Assignment 1: Forensic Interview With A Child Victim Of Sexual Abuse
Several factors need to be considered when working with children. They include issues surrounding consent of children, the presence of parents, and the child's level of understanding. An interviewer needs to remember that "children are children," despite the hurt that they may have experienced in their lives. A forensic interviewer needs to avoid compounding a child's pain or jeopardizing the outcome of a legal investigation by failing to comply with the law and with professional guidelines.
In this scenario-based Discussion, you analyze the transcript of a forensic interview with a child victim of sexual abuse. You evaluate the appropriateness of the strategies used by the interviewer and post alternative strategies that might assist in the legal investigation. Need Assignment Help?
To prepare for this Discussion:
- Read the Forensic Child Interview transcript.
- Read the chapter by Zajac from Bull et al., as well as the Bull article.
- Read the articles by Larsson & Lamb and Fontes & Plummer.
- View the video, Interviewing the Child Client: Approaches and Techniques for a Successful Interview.
Post your response to the following:
- Evaluate the appropriateness of the strategies used in the child forensic interview.
- Discuss what strategies or other behaviors were not appropriate in the child forensic interview with supporting rationale.
- Suggest two additional strategies available to the interviewer, and discuss why you selected these strategies (e.g., lines of questioning, activities that do not involve talking, etc....)
Respond to at least two of your colleagues' initial Discussion assignment postings in one or more of the following ways:
Build on your colleague's posting by suggesting additional considerations when interviewing children.
Critique the appropriateness of the strategies proposed by your colleague, and considers other strategies that could contribute to the legal investigation.
Ask a probing question and provide insight into how you would answer your question and why.
Ask a probing question, and provide the foundation, or rationale, for the question.
Expand on your colleague's posting by offering a new perspective or insight.
Agree with a colleague, and offer additional (new) supporting information for consideration.
Disagree with a colleague by respectfully discussing and supporting a different perspective.
Assignment 2: Child Interview Strategies And Suggestibility
In many forensic contexts, it is necessary to interview children. Children can be witnesses to a crime, or they may be direct victims of a crime. They often have critical information related to the legal issue at hand.
Sometimes their input is needed in a family court case, such as a custody dispute. In addition, children often are interviewed as a part of child sex abuse evaluations. In both types of cases, it is imperative to obtain accounts from children that are as objective and untainted as possible.
Given their developmental characteristics and limitations, child witnesses present challenges for interviews and evaluations. Children often have difficulty communicating their thoughts and feelings due to the forensic context and limitations in language development. Many children feel intimidated by the interviewer, embarrassed by the subject matter, or even frustrated by their inability to communicate their thoughts. These issues are especially relevant to children's interviews in response to alleged child sexual abuse. Children might not know the names of different body parts or terminology for sexual relations. They may feel uncomfortable discussing sexual topics, especially with strangers, and they are often scared.
Over the last several decades, many techniques have been developed to enhance the child interview process. The quality of information obtained from such interviews has been improved by reducing stress on the child during the interview. One such technique is the use of anatomically correct dolls to aid in the discussion of alleged sexual acts. This technique, above all others, has generated a great deal of controversy, and it has been the subject of numerous research studies and academic articles.
To prepare for this Assignment:
Review this week's Learning Resources.
- Read Faller's article concerning the use of anatomical dolls during assessments to determine possible child sex abuse.
- Read the articles by Blandón-Gitlin, I., & Pezdek, K., and Goodman et al.
- Locate an additional article on child suggestibility and memory by researching electronic databases in Walden's Library.
- Watch the media pieces that demonstrate the suggestibility of child memory.
- Continue to be mindful of cultural factors that could influence assessments.
The Assignment:
Submit a 3- to 4-page paper that addresses the following:
- Briefly summarize the article you researched related to child suggestibility and memory.
- In your own words, discuss the conclusions reached by the authors of the article you selected.
- Explain the accuracy of child memory and how it is impacted by different interview strategies.
- Discuss the controversy surrounding the use of anatomically correct dolls in forensic interviewing of children.
- Take a position on whether such techniques should be used in forensic contexts with supporting rationale.
- Identify at least one alternative technique to aide in the interviewing of children in forensic contexts.