Analyzing Child Forensic Interview
The interview carried out had some effective techniques and ineffective ones. For instance, the interviewer was effective when he asked the child to draw pictures of the suspect while doing things together. The child felt comfortable for a moment and got engaged in the conversation. Next, it was also effective asking the child to draw a picture of the babysitter. These two techniques were operative and encouraged the child to participate in the interview. Nevertheless, the detective made numerous mistakes while interviewing the child. First, he did not get to know the child first by asking some few questions about herself such as school, favorite song, hobbies, among others. This was to make the child responsive. He went straight into the questions. Also, the interviewer asked questions that prompted ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers which could lead to inaccurate information. Moreover, he was a little bit harsh by telling the girl that she is no longer a baby. Although it was okay, but he could have introduced it in the beginning in a politer way.
Alternative Strategies
It is important to introduce ground rules first and the expectations of the interview. Then, it is crucial for the interviewer to ask questions about topics unrelated to the topic, like hobbies, funny moments, among others so as to make the child cooperative and feel comfortable talking about anything with the interviewer. This is the introduction phase (Bull, Valentine, &williamson, 2009). After the child seems comfortable with the interviewer, then the child should be asked to narrate the incidence. By this, open-ended questions are avoided and hence, the investigations become successful as the child is able to give accurate information. The interviewer should make emphasis on the importance of talking about what really happened. There should be the closure phase where the interviewer pays attention to the socioemotional needs of the child (Zajac, 2009).
References
Bull, R., Valentine, T., &williamson, T. (2009). Handbook of psychology of investigative interviewing(pp. 161-180). West sussex, UK: Willey-Blackwell.
Zajac, R. (2009). investigative Interviewing in the courtroom: Child witnesses under cross-examination.
