NCJ Number
218604
Date Published
2006
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This booklet provides guidance to FBI agents in conducting interviews of adolescent victims of Federal crimes.
Abstract
The Federal crimes most likely to involve investigative interviews with adolescent victims are computer facilitated crimes, human trafficking, and forced prostitution. Typical interview protocols may not be appropriate for interviewing adolescent victims of these crimes. A common mistake interviewers make when interviewing teens about such exploitation is the failure to test multiple hypotheses about the victimization and obtain family background information. This booklet outlines interview procedures that avoid this common mistake. It first addresses preparation for the interview. Topics discussed for the preparation phase are setting the stage, preinterview preparation, the interview environment, selection of the interviewer, and documenting the interview. The booklet's next major section focuses on issues in conducting a phased interview with an adolescent victim. The issues covered are rapport building, the adolescent victim's competency and suggestibility, eliciting information, and the use of interview tools. The booklet then provides postinterview guidelines for discussing interview details with the parents of the adolescent. Other sections of the booklet provide guidelines for dealing with the adolescent victim's medical exam; interviews with compliant victims; and disclosure, evidence, and denial. The appendixes discuss adolescent development, how interviews of juvenile victims differ from interviews of juvenile subjects, custody issues, resources for runaway adolescents, and specific populations of teen victims. References