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An Examination of “Don't Know” Responses in Forensic Interviews with Children
Author(s) -
Earhart Becky,
La Rooy David J.,
Brubacher Sonja P.,
Lamb Michael E.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/bsl.2141
Subject(s) - need to know , psychology , affect (linguistics) , human factors and ergonomics , suicide prevention , forensic science , poison control , social psychology , child abuse , injury prevention , medicine , medical emergency , computer security , computer science , communication , veterinary medicine
Most experimental studies examining the use of pre‐interview instructions (ground rules) show that children say “I don't know” more often when they have been encouraged to do so when appropriate. However, children's “don't know” responses have not been studied in more applied contexts, such as in investigative interviews. In the present study, 76 transcripts of investigative interviews with allegedly abused children revealed patterns of “don't know” responding, as well as interviewers’ reactions to these responses. Instructions to say “I don't know” when appropriate did not affect the frequency with which children gave these responses. Interviewers rejected “don't know” responses nearly 30% of the time, and typically continued to ask about the same topic using more risky questions. Children often answered these follow‐up questions even though they had previously indicated that they lacked the requested information. There was no evidence that “don't know” responses indicated reluctance to talk about abuse. Implications for forensic interviewers are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.