The Forensic Interview Process in the Case of Abused Children or Children Who Have Witnessed a Violent Act

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The forensic interview process happens when children have been abused or witnessed a violent act. “Every year more than 3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving more than 6 million children (a report can include multiple children) (National Child Abuse Statistics).” In the United States there are about four to seven children that die every day due to child abuse and neglect (National Child Abuse Statistics). There are many different processes to conduct the interview and a number of steps are followed so children can tell their story accurately. People conducting the interview are supposed to make the child feel comfortable in their environment so they can find out what events happened.
The first phase of the interview process is planning details of what the interview will consist of. A witness assessment is what allows interviewers to find out information about the child and what happened to the child. The interviewer collects information about the child such as the name, age, gender, ethnicity, current living situation, physical/learning disability, medications taken, emotional state, any contact with public services, and relationship to the offender (Lamb, Michael E.; La Rooy, David J.; Malloy, Lindsay C.; Katz, Carmit (2011). It’s useful to find what hobbies may interest the child to build a connection with them. It also helps to find out any misunderstandings of the event that could lead to a false accusation (Forensic Interviewing Protocol). This helps distinguish any possible missing information and if the child is being accurate with their story.
The second phase involves the interviewer making the interview room comfortable for the child. Setting up the room and any equipment before...

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...e. Retrieved from http://www.eblib.com
National Child Abuse Statistics | Childhelp. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2014, from http://www.childhelp-usa.com/pages/statistics
Pipe, M., Orbach, Y., Lamb, M. E., Abbott, C.B., & Stewart, H. (2013). Do case outcomes change when investigative interviewing practices change?. Psychology, Public Policy, And Law, 19(2), 179-190. Doi: 10.1037/a0030312
State of Michigan Governor’s Task Force On Child Abuse And Neglect And Department Of Human Services. Forensic Interviewing Protocol. Retrieved March 26, 2014, from http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dhs/DHS-PUB-0779_211637_7.pdf
United States. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.,. (2002). Interviewing child witnesses and victims of sexual abuse. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

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