Post on 24-May-2015
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INTERVIEWING CHILD VICTIMS OF CRIME
Wezet Botes19 June 2013
VICTIM, VICTIMOLOGY, VICTIMIZATION Victim: Individuals who experience loss, injury, or hardship for any reason crime victim- definition experienced as a result of crime
Victimology: “Scientific study of physical, emotional, and financial harm people suffer because of illegal activities.”
Victimization: “Is an asymmetrical interpersonal relationship that is abusive, painful, destructive, parasitical, and unfair.”
Child: A person under the age of 18 years
WHY INTERVIEW THE CHILD
To be able to safeguard the child- effect a safety plan
Determine what services are needed to support the child
To determine the type and extent of the crime for prosecution, court and sentencing purposes
Prevent the offender from reoffending
WHAT VIEWPOINT IS MOST USEFUL? Subjective ApproachIssues are approached from standpoint of morality, ethics, philosophy, personalized reactions, and emotions- victimism
Objective ApproachRequires observer to be fair, open-minded, even-handed, dispassionate, neutral, and unbiased-victimology
MIND-SPACE FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN The core concepts of interviewing children:
The best interest of the child guides the intervention
Creating a comfortable environment,
Taking language development into account,
Maintaining cultural awareness
Be sensitive for developmental considerations
TALKING TO CHILDREN IS DIFFERENT
Keen observers Cant express themselves the same way as adults Play rather than talking Play is preparation for life Children play to make sense of their world Children play to experiment Children play to process their own experiences Play is not a waste of time
REQUIREMENTS FOR PRACTITIONERS
Interest in children Fun loving and able to operate on a child’s level Previous counselling interviewing experience Willingness to learn and read Be willing to work within the boundaries- will also work with parents/ role players Receive supervision or is linked with an accountability structure.
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED Warm and open (smile)
Safe and welcoming space
Dress comfortably
Basic kit = wax crayons, pencil, eraser blank paper, farm animals/ wild animals
Expansive kit =Clay, crayons, paint –art media
APPROACHING THE CHILD Non-directive, direct approaches activate defence mechanisms
Non threatening
Non-judgemental, not the parent
Non- prescriptive, be aware of own paradigms
‘Not knowing’ inquisitive
Limited and appropriate touch
Accommodating, toilet brakes, food, tiredness
Open and warm- respectful
Engaging
FROM A CHILD’S POINT OF VIEW
Everyone even children interpret the world through their own experiences
Children’s experiences are limited
They will draw talk and explain things in a way that make sense in their world
Your job is to put yourself into the shoes of the child and see it from their view
Be very sensitive to power positions and manipulation tactics
UNDERSTANDING THE CHILD’S NARRATIVE
Children don’t like to talk only, use different ways to communicate
What is the referral what are the facts and what id the child’s perspective?
What is the self report of the child?What verbal/ non-verbal information that the
child has given seems to be the dominant theme?
What does the family say?Is the behaviour of the child in line with what
the general picture is from the child’s perspective and from the families' perspective
THE CHILD AS A CLIENT
Child needs to know the parameters of the session Rules of the interview Why are they there, what will they do Address confidentiality, who gets to keep the drawings /session products Explain when you have to tell someone else Consent to give feedback to parents
DISCUSSION What do you think is important rules and limits when working with children?
What accountability structures are available to you?
How would you approach confidentiality with a child?
How does interviewing a child differ from interviewing an adult?
What skills /attitude should a interviewer have when working with children?
SPHERES OF THE CHILD’S LIFE
Impact of crime/trau
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Impact of crime/trau
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Impact of crime/trau
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TRAUMA Specific traumatic experiences have a direct impact on child's view of self, family and world
Interviewer should be able to identifying and refer traumatised children to resources in community
The child’s general functioning and school performance are negatively impacted by trauma
The ‘when’ and ‘how’ trauma should be addressed within a therapeutic environment
Listen and take notes – refer don’t interpret, but act in the best interest of the child
TECHNIQUE Trauma interview****** Directive: tell/ draw a picture of what happened to you Equipment: paper coloured paint/ crayons / pencils, age appropriate forensic media Engagement: tell me what happened to you from the beginning. Tell me all you could remember about x (senses). What did you think? What did you feel? What do you think feel about it now?
FORENSIC INTERVIEWING INTRODUCTION
Dealing with the narrative of crime/abuse can be very daunting
What is the need for a narrative in Court investigations?
May be asked to give a report to the court in the criminal investigation
The interviewer could be subpoenaed to testify about the disclosure of the child
Disclosure of the child may be important to establish the charge sheet, building the prosecution’s case, NB safety of the child
CONTEXT
Children are more likely to give false negatives than false positives
It takes tremendous courage of a child to give a narrative of events where they risk significant losses
The reaction the child gets when reporting would determine if the chid will risk telling all that happened to them
Stay objective but take any reports seriously
Be supportive of the child’s courage to tell
ROLE PLAYERS
The child self- child participation in the process
Parents parents always the parents! Primary care givers
Police – reporting of crime, taking of statements, investigating, compiling a Court docket
Forensic interviewer- getting the child’s statements
Social worker - Children’s Court and family support
Psychologist – therapy (play, family therapy)
CASE STUDY
John (8) lives on the same property as Tom (12) in a ZoZo that his father and stepmom is renting from Tom’s foster mother
John is small for a 8 year old with possible alcohol syndrome he seems to be intellectually delayed
Tom is in a special school and has reached puberty, he is physically strong
Tom has been repeatedly raping John for the past 6 months and John has told his step mother about one incident after she saw blood in his underwear
John and Tom are interviewed separately to determine what happened and what was the extent of the alleged rape
John is significantly traumatized and Tom denies that he has ever hurt John
PROCESS OF DISCLOSURE
Is disclosure a single event or a process of disclosure? Research: 5% of disclosures are done in a single event 95% follows a process of gradual disclosure Follows 4 phases: denial, disclosure, recanting, confirmation Sorenson & Snow
1 DISCLOSURE ? Which process did John follow to disclose
Tentative Active
Child test the watersMay be accidental
Full disclosure/ may be accidental spontaneous/graduation
Partial disclosure “once” Specific incident is described with emotion
Vague- child may not remember all the detail
Child is empowered to give disclosure- maternal support
Minimise incident to make it more acceptable
Sensory information given
May not seem convincing May disclose perpetrator as well
2 DENIAL Reasons the child may deny that abuse took place:
Child is scared of parents reaction
Child is scared of the perpetrator
Child may not know that what happened is abuse VO
Grooming of the child was successful- normalised or threatened
Child understand the risk of losses after disclosure i.e. income MS
Over identification with the abuser- protect
? What are possible hypotheses for Tom’s denial?
3 RECANTING/ MINIMISING
What: try to pull back from disclosure
Reaction and consequences of disclosure were unfavourable- VO
Fear of court proceedings and police involvement
Threats of the perpetrator
Insufficient support from family especially mother Helga
Child abuse accommodation syndrome USA girl
? Tom admitted to hitting but not to rape - why how willyou manage this?
4 CONFIRMATION
Child confirms abuse when they experience safety and secure attachment i.e. Place of Safety KZN
Active disclosure and child is also more capable (i.e. older) to testify/language capacity
Perpetrator is no longer an active threat
Through therapy and support the child can be helped.
John freely spoke about the abuse once he was in a place of Safety-
? What differences wold there be in the interview if a child is still in danger
DEVELOPMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS Pre-schoolers 3-7
Cues /spontaneous/ behavioural
Younger than 3 language development evidence and medical examination
Not mastered telling time/ days of the week and words describing time
Cant count number of incidents
Trouble with sequencing
Use short simple questions
Concrete words and use words familiar to the child (rape)
DEVELOPMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS Middle childhood 7-12yrs
Under 10 trouble with chronology of events
Ask child to link day of crime to other events e.g. I played netball/ seasons day/night
More detail of number of times especially if asked to draw different incidents
More context and detail in disclosures with better grasp and use of language
DEVELOPMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS Teenagers:
Abstract thinking starts to develop
Black/white thinking still prevalent
Law deals with teenagers differently – expectations are higer
Are they more/less likely to tell the truth?
Does grooming play a bigger/smaller role in teenage years?
What is the ages of consent for teens?
PITFALLS
Giving detail of disclosure to parents too early in process
Don’t know who the perpetrator is- stay objective and questioning suspicious
Retelling over and over again can contaminate information –over assessment
Acting before sufficient information is obtained
Not considering the developmental needs of child
THE FREE NARRATIVE
Previously believed that abuse can only be confirmed if the chid gives the same information using various techniques i.e. anatomically correct dolls and drawings and the ideal house
Techniques have undergone a lot of criticism and current consensus is to use them only after verbal disclosure
Goal: for the interviewer to get enough information to 1) effect a safety plan 2) gather information for court
Take process into consideration- child may need a few interviews after the first one to get a full disclosure
THE INTRODUCTION Orientate the child what you are going to do
Inform of interviewer’s job description and role
Does the child differentiate between the truth and a lie?
General conversation about day to day events
Make child comfortable with interview
Preliminary information on child’s verbal skills, cognitive maturity
Convey goal of interview is for child to talk
See if child can enter into a narrative
Don’t make promises
ESTABLISHING GROUND RULES
Tell real things that really happened
No guessing or make believe
Don’t understand what I mean- ask me
Take your time in telling what happened
Correct me if I’m wrong
I’ll ask a lot of questions – doesn’t mean I think that your answer was wrong
I may not understand so well and ask you to tell me more about what happened
Create boundaries for the interview
Create a safe environment for the child to tell you what happened
INTRODUCING THE TOPIC
Least suggestive prompt: “Now that I know you better we can talk about some thing else. Do you know why you are here today?”
“I understand that there are some problems in your family- tell me about them.”
Avoid words such as bad, hurt, abuse or other interpretive words
Shift the topic of conversation to the alleged incident/s
Invitation to talk about the allegations
No direct questions- RS show that a direct question is likely to get a positive answer irrespective of what happened
FREE NARRATIVE After the topic is introduced the interviewer ask an open ended question- narrative description of event Open ended questions
“Tell me everything you can about that.”
“Tell me from the very beginning to the end.”
Goal: get most detailed description of what happened.
No leading questions.
Age appropriate Q’s
No double negatives.
No double barrel Q’s
Keep it short & simple
QUESTIONING AND CLARIFICATION After finishing the free narrative is established follow up with more focussed questions
Determine if it was a single or multiple events
Description of the crime scene
Clarification of information
Was there multiple perpetrators?
Keep the when what where who detail in mind and add focussed questions later on to gather the needed information
CLOSURE
“Is there some thing else you want to talk about?” Exit the abuse focussed narrative if sufficient description of event is obtained or if child does not give any more information
Thank the child and if asked discuss the road ahead
Talk about a neutral topic to ease child’s tension
Restore equilibrium to child.
Reconnect to neutral events.
SUMMERY
Be at ease in the interview
Take it slowly
The best interest of the child is paramount
Be the guardian of the child's trust
Keep very good notes of everything said
Work in a team- try not to make decisions on your own
Look after yourself