Explain techniques that are useful and not useful when questioning children in a legal setting.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A good answer would include the following key points:
- Memory is susceptible to disruption, and this is especially true for young children's memories.
- When called upon to testify, as an eyewitness to a crime or as a victim, children can be particularly vulnerable to memory errors and distortions.
- Questioning a child as soon as possible after an event has occurred tends to lessen the possibility of memory disruption.
- Specific questions should be posed, rather than vague or general questions.
- Questioning a child outside of a courtroom or other institutional setting is preferable, to reduce the feelings of intimidation or fright that can result from being in a highly legalistic setting.
- Some techniques, such as the use of anatomically correct dolls during questioning, are not as useful as most proponents would assume.
- A questioner would do well to remember that, like most humans, children's memories are easily influenced and subject to bias.