Whenever possible, use what the child just said in your next question (and use the child's words.). The interviewer may begin by repeating something the child has just said, if it is exactly the child's words. These can be useful and necessary if the child is not responding well to more open techniques.
They can be useful for stimulating a child's memory, but should be carefully worded to minimize the amount of new information presented in the question. Coercive questions or techniques: Questions or techniques that involve forcing or inducing a child to participate in an interview or provide information that the interviewer wants. Suspected perpetrators may not be present, may not accompany the child to the interview, and may not be in the vicinity of the interview.
Ground Rules
Tell the child that there is no guessing and that it is okay to admit when he/she does not know the answer. If the child guesses your dog's name, say, "That was a guess, wasn't it. Explain Repeated Questions: Explain to the child why you might ask the same question more than once.
Tell your child that it is important to tell the truth and only talk about things that really happened.
Rapport-Building and Narrative Practice
Examples: “Think carefully about [activity or event] and tell me what happened that day from the time you got up in the morning to [some part of the event that the child mentioned in response to the previous question].” Tell me everything that happened after [some part of the event mentioned by the child] until you went to bed that night.'' Tell me everything that happened yesterday, from the time you woke up to the time you went to sleep.”
Tell me everything that happened to you today, from the time you got up until [I came to talk to you/you came to see me.]”. Yesterday or today: If you fail to elicit narrative information about a particular event from a young child, try asking what he/she did "yesterday" or. Asking what a young child did "today" before the interview may work better than asking about "yesterday".
Start with open-ended questions, then follow requests for elaboration, time segmentation, and sensory focus questions using the same recommended question pattern to get as much detail as possible: INVITE,. That's why it's especially important to carefully formulate questions to preschoolers as non-suggestively as possible and use a funnel approach - starting with the most open and least suggestive questions and only gradually. Be sure to link all focused and direct questions with open-ended follow-up invites to provide additional details.
A separate formal developmental assessment is generally not necessary, especially if you manage to get the child fully responsive at this stage. Developmental concepts can be addressed as needed at any time during the interview by checking that the child's understanding of specific words is the same as yours (especially with conceptual terms such as "over/under," "up/down," . "in/out," "before/after", "today/yesterday/tomorrow", etc.).
Transition to Substantive Issues
If the child has not answered these initial questions, indicate that you understand that something may have happened and invite the child to tell you what happened. If the child responds to any of these inquiries as having already told someone else, ask him/her to tell you what happened because you were not there and do not know what happened and need to hear that from the child. If the child has previously told someone else about the alleged abuse, refer to the fact that you are aware that he/she spoke to him/her “about something that.
If the child has observable signs of an injury (such as a bruise, bandage, etc.), ask the child to tell you all about what happened to cause it. Ask the child if anyone (possibly the person who made the report) is worried about something that has happened, and ask the child to tell you what they are worried about. State that you heard that 'someone may have done something that wasn't right' and ask the child to tell you about it.
Ask appropriate contextual questions, especially when the child has not previously reported abuse to anyone. Only mentioning the name of the suspect is not problematic if he/she is someone who is regularly in the child's life. Asking the child to tell you things he/she likes and dislikes about that person is acceptable as a way to transition.
Be sure to balance this by asking similar questions about other people in the child's life. When applicable (and if open-ended options have not worked), consider carefully whether to tell the child about hard evidence or evidence of abuse you may have, e.g. photos or videos, confession of offender, etc.
Investigating the Incidents
Tell me what he looked like from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Use time segmentation questions to generate additional details about a specific time period within the event already described by the child. Tell me everything that happened from [an earlier event mentioned by child] to [alleged abuse described by child].”.
Tell me everything that happened after [part of the abusive incident mentioned by the child] until it was over.” Tell me everything about [one segment of the event] to [another segment of the event].” Direct questions are used here when some central detail of the claim is still missing or unclear after exhausting open-ended questions, but should be accompanied by follow-up open-ended invitations to provide further information.
First focus the child's attention on the mentioned detail and then ask a direct question. Tell me what [friend's name] was doing there.” "How do you know [name] saw what happened?". You talked about your father 'messing with you'. Tell me what exactly he did when he was 'messing with you'.''
When direct, directed, or closed questions are used, always link them to open follow-up requests for more information. To make sure I understand, tell me again [how it all started/exactly what happened/how it ended/etc.]”.
Use of Interview Tools
Ask for more details and try to get the child to expand on the information already given. Briefly summarize each segment of the event.” [Pause after each segment and elicit answers for accuracy.] "Is that so?". Do not use body diagrams or drawings during the transition phase of the interview as a way to introduce the topic of concern.
Body diagrams can be used to clarify abuse-related statements already given by the child during the interview, or after a disclosure to clarify the child's terms for body parts, but should only be brought in after the interviewer has attempted to provide as complete an oral account as possible. possible. If a child has difficulty speaking, it is permissible to offer him or her the opportunity to draw or write about what happened. The interviewer should then ask questions and encourage the child to verbally explain and explain.
You said that Jamal licked you on your 'coochie'.' Show me where your 'coochie' is on this picture.". You said Nina put her finger in your 'pookie'. Show me in this picture how she sticks her finger in your 'pookie.'". "Feeling Faces" can be used when needed to help young children indicate how they feel about certain people or situations.
All resources used during the course of the interview are considered part of the record and should be carefully preserved by the interviewer (e.g., child's drawings, body diagrams, written work by the child related to the allegation, etc.).
Break (Optional)
Eliciting Additional Information Not Yet Mentioned
When you told me about the time in the basement, you said Sam took off his pants. When you told me about the last time this happened, you said your trainer touched your chest. Did she touch you on top of your clothes, on your skin or somewhere else?” "Tell me all about it."
Other areas of investigation may include other potential victims and/or perpetrators and determining when and to whom the child may have previously disclosed. Has anyone else ever [touched you/made you touch them] like that before?” “WHO?” "Once or many times?" "Tell me all [about it]". Learning about a child's prior statements regarding abuse can help in thinking about possible contagion, exploring alternative explanations, and evaluating the consistency of the child's reports.
When you know details about the content of previous statements and the child has not relayed that information, briefly summarize the concerns without mentioning all the specific details. If the child did not mention telling anyone, ask for information to clarify how the information about the abuse became known to the reporting person, if the child told anyone else, and/or why the child did not tell anyone else. Who was the first person (besides you and [suspect's name]) to find out about what happened?”.
Specific example: “You said your best friend Mario was the first person you told what happened. Did someone touch your _____?” If the answer is yes, ask: "Tell me everything that happened.".
Closing
APPENDIX
One of them will tell a LIE and one will tell the TRUTH, and YOU WILL tell ME which girl is telling the TRUTH. One of them will tell a LIE and one will tell the TRUTH, and YOU WILL tell ME which boy is telling the TRUTH. Well, ONE of these boys is GOING TO GET INTO TROUBLE for what he says, and YOU WILL tell ME which boy is GOING TO GET INTO TROUBLE. point to the left boy).
Well, ONE of these boys is going to get in trouble for what he says. point to left boy). Well, ONE of these girls is going to get in trouble for what she says. point to left girl).
