Discuss Forensic Interview.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

For the most part, the child abuse investigation begins with information provided by the child victim. Obtaining this information is a vitally delicate task that normally requires a forensic interview of the child to determine whether he or she has been abused.
In the case of a criminal investigation, the forensic interview can be conducted by a law enforcement officer or a member of child welfare or CPS, provided he or she is properly trained to do so.
Properly conducted forensic interviews are legally sound in part be- cause they ensure the interviewer’s objectivity; use nonleading, nonsuggestive techniques; and emphasize careful documentation of the interview.

The Initial Interview
In most jurisdictions, state child welfare investigators conduct the initial forensic interview because state laws often require that after a report is received that a child has been physically, emotionally, or sexually abused, there must be immediate face-to-face contact with the child.
The location of the interview is an important consideration when establishing the proper atmosphere for the child interview. Not only should the interview room be specifically designed—comfortable, quiet, and free from distractions—but there should also be only one interviewer responsible for inter- viewing the child.
The interview room needs to be equipped with non-intrusive video and audio equipment, and all interviews must be recorded.
One of the objectives of forensic interviewing is to reduce the number of times children are interviewed. The concern is contamination of the child’s memory of the incident(s) being investigated.

The Secondary Forensic Interview
These are usually conducted by specially trained psychologists or professionals with graduate-level education in the areas relevant to this type of interviewing. Furthermore, these interviews usually take place at centers that facilitate the interview process—therapists and doctors sometimes have such facilities, as do most providers of child medical evaluations.

Techniques of Forensic Interviewing
There are many ways to conduct the forensic interview, and there is no single model or method endorsed unanimously by experts in the field
Despite the different styles of interviews, there are some basic elements common to most forensic interviews. These include phases such as introduction, rapport building, developmental assessment (including learning the child’s names for different body parts), guidelines for the interview, competency assessment (during which, among other things, it is determined if the child knows the difference between lying and telling the truth), narrative description of the event or events under investigation, follow-up questions, clarification, and closure.