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Do Prosecutors Use Interview Instructions or Build Rapport with Child Witnesses?
Author(s) -
Ahern Elizabeth C.,
Stolzenberg Stacia N.,
Lyon Thomas D.
Publication year - 2015
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.2183
Subject(s) - narrative , psychology , quality (philosophy) , interview , sexual abuse , child abuse , child sexual abuse , suicide prevention , applied psychology , poison control , social psychology , medical education , medicine , medical emergency , law , political science , philosophy , linguistics , epistemology
This study examined the quality of interview instructions and rapport‐building provided by prosecutors to 168 children aged 5–12 years testifying in child sexual abuse cases, preceding explicit questions about abuse allegations. Prosecutors failed to effectively administer key interview instructions, build rapport, or rely on open‐ended narrative producing prompts during this early stage of questioning. Moreover, prosecutors often directed children's attention to the defendant early in the testimony. The productivity of different types of wh‐ questions varied, with what/how questions focusing on actions being particularly productive. The lack of instructions, poor quality rapport‐building, and closed‐ended questioning suggest that children may not be adequately prepared during trial to provide lengthy and reliable reports to their full ability. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.