's recall of witnessed events and protects against suggestive questions?
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2014
DOI: 10.1111/AJPY.12040
PRIDE: The essential elements of a forensic interview with an aboriginal person
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2000
Effects of label training and recall order on children's reports of a repeated event
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-07-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.3440
The effects of episode similarity on children's reports of a repeated event
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-10-2019
DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2018.1529798
Abstract: Much research has tested techniques to improve children's reporting of episodes from a repeated event by interviewing children after they have experienced multiple episodes of a scripted event. However, these studies have not considered any effects of the similarity shared between event episodes on children's reports. In the current study, 5- to 9-year-olds experienced four episodes of a scripted repeated event that shared a high (n = 76) or low (n = 76) degree of similarity, and were subsequently interviewed about in idual episodes. The proportional amount and accuracy of children's reported details were tallied. Children reported proportionally more details and more script deviations after experiencing the high, compared to low, similarity event. Conversely, children were more accurate in their episodic reports when they experienced the low, compared to high, similarity event. The current findings have implications for the generalisability and comparability of past results across laboratory studies.
Secrecy and suggestibility: Are children's memories for secrets less suggestible than other memories?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-03-2004
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.972
Legal decision making about (child) sexual assault complaints: the importance of the information-gathering process
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-10-2022
Expressions of shame in investigative interviews with Australian Aboriginal children
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2015.11.004
Abstract: This study inspected a s le of 70 interview transcripts with Australian Aboriginal children to gain a sense of how frequently verbal shame responses were occurring in investigative interviews regarding alleged sexual abuse. Transcripts were examined to determine how children articulated shame, how interviewers reacted to these responses, and how shame related to children's accounts. Examination of frequencies revealed that verbal shame responses occurred in just over one-quarter of the interviews. One-way analyses of variance indicated that children who expressed shame within the interview spoke the same amount as children who did not express shame, however, they required more interviewer prompts before a disclosure was made. Interviews where children expressed shame also included a greater number of interviewer reminders compared to interviews without shame responses. Results emphasize the importance of interviewer awareness of shame, and also point to the value of reassurance, patience, and persistence with non-leading narrative prompting when interviewing children who express shame during discussions of sexual abuse.
Technology in the courtroom: challenges with presenting children’s evidence
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-09-2023
Prosecutors' Perspectives on Clarifying Terms for Genitalia in Child Sexual Abuse Interviews
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 10-2014
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12068
A controlled analysis of professionals' contemporaneous notes of interviews about alleged child abuse
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2009.09.016
Abstract: The current study investigated (under optimal conditions) the accuracy and completeness of professionals' contemporaneous written notes of child abuse interviews. Participants included 107 experienced child abuse investigators who were all trained to adhere to best-practice interview guidelines and who routinely took notes as records of interviews. The interviews documented for this study were read live for 15min duration, and at a pace of 2.2 words (on average)/s. The professionals' notes of the interviews were analyzed for completeness and accuracy. Key outcome measures were the prevalence and discernability of the questions (i.e., whether the structure of questions was recorded accurately) as well as the child responses. Despite the omission of 39% of abuse-related details, recording of content details was clearly prioritized over interviewer questions. This was revealed irrespective of the measure of note taking quality or the quality of the interview being recorded. Of the various layout styles employed, scrutiny of interviewer questions was maximized by: (a) using symbols or spacing to delineate questions and responses, (b) capturing the first two words of a question, and (c) using abbreviations. Although note taking could potentially improve with further research, training and instruction, this form of documentation does not provide full scrutiny of the interview process, even under optimal conditions. Electronic recording is strongly recommended for all interviews, especially considering global concerns about interviewers' adherence to best-practice interview guidelines. If notes continue to be used as a record of interview, further research and training are urgently warranted to improve note taking competency.
The relation between inhibitory control and children's eyewitness memory
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2005
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.1141
An examination of the association between interviewer question type and story-grammar detail in child witness interviews about abuse
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2009.09.019
Abstract: This study compared the effects of open-ended versus specific questions, and various types of open-ended questions, in eliciting story-grammar detail in child abuse interviews. The s le included 34 police interviews with child witnesses aged 5-15 years (M age=9 years, 9 months). The interviewers' questions and their relative sub-types were classified according to definitions reported in the child interview training literature. The children's responses were classified according to the proportion of story grammar and the prevalence of in idual story grammar elements as defined by Stein and Glenn (1979). Open-ended questions were more effective at eliciting story grammar than specific questions. This finding was revealed across three age groups, two interview phases and irrespective of how question effectiveness was measured. However, not all types of open-ended questions were equally effective. Open-ended questions that encouraged a broad response, or asked the child to elaborate on a part of their account, elicited more story-grammar detail compared to open-ended questions that requested clarification of concepts or descriptions of the next (or another) activity or detail within a sequence. This study demonstrates that children's ability to provide story-grammar detail is maximised when there is minimal prompting from the interviewer. Given the association between story grammar production and victim credibility, greater guidance is warranted in interviewer training programs in relation to the effects and administration of different types of open-ended questions.
Recommendations for Interviewing Children About Repeated Experiences
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 08-2014
DOI: 10.1037/LAW0000011
Police perceptions of interviews involving children with intellectual disabilities: A qualitative inquiry
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2004
The Contribution to Forensic Psychology by Professor Donald Thomson
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-2008
Interviewing of Children for Family Law Matters: A Review
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2021
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12193
The effects of one versus two episodically oriented practice narratives on children's reports of a repeated event
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-08-2017
DOI: 10.1111/LCRP.12110
Professionals' Perceptions Regarding the Suitability of Investigative Interview Protocols with Aboriginal Children
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2017
DOI: 10.1111/AP.12196
The effect of event repetition on the production of story grammar in children's event narratives
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2011
DOI: 10.1016/J.CHIABU.2010.11.004
Abstract: This study examined the effect of event repetition on the amount and nature of story-grammar produced by children when recalling the event. Children aged 4 years (N=50) and 7 years (N=56) participated in either 1 or 6 occurrences of a highly similar event where details varied across the occurrences. Half the children in each age and event group recalled the last/single occurrence 5-6 days later and the other half recalled the last/single occurrence after 5-6 weeks (the final and single occurrence was the same). Children's free recall responses were classified according to the number and proportion of story-grammar elements (Stein & Glenn, 1979-setting, initiating event, internal response, plan, attempt, direct consequence, and resolution) as well as the prevalence of causal links between the in idual story-grammar elements. More story-grammar detail and more links between in idual story-grammar elements were reported about the final compared to single occurrence. The amount of story-grammar increased with age and decreased over time. Further, an interaction was revealed such that the effect of retention interval on the production of story-grammar was negligible for older children who experienced the repeated event. Event repetition has a beneficial effect on the production of children's story-grammar content in situations where event details varied from occasion to occasion. This study highlights the importance of eliciting free recall when conducting evidential interviews with child witnesses about repeated events.
Facilitating Child Witness Interviewers' Understanding of Evidential Requirements through Prosecutor Instruction
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-2013
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2013.15.4.316
Abstract: Prosecutors report that the evidential usefulness of child witness statements about abuse is often limited by unnecessary interview content and excessive length. Prior research indicates that this limitation may be attributed to a mismatch between interviewers' and prosecutors' understandings of the legal requirements of an interview. The aim of this study is to examine whether differences in the evidential qualities that are perceived as important by prosecutors and interviewers can be reduced through simple instruction. Five prosecutors and 33 interviewers completed a written exercise wherein participants were required to identify what aspects of information required follow-up in five hypothetical narrative accounts of abuse. Twenty of the interviewers had (prior to completing the exercise) received prosecutor instruction on the requirements of interviews in terms of the elements and particulars of sexual offences, and the manner in which necessary information is best elicited in an interview (from a legal perspective). The responses to the exercise of interviewers who had and had not received prosecutor instruction were compared. The results indicated that interviewers who had received instruction were more consistent with prosecutors in their responses to the exercise. The importance of these findings, and directions for future research, are discussed.
Evaluation of a Database for Tracking Cases of Child Sexual Abuse
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2017
Prosecutors' perspectives on using recorded child witness interviews about abuse as evidence-in-chief
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 18-03-2014
Abstract: Over the past two decades, numerous English-speaking countries have implemented legislative reform to allow children’s investigative interviews about abuse to be electronically recorded and made available for use as evidence-in-chief at trial. Prior evaluations suggest that the procedure has both advantages and disadvantages for prosecutors. This study adopted a constructive approach by eliciting contemporaneous and detailed feedback from 19 Crown prosecutors about the challenges of using electronically recorded interviews as evidence-in-chief and suggestions for how these challenges may be addressed. Thematic analysis revealed concerns in several areas (a) the quality of questioning in interviews, (b) the jurors’ engagement with the witness, (c) the sense of formality and solemnity of evidence, (d) the clarity of the evidence and (e) the child’s preparedness for cross-examination. These themes are discussed within the context of the broader child testimony literature and recommendations for improvement are offered.
Children's Reasoning About Which Episode of a Repeated Event is Best Remembered
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-12-2017
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.3306
An Investigation of the Question-Types Teachers Use to Elicit Information From Children
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2014
DOI: 10.1017/EDP.2014.5
The effect of event context on children's recall of non-experienced events across multiple interviews
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2005
Police officers' strategies for coping with the stress of investigating Internet child exploitation
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 03-2014
DOI: 10.1037/H0099378
Police Officers' Perceptions of Interviewing Offenders on Sex Offender Registries
Publisher: Vathek Publishing
Date: 12-2014
Children's memory of recurring events: Is the first event always the best remembered?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2003
DOI: 10.1002/ACP.864
Police Investigators’ Perceptions of the Challenges Associated With Interviewing Adult Sexual Assault Complainants
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 26-10-2022
DOI: 10.1177/10778012221120447
Abstract: Although police organizations have devoted considerable effort to training investigators in evidence-based witness interviewing techniques, there is some suggestion that current practices do not meet the multifaceted requirements of sexual assault cases. Here, we assessed the specific challenges inherent in conducting interviews with adult sexual assault complainants, by conducting in-depth interviews with 21 experienced investigators from both Australia and New Zealand. The challenges that investigators identified fell into three broad themes: meeting the evidential needs of sexual assault investigations, establishing credibility, and managing complainant vulnerabilities. We discuss how the investigative interview process might be modified in line with these challenges.
Children's Ability to Estimate the Frequency of Single and Repeated Events
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 09-2011
DOI: 10.1350/IJPS.2011.13.3.243
Abstract: Although it is extremely important when interviewing children about alleged abuse to determine whether the abuse was a single or a repeated occurrence, we have little information about how children judge the frequency of events. The aim of the current study was to examine children's accuracy in providing estimates of event frequency that were numerical (that is, 1, 2, 3, …) and qualitative (that is, once, a few times, or many times). Younger (4- to 5-year-old) and older (6- to 8-year-old) children took part in a single event or an event that was repeated 6 or 11 times. They were interviewed after a short or long delay some were interviewed a second time. Overall, children were very accurate at judging the frequency of a single event, but much less so for repeated events. Based on our findings, we make two recommendations for professionals trying to establish the frequency of events when interviewing young children.
Psychometric properties of the Self-assessment Practice Scale for professional training contexts: evidence from confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-09-2020
DOI: 10.1111/IJTD.12201
The consistency of false suggestions moderates children's reports of a single instance of a repeated event: Predicting increases and decreases in suggestibility
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2006
DOI: 10.1016/J.JECP.2005.12.003
Abstract: Participants (6- and 7-year-olds, N=130) participated in classroom activities four times. Children were interviewed about the final occurrence (target event) either 1 week or 4 weeks later, during which half of the event items were described inaccurately. Half of these suggestions were consistent with the theme of the detail across the occurrences (e.g., always sat on a kind of floor mat) or were inconsistent (e.g., sat on a chair). When memory for the target event was tested 1 day later, children falsely recognized fewer inconsistent suggestions than consistent suggestions, especially compared with a control group of children who experienced the event just one time. Furthermore, the longer delay reduced accuracy only for consistent suggestions. Source-monitoring ability was strongly and positively related to resistance to suggestions, and encouraging children to identify the source of false suggestions allowed them to retract a significant proportion of their reports of inconsistent suggestions but not of consistent suggestions. The results suggest that the gist consistency of suggestions determines whether event repetition increases or decreases suggestibility.
Measuring Community and Service Provider Attitudes to Child Sexual Abuse in Remote Indigenous Communities in Western Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 11-09-2016
Australian prosecutors’ perceptions of the utility of child investigative interview protocols
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 13-11-2015
Abstract: Investigative interviews with alleged victims form the central plank of evidence in the prosecution of child sexual abuse. Despite interviewers being provided with a guiding framework, child sexual abuse cases are often not prosecuted because of poor-quality evidence. The purpose of this study was to elicit feedback from prosecutors about the structure and format of current interview protocols and the ways in which these could potentially be improved from an evidential perspective. Focus group discussions (ranging in length from 180 to 190 minutes) were conducted with 13 Crown prosecutors representing every jurisdiction of Australia. Thematic analysis of the focus group discussions revealed that prosecutors were supportive of the structure of interview protocols, however, concerns were raised about four of the interview elements. These elements were the oath and truth–lie competency test, the ground rules, the practice narrative and eliciting a disclosure. The prosecutors’ concerns and their implications for protocol developers and trainers are discussed.
Related Organisations
Related Funding Activities
Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP0990449
Start Date: 04-2010
End Date: 12-2013
Amount: $267,280.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP230101634
Start Date: 2023
End Date: 12-2025
Amount: $315,242.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP180100715
Start Date: 05-2018
End Date: 08-2023
Amount: $436,018.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP120100432
Start Date: 03-2012
End Date: 12-2016
Amount: $110,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityLinkage Projects - Grant ID: LP0775248
Start Date: 04-2007
End Date: 12-2010
Amount: $273,954.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityLinkage Projects - Grant ID: LP200200976
Start Date: 02-2022
End Date: 02-2025
Amount: $377,326.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP1095509
Start Date: 07-2010
End Date: 12-2014
Amount: $106,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP0208388
Start Date: 10-2002
End Date: 02-2006
Amount: $78,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityLinkage Projects - Grant ID: LP0347170
Start Date: 01-2003
End Date: 12-2006
Amount: $255,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityDiscovery Projects - Grant ID: DP160103688
Start Date: 06-2016
End Date: 12-2022
Amount: $585,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityLinkage Projects - Grant ID: LP120200095
Start Date: 06-2013
End Date: 12-2016
Amount: $213,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity