The effects of narrative practice on children's testimony and disclosure of secrets

The Comparative Productivity of the Birthday Narrative in 6- to 11-year-Old Maltreated Children

We asked 111 6- to 11-year-old maltreated children to tell "everything that happened" on their last birthday, the last time they did something they liked to do outside, and yesterday. All children produced details in response to the like to do and yesterday narratives, compared to 98% of children in response to the birthday narrative. Questions about yesterday were more likely to elicit productive responses (93%) than questions about the child's birthday (90%) or things they liked to do (88%). Older children produced the most details in response to questions about yesterday, and older children's birthday narratives were more productive than those about favorite activities. Narratives about children's birthday and yesterday produced comparable percentages of negative details (15%), whereas 32% of children mentioned something negative when discussing a favorite activity. The results suggest that although children find yesterday easier to recall than their last birthday, the birthday narrative is a productive tool for encouraging children to practice recalling more remote events, preparing them for abuse disclosures.

Using rapport building to improve information yield when interviewing adolescents: A systematic review and call for research

BACKGROUND

Adolescents frequently experience and witness violence and crime, yet very little research has been conducted to determine how best to question these witnesses to elicit complete and accurate disclosures.

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review integrated scientific research on rapport building with child and adult witnesses with theory and research on adolescent development in order to identify rapport building techniques likely to be effective with suspected adolescent victims and witnesses.

METHOD

Four databases were searched to identify investigations of rapport building in forensic interviewing of adolescents.

RESULTS

Despite decades of research of studies including child and adult participants, only one study since 1990 experimentally tested techniques to build rapport with adolescents. Most rapport strategies used with children and adults have yet to be tested with adolescents. Tests of these strategies, along with modifications based on developmental science of adolescence, would provide a roadmap to determining which approaches are most beneficial when questioning adolescent victims and witnesses.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a clear need for research that tests what strategies are best to use with adolescents. They may be reluctant to disclose information about stressful or traumatic experiences to adults due to both normative developmental processes and the types of events about which they are questioned in legal settings. Rapport building approaches tailored to address adolescents' motivational needs may be effective in increasing adolescents' reporting, and additional research testing such approaches will provide much-needed insight to inform the development of evidence-based practices for questioning these youth.

Forensic interviewers' difficulty with the birthday narrative

BACKGROUND

Narrative practice increases children's productivity in forensic interviews, and one recommended topic is the child's last birthday, though interviewers have raised concerns about its productivity. STUDY 1 OBJECTIVE: Study 1 surveyed forensic interviewers' use of and attitudes about the birthday narrative.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants included 170 forensic interviewers who subscribed to a webinar promoting use of the birthday narrative (Mage = 43 years, SD = 10.2, 94 % female).

RESULTS

Over half (55 %) of interviewers reported that they rarely/never asked about children's birthdays, and non-users were especially likely to view the birthday narrative as never/rarely productive. Although interviewers viewed memory difficulties as more likely to occur with the birthday narrative than other practice topics (the child's likes, the child's day), non-users did not view memory difficulties, reluctance, generic reports, or religious objections as especially problematic. Open-ended responses identified negative experiences with the birthday as an additional concern, and interviewers' recommended wording of the prompts suggested suboptimal questioning strategies. STUDY 2 OBJECTIVE: Study 2 assessed the use of the birthday narrative in forensic interviews.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The sample included 350 forensic interviews with 4- to 12-year-old children (Mage = 8.85, SD = 2.59).

RESULTS

Only 4 % of children failed to recall substantive information if interviewers persisted, though another 11 % failed when interviewers stopped persisting. Invitations were more effective than other question types, especially among older children. 21 % of children mentioned a negative detail during their narrative.

CONCLUSIONS

Interviewers' skepticism about the birthday narrative may be due to suboptimal questioning and sensitivity to occasional failures and negative information.

Rapport building with adolescents to enhance reporting and disclosure

Adolescents comprise a vulnerable population that is exposed to crime and also may be reluctant to disclose full details of their experiences. Little research has addressed effective ways of increasing their willingness to disclose and provide complete reports. Strategies that improve honesty and report completeness in other age groups have not been evaluated to determine whether they are similarly effective at increasing adolescents' reporting. In the current study, we tested whether rapport building techniques, modified from those commonly used with children and adults to address reasons why adolescents are likely reluctant, enhance the amount of detail adolescents provide about prior experiences. The participants, 14- to 19-year-olds (N = 125), completed an online questionnaire regarding significant events (e.g., big argument with family member) they experienced during the last 12 months. After a delay, they completed a remote interview asking them to recount details of one of the events. The interview began with either standard rapport building composed of largely yes/no questions about the adolescents' background or one of two expanded rapport building phases: open-ended (questions about the adolescents' backgrounds that required narrative answers) or enhanced (open-ended questions paired with the interviewer also sharing personal information). Although only adolescents in the standard condition showed age-related increases in information disclosed, overall adolescents in the enhanced condition provided significantly longer and more detailed narratives than adolescents in the other conditions. This effect was largest for the youngest adolescents, suggesting that mutual self-disclosure may be especially beneficial for eliciting honest complete reports from adolescents about salient prior experiences.

A critical analysis of gender-based violence reporting and evidence building applications (GBVxTech) for capturing memory reports

Introduction

Gender-based violence (GBV) is under-reported to the authorities owing to the stigma, shame, and fear of reprisal that surrounds these crimes. To address this, there has been an influx of technologies, including mobile phone and online applications that allow victim-survivors (hereafter, victims) to document and report GBV (hereafter referred to as GBVxTech). We critically analysed the extent to which GBVxTech applications align with the scientific knowledge base on gathering accounts of crimes from victims and witnesses.

Methods

We identified 41 reporting and evidence building applications from around the world but found many (n = 19) were no longer accessible. A total of 13 applications met the study criteria and were available for download. We evaluated each application on how well its design and features align with established minimum best practice standards for gathering complete and accurate accounts from witnesses and victims, such as the pre-interview instructions (e.g., setting ground rules), questioning approach (e.g., using open-ended questions), and the adequacy of security features (e.g., password protection).

Results and Discussion

We found most applications employ open questions, encourage victims to report information in an independent voice, and seek to elicit information pertinent to a criminal investigation. None of the applications use leading questions. However, most applications do not establish ground rules, and many use forced-choice questions, do not time stamp the information gathered, or document when users change their answers. Many applications have limited security features, potentially compromising users' safety. Further, some applications do not provide information about how to use the app, an informed consent procedure, or data usage information. We discuss the findings and offer recommendations for future GBVxTech development.

Association between childhood maltreatment and callous-unemotional traits in youth: A meta-analysis

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., lack of remorse or guilt, callous lack of empathy, deficient concern for the feelings of others) in youth with conduct problems confer risk for a particularly severe and persistent form of antisocial behaviour. Previous research has linked childhood maltreatment as a potential risk factor for CU traits, both primary (i.e., genetically underpinned) and secondary (i.e., environmentally influenced) variants, but findings have been inconsistent, and the association has not yet been tested in a meta-analysis. To address this gap, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the nature and strength of the associations between childhood maltreatment and its subtypes with CU traits and potential variants (i.e., primary and secondary CU traits). A systematic search identified 29 eligible studies including 9,894 participants (42% female) between the ages of 3 and 18 years (Mage=14.22 years, SD = 1.07). Results revealed a significant moderate positive association between childhood maltreatment and CU traits. All subtypes of maltreatment bar sexual abuse were significantly associated with CU traits. However, it was not possible to compare primary and secondary CU traits directly due to inconsistencies in how they are defined. The limitations posed by current research signal the need for clinical and operational guidelines on how to define primary and secondary CU traits. Additionally, prospective longitudinal, genetically informed research is needed to clarify if maltreatment is a causal risk factor for CU traits.

The Utility of the Birthday Prompt in Narrative Practice with Maltreated and Non-maltreated 4- to 9-year-old Children

Forensic interviewers are encouraged to elicit a practice narrative from children in order to train them to answer free recall questions with narrative information. Although asking children about their last birthday has been recommended, concerns have been raised that many children will have nothing to report. This study asked 994 4- to 9-year-old maltreated and non-maltreated children to recall their last birthday. Although a fair number of children initially failed to recall information (9%), virtually all children recalled information with persistent encouragement (99%). Younger children and maltreated children were less responsive and spoke less, but nevertheless, 93% of the youngest children (4-year-olds) and 97% of maltreated children recalled information with persistent encouragement. The results suggest that children's failures to recall information about birthdays are predominantly attributable to a failure to provide additional support.

Increasing maltreated and nonmaltreated children's recall disclosures of a minor transgression: The effects of back-channel utterances, a promise to tell the truth, and a post-recall putative confession

BACKGROUND

Children are often hesitant to disclose transgressions, particularly when they feel implicated, and frequently remain reluctant until confronted with direct questions. Given the risks associated with direct questions, an important issue is how interviewers can encourage honesty through recall questions.

OBJECTIVE

The present study examined the use of three truth induction strategies for increasing the accuracy and productivity of children's reports about a transgression.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 285 4-to-9-year-old maltreated and nonmaltreated children.

METHODS

Each child took part in a play session with a stranger during which the child appeared to break some toys. A research assistant interviewed the child with narrative practice rapport building and recall questions. The study included manipulations of back-channel utterances (brief expressions used to communicate attention and interest), whether (and when) the child was asked to promise to tell the truth, and the use of a post-recall putative confession.

RESULTS

Back-channel utterances failed to increase disclosure (OR = 0.79 [95% CI: 0.48, 1.31]) but increased the productivity of children's reports about broken (p = 0.04, η_p = 0.02) and unbroken toys (p = 0.004, η_p = 0.03). A promise to tell the truth significantly increased children's disclosures, but only among nonmaltreated children (OR = 3.65 [95% CI: 1.23, 10.90]). The post-recall putative confession elicited new disclosures from about half of children who had failed to disclose.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings highlight the difficulties of eliciting honest responses from children about suspected transgressions and the need for flexible questioning strategies.

Can rapport building strategies, age, and question type influence preschoolers' disclosures of adult wrongdoing?

In the present experiment, we examined preschoolers' disclosures of a secret as a function of rapport building strategies used in Scandinavian field settings (verbal rapport building vs. prop rapport building), age in months (33-75 months) and question type (open-ended free recall invitation vs. suggestive questions). Fifty-three preschoolers (M = 60.5 months old, SD = 11.4) witnessed a researcher break a toy and were asked to keep the toy breakage a secret. The children were thereafter interviewed about the incident. Overall, 18.9% of the children disclosed the secret after an open-ended free recall invitation. The disclosure rate rose to 83% after the final phase of the interviews when questions containing suggestive details were asked of the children. Notably, we did not observe any significant effects as a function of manipulating rapport building strategy. A linear regression model showed that child age (in months) significantly predicted the amount of reported details, with younger preschoolers reporting fewer details compared to older preschoolers. Age also predicted the amount of correct details, but not the amount of incorrect details. No age differences were found with regard to children's disclosure tendencies or proportion of central details about the secret. Methodological limitations and practical implications will be addressed.