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Dianiska RE, Quas JA, Lyon TD. Using rapport building to improve information yield when interviewing adolescents: A systematic review and call for research. CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 2024; 154:106898. [PMID: 38908231 DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 05/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/24/2024]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel E Dianiska
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, USA.
| | - Jodi A Quas
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, USA.
| | - Thomas D Lyon
- University of Southern California Gould School of Law, USA
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Quas JA, Mukhopadhyay S, Winks KMH, Dianiska RE, Lyon TD. Successful Criminal Prosecutions of Sex Trafficking and Sexual Abuse of Minors: A Comparative Analysis. CHILD MALTREATMENT 2023; 28:500-516. [PMID: 37232445 PMCID: PMC10929689 DOI: 10.1177/10775595231176432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Despite increased awareness of sex trafficking of minors in the U.S., prosecution of traffickers remains difficult, in part because of victim uncooperativeness. There are questions about how that uncooperativeness is expressed, whether it is evident in successfully prosecuted cases, and whether it is unique to trafficked minors or it emerges in similar age victims of sexual abuse. To provide insight relevant to these questions, we compared appellate opinions in two types of successfully prosecuted criminal cases: sex trafficking and sexual abuse of adolescent victims. In the trafficking opinions, victims were rarely described as disclosing on their own or as knowing their trafficker before the victimization. The opinions also often alluded to the trafficking victims' uncooperativeness and delinquency history, and frequently mentioned electronic evidence and prosecution experts. The sexual abuse opinions, in contrast, tended to suggest that victims' own disclosures initiated the case, perpetrators were known and trusted adults, and caregiver support during the case was common. Finally, the sexual abuse opinions never explicitly mentioned victim uncooperativeness or electronic evidence and rarely mentioned expert testimony or delinquency. The different characterizations of the two case types highlight the need for improved education concerning effective prosecution of sex crimes against minors.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Thomas D. Lyon
- School of Law, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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3
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Lee S. Effect of age, temperament, and drawing activity on the suggestibility of children. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-023-04308-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
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Karni-Visel Y, Hershkowitz I, Lamb ME, Blasbalg U. Nonverbal Emotions While Disclosing Child Abuse: The Role of Interviewer Support. CHILD MALTREATMENT 2023; 28:66-75. [PMID: 34964680 PMCID: PMC9806472 DOI: 10.1177/10775595211063497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Statements by alleged victims are important when child abuse is prosecuted; triers-of-fact often attend to nonverbal emotional expressions when evaluating those statements. This study examined the associations among interviewer supportiveness, children's nonverbal emotions, and informativeness during 100 forensic interviews with alleged victims of child abuse. Raters coded the silent videotapes for children's nonverbal emotional expressions while other raters coded the transcripts for interviewer support, children's verbal emotions, and informativeness. Results showed that children's nonverbal signals were more common than and preceded the verbal signs. Interviewer support was associated with children's expressivity. When children expressed more nonverbal emotions, they were more responsive during the pre-substantive phases and more informative about the abuse. Nonverbal emotions partially mediated the association between support and informativeness. The findings underline the value of nonverbal emotional expression during forensic interviews and demonstrate how the interviewers' supportive demeanor can facilitate children's emotional displays and increase informativeness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yael Karni-Visel
- University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Yael Karni-Visel, The Louis and Gabi
Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel.
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Foster I, Talwar V, Crossman A. The role of rapport in eliciting children’s truthful reports. APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/10888691.2022.2058507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Chae Y, Goodman GS, Wang Y, Goodman M, McWilliams K, Shaver PR, Thompson RA, Widaman KF. Parents' attachment orientation, interviewers' support, and children's memory for a mildly distressing event. Memory 2021; 29:1384-1395. [PMID: 34694210 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2021.1988644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Parents' attachment orientations predict children's memory about distressing life events, such that parents who are less secure in close relationships tend to have children who are less accurate in their memory reports. This study examined whether socially supportive interviewing would reduce differences in children's memory performance associated with parents' attachment. Children (3 to 5 years, N = 63) and their primary caretakers took part in the Preschool Attachment Classification System (PACS), a moderately distressing event for children of preschool age that is based on the Strange Situation Procedure. Children's memory for the event was then tested shortly thereafter by either a supportive or a non-supportive interviewer. In the non-supportive condition, children whose parents scored higher on attachment avoidance provided lower proportions of correct free recall. However, the association was not significant for children in the supportive condition. In addition, higher parental attachment anxiety predicted lower proportions of correct free recall for children of highly avoidant parents, but not for children of parents lower in attachment avoidance. For direct questions, age differences in proportion correct and proportion incorrect favoured older children. Findings provide insight into interviewing techniques at time of memory retrieval that benefit children of insecure parents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoojin Chae
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA
| | - Gail S Goodman
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Yan Wang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Miranda Goodman
- Department of Psychology, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Kelly McWilliams
- Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA
| | - Phillip R Shaver
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Ross A Thompson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Keith F Widaman
- Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
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Tamm A, Otzipka J, Volbert R. Assessing the Individual Interviewer Rapport-Building and Supportive Techniques of the R-NICHD Protocol. Front Psychol 2021; 12:659438. [PMID: 34366977 PMCID: PMC8333708 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.659438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of the rapport-building and supportive techniques formulated by the R-NICHD protocol is intended to support children and increase the quality of their statements as well as disclosures without possessing suggestive potential. While the effectiveness of the entire R-NICHD protocol for children who have actually experienced child sexual abuse (CSA) has been supported by research, to date no study assessed the effect of each individual socio-emotional interview technique in both interviewees with and without CSA experiences. The current study aimed to address this gap in research by means of an online vignette-study, asking participants to rate the identified rapport-building and supportive techniques on the scales well-being, willingness to talk, and perceived pressure. A total of 187 participants were randomly assigned to either a hypothetical “abused” or a hypothetical “not abused” group by means of a vignette-manipulation. The results suggest that many socio-emotional interview techniques were perceived as supportive and non-suggestive, while a number of techniques were perceived as not supportive but suggestive. Few differences emerged between the hypothetical “abused” group and the hypothetical “not abused” control group. To conclude, most but not all rapport-building and supportive techniques proposed by the R-NICHD protocol had a positive effect on interviewees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anett Tamm
- Psychologische Hochschule Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jana Otzipka
- Psychologische Hochschule Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Renate Volbert
- Psychologische Hochschule Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Forensic Psychiatry, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Johnston V, Benedan L, Brubacher S, Powell M. The roles of child temperament and interviewer support on children's reports of adult wrongdoing. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Vulnerability to interrogative suggestibility from negative life events. A comparison of separated asylum-seeking youth and age-matched peers. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Powell MB, Brubacher SP. The origin, experimental basis, and application of the standard interview method: An information‐gathering framework. AUSTRALIAN PSYCHOLOGIST 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/ap.12468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Martine B. Powell
- Centre for Investigative Interviewing, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia,
| | - Sonja P. Brubacher
- Centre for Investigative Interviewing, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia,
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Meissner CA. “What works?” Systematic reviews and m
eta‐analyses
of the investigative interviewing research literature. APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/acp.3808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Canning HS, Peterson C. Encouraging more open-ended recall in child interviews. PSYCHIATRY, PSYCHOLOGY, AND LAW : AN INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF THE AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION OF PSYCHIATRY, PSYCHOLOGY AND LAW 2020; 27:81-94. [PMID: 32284781 PMCID: PMC7144253 DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2019.1687045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The goal of child forensic interviewers is to obtain as much information as possible through open-ended recall. Unfortunately, typically interviewers quickly switch to focused questions. This article suggests a way of eliciting more open-ended recall by using the narrative elaboration (NE) procedure, which includes four initial prompts about event participants, context, actions, conversations, and thoughts. The procedure uses line drawings on cards as prompts and requires pre-training; although it substantially increases open-ended recall, in practice it is too time-consuming for regular use. The original NE procedure is compared with two streamlined versions with 3- to 7-year-olds: using NE cards with no pre-training and simply providing parallel NE verbal prompts without using the cards. The children in the streamlined NE interview with verbal prompts were found to provide as much additional information as those in the full NE interview, and considerably more than those in the control interview. Therefore, incorporating NE verbal prompts near the beginning of child interviews is an easy way to increase the amount of information that children provide in open-ended recall.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather S. Canning
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada
| | - Carole Peterson
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada
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Quas JA, Dickerson KL. Implicit Encouragement: Enhancing Youth Productivity when Recounting a Stressful Experience. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON CHILD MALTREATMENT : RESEARCH, POLICY AND PRACTICE 2019; 2:239-254. [PMID: 32095780 PMCID: PMC7039258 DOI: 10.1007/s42448-019-00031-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, increasing efforts have been focused on testing strategies of improving victimized children's narrative productivity, given that, for many youth, finding out what has happened to them is crucial to intervening and promoting their well-being. Implicit encouragement strategies, such as back channeling by conversational partners, have shown some preliminary promise, but their precise effects on productivity and accuracy have not been adequately examined. In this study, 98 youth, ages 8-14, completed a laboratory-based stressful activity, and a week later, a surprise memory test regarding what happened in the lab activity. Interviewers varied their use of implicit encouragement. Open-ended recall questions asked youth about both factual details and detail about their feelings and thoughts during the laboratory activity. Implicit encouragement increased the amount of both types of details and had no effect on errors. In fact, few youth provided any incorrect information in their recall reports. Neither age nor stress was related to youth's productivity or accuracy, directly or in conjunction with implicit encouragement. Results highlight the value of interviewers using encouraging behaviors when questioning children and adolescents to elicit a range of information about prior stressful experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jodi A. Quas
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA 92697-7085, USA
| | - Kelli L. Dickerson
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, 4201 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA 92697-7085, USA
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Bruer KC, Zanette S, Ding XP, Lyon TD, Lee K. Identifying Liars Through Automatic Decoding of Children's Facial Expressions. Child Dev 2019; 91:e995-e1011. [PMID: 31682003 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
This study explored whether children's (N = 158; 4- to 9 years old) nonverbal facial expressions can be used to identify when children are being deceptive. Using a computer vision program to automatically decode children's facial expressions according to the Facial Action Coding System, this study employed machine learning to determine whether facial expressions can be used to discriminate between children who concealed breaking a toy(liars) and those who did not break a toy(nonliars). Results found that, regardless of age or history of maltreatment, children's facial expressions could accurately (73%) be distinguished between liars and nonliars. Two emotions, surprise and fear, were more strongly expressed by liars than nonliars. These findings provide evidence to support the use of automatically coded facial expressions to detect children's deception.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Thomas D Lyon
- University of Southern California-Gould School of Law
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Olaguez AP, Castro A, Cleveland KC, Klemfuss JZ, Quas JA. Using implicit encouragement to increase narrative productivity in children: Preliminary evidence and legal implications. JOURNAL OF CHILD CUSTODY 2019; 15:286-301. [PMID: 32038112 PMCID: PMC7006990 DOI: 10.1080/15379418.2018.1509758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2018] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 08/02/2018] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Statements made by children in a range of legal settings can irrevocably impact their family structure, relationships, and living environment. Because these statements can fundamentally alter children's futures, efforts have been made to identify methods to enhance children's reports by increasing comprehensiveness, completeness, and accuracy. Interviewer support has broadly been considered a method of interest, but variations in what constitutes "support" have highlighted the need for greater specificity in documenting how different facets of supportive behaviors relate to children's reporting tendencies. In this review, we describe work focused on the effects of interviewer support, on children's memory completeness and accuracy. We then describe to a subset of interviewer behaviors that encourage elaboration in dyadic interactions: back-channeling and vocatives. We present preliminary evidence suggesting that these utterances, referred to as implicit encouragement, can increase the amount of detail provided without compromising accuracy. Implications for custody evaluations are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alma P. Olaguez
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Amy Castro
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Kyndra C. Cleveland
- Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - J. Zoe Klemfuss
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Jodi A. Quas
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA
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Ahern EC, Hershkowitz I, Lamb ME, Blasbalg U, Karni-Visel Y. Examining reluctance and emotional support in forensic interviews with child victims of substantiated physical abuse. APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/10888691.2017.1387057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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