Investigative Interviewing of Children

Historical Context of Investigative Interviewing

Investigative interviewing evolved in response to reports made to child protection agencies of child sexual abuse. Reports of physical abuse and physical neglect, as a rule, are resolved by examining the child's condition and/or the child's environment. In cases of physical abuse, a medical professional determines whether the type, pattern, and explanation of the child's injuries indicate they are inflicted or perhaps accidental. Physical neglect generally is investigated by examining the child's living situation to determine if shelter, food, and supervision are adequate, and the child's person to see if the child's height, weight, and general physical health are within normal limits.

Sexual abuse, in contrast, usually doesn't result in definitive physical evidence, and when there is genital or anal injury, it quickly resolves, typically before the child is taken for a medical exam. Consequently, professionals must rely on other means for determining whether sexual abuse has occurred. Because offenders and even nonoffending family members commonly deny sexual abuse, the child's statements and behavior constitute the best source of information about the likelihood of sexual abuse. In recent years, the investigative interviewing methods developed for sexual abuse have been applied to cases involving physical abuse and cases where children witness a traumatic event, such as domestic violence and homicide.

Rationale for Special Investigative Interview Techniques

Fact gathering is a practice employed in all child maltreatment cases. Children's reports of sexual abuse, however, have been challenged in terms of their accuracy. One reason for such challenges is that, for most people, it is difficult to contemplate an adult engaging in sexual abuse of a child. However, the most vigorous challengers of children's accounts have been those accused of sexual abuse and their advocates. Moreover, research has demonstrated that preschool children are more suggestible than older children and that all children can be overly compliant with authority figures and adults; these child characteristics could lead to an inaccurate report.

Concerns about children's accuracy also have led to scrutiny of the interview techniques of the fact-gathering professionals as a possible source of false accusations of sexual abuse. This scrutiny has influenced the types of questions and other interview techniques that professionals use when conducting investigative interviews.

Specific Strategies Employed in Investigative Interviewing

In this section, guidelines for investigative interviews will be described: number of interviews, interview phasing, demonstrative communication aids, and [Page 377]understanding the scope of abuse. Dozens of protocols have been developed. These guidelines will focus on commonalities among protocols.