Investigative Interviews of Children: A Guide for Helping Professionals

Interviewing children for investigative purposes is a specialized skill. Professional interviewers need to be able to conduct interviews that bear scrutiny from outside agencies and also serve the best interests of children. In clear, engaging language, this eye-opening book corrects the common misunderstandings about adult–child conversational exchanges and provides guidelines for interviews, based on the most up-to-date research. It also presents a flexible interview protocol that can be tailored to meet individual needs. Topics discussed include:

• The current child protection crisis
• The difficulties of investigating alleged abuse cases
• Children's strengths and weaknesses as interviewees
• Characteristics of the most respected interview protocols
• Children's language development and understanding of "interview rules"
• Ancillary techniques, such as the use of drawings and anatomically detailed dolls
• How to improve one's decision-making skills
• How to stay abreast of the latest research and techniques

The principles outlined in his book can be generalized to a variety of situations in which the interviewer wishes to gather information untainted by the dynamics of adult-child questioning. Thus, Investigative Interviews of Children will be invaluable not only to child protection workers, lawyers, law enforcement officers, and psychologists, but also to other mental health professionals, educators, and parents.