Interviewing Children The Science of Conversation in Forensic Contexts

Because of children’s incomplete language development, their greater risk of retrieving inaccurate information in response to memory cues, and their desire to say what they think the interviewer wants to hear (whether truthful or not), child eyewitness testimony can be unreliable.

In this book, Debra Ann Poole presents a flexible, evidence-based approach to interviewing children that reduces the ambiguities and errors in children’s responses. Through her descriptions of best practices, brief summaries of supporting research, and example interview dialogs, Poole provides a roadmap for anyone working in a forensic context.

This book is essential reading for those who interview children, supervise interviewers, review interview findings, or craft local policies about interviewing children.

DebraA.Poole,PhD, is a professor of psychology at Central Michigan University. Since receiving a doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Iowa, she has conducted studies on children’s eyewitness testimony and interviewing techniques. Her research, funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Science Foundation, has explored the effects of repeated questioning, how children respond to different question forms, the influence of misinformation from parents on children’s event narratives, children’s ability to report the sources of their knowledge, and the risks and benefits of interview props. Dr. Poole has worked with policy groups in Michigan and Maine to craft interview protocols and is on the editorial boards of the journals Lawand Human Behavior and Psychology, PublicPolicy,and Law.
 

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The Science of Interviewing Children
2. The Forensic Perspective
3. Conversational Habits
4. Conventional Content: Early Interview Phases
5. Conventional Content: Case Issues Phases
6. Case-Specific Decisions and Exploration
7. Protocols and Interviewer Training

References

Index

About the Author