Tell Me What Happened

Book excerpt: Represents a scholarly and ambitious attempt to improve the quality of interviews received by the courts and minimize the risks of miscarriages of justice, for victims and defendants This book updates the previous review of research on children’s testimony—reexamining and readdressing how the quality of information provided by young witnesses is affected by the way they are questioned. Drawing upon both experimental and field studies conducted in different countries, it summarizes evidence supporting the effectiveness of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Protocol and showcases the Protocol’s superiority over other current interviewing techniques for eliciting detailed and forensically useful content from child complainants. Written with both child protection professionals and researchers in mind, Tell Me What Happened: Questioning Children About Abuse offers advice and opinions drawn from actual investigative interviews as well as academic research. Its insightful chapters cover: children’s testimony; interview and questioning strategies; how investigators typically interview alleged victims; the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocols; the impact that following the Protocol has on interviews and children’s responses; interviewing victims under the age of six; interviewing children with developmental disabilities; using tools and props to complement the Protocol; training and maintaining good interviewing practices; and more. Provides a primary source of guidance practitioners and professionals involved in child protection Updates guidance for interviewers by adding consideration of emotional and motivational factors to better understand children’s behavior during interviews Integrates the substantial body of research published over the last decade and reflects upon questions that the field should continue to address Tell Me What Happened: Questioning Children About Abuse deserves to be read by all practitioners involved in child protection, whether as investigators, interviewers, judges, or lawyers.