NCJ Number
194947
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2002 Pages: 77-93
Date Published
2002
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article presents the results of a study designed to show how the attitudes and questioning techniques of an investigator can influence the level and type of disclosure from a child interview subject.
Abstract
The authors discuss the use of interviews of children witnesses in child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and child neglect investigations. Children’s attitudes towards secrets and secret keeping are discussed and the potential motivating factors to lie or conceal information during the interview process are presented. Three identified factors that may impact a child’s decision to disclose truthful information are perception of the interviewer’s knowledge of events; perception of the purpose of the interview; and the understanding of the purpose of repeated questions. The study examined the affects of asking the child repeatedly about the secret, and to examine any impact that might have on the child's disclosure. Finding showed that: 1) children were more likely to attribute specific knowledge of events to an adult interviewer; 2) the purpose of the interview (deceptive or neutral) would significantly affect the child’s perception of why they were being questioned; 3) children were more likely to provide inconsistent or changing information if faced with repeated questioning; 4) children were more likely to believe that they had done something wrong when questions were repeated; 5) the use of an authoritative interviewing style as compared to more informal approaches would result in the child’s perception of an increased need to disclose; and 6) children preferred to tell rather than keep secrets. The authors research and analysis found that only the second hypothesis regarding the purpose of the interview was not supported. 4 tables, 53 references, appendix