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The general principle in interviewing is to always proceed from the most general, open aspects of the interview to the more specific. Be patient. Each step towards the more specific is made only when required. Every effort must be made to allow the information to come from the child. The less prompting the better. The inter-viewer must demonstrate patience to allow the child every chance to provide information about the events of concern.
Interviewing is a fact-finding process. The interviewer should have a number of alternative hypotheses in mind and should never attempt to prove a particular interpretation since this restricts the opportunities for the child.
Interview aids (e.g., drawings, pictures, doll, etc.) are employed only when every attempt at unassisted interviewing has not worked. No suggestive aids (e.g., drawings made by the child, doll houses) should be used first when aids are required. Suggestive aids (e.g., anatomically detailed dolls) should be employed only as a last resort (e.g., if child protection is a concern and other interview procedures have failed) and the interviewer should be aware of the consequences of employing such aids. Any suggestive interview procedures drastically reduce the likelihood of criminal justice consequences of child abuse.
The interviewer must be alert to development differences in language and cogni-tion. Never assume that you know what a child means by the use of a particular word. Always ask if the meaning is not obvious. Similarly, make sure you are employing words and concepts which the child understands.
Keep in mind the needs of children, especially younger ones. Be aware of their attention span, nutritional requirements and body functions.
First, it is important to determine the child’s capacity for understanding “telling the truth.”
Do you know the difference between right and wrong?
¿Sabes la diferencia entre lo bueno y lo malo?
Do you know what it is to tell a lie?
¿Sabes lo que es decir una mentira?
If I said it was Christmas today, would that be a truth or a lie?Si yo dijera que hoy es Navidad
¿sería verdad o mentira?
What happens when you lie?
¿Qué pasa cuando tú mientes?
Do you promise to tell me only the things that really happened?
¿Prometes decirme únicamente lo que realmente pasó?
From a legal perspective, the most acceptable form of questioning of an abused child is using open-ended questions. An open-ended question does not suggest or imply an answer. Examples of open-ended questions are:
Did anything happen to you?
¿Te pasó algo?
Were you doing anything?
¿Estabas haciendo algo?
Where was your daddy?
¿Dónde estaba tu papá?
After receiving certain information from the victim, the interviewer will need to obtain more specific facts. Often focused questions are used when this need arises. Afocused question narrows the scope of the inquiry and requires the witness to answer within certain parameters. Examples of focused questions are (after establishing that the father entered the child’s bedroom)
When your daddy walked into the room, what did he do?
¿Qué hizo tu papá cuando entró en la recámara?
(After that the child states that she was hurt at a particular time)
On the morning you were hurt, where was your mother?
¿Dónde estaba tu mamá la mañana que te hicieron daño?
(When the child has indicated that the father touched her genitals)
Did your daddy say anything before he touched you?
¿Te dijo algo tu papá antes de tocarte?
A leading question is one that suggests the answer to the witness. It is a question that includes the desired reply within it, or it may be a statement posed to the witness under the guise of being a question. The rationale behind prohibiting leading questions is to remove the ability of the interviewer to suggest answers to the victim. Examples of leading questions are:
Your daddy touched your private parts, didn’t he?
Tu papá te tocó las partes privadas ¿verdad?
Did your mother hit you every day when she drank?
¿Te golpeaba tu mamá cuando tomaba?
Is it true that you saw your brother being hit by your mother?
¿Es verdad que viste a tu mamá pegarle a tu hermano?
The final form of questioning involves the use of coercive questions. Coercive questions promise rewards or threaten punishment for certain answers. Coercive questions should never be used when interviewing children. They are normally employed in court with a hostile witness. Examples of coercive questions are:
Are you aware that telling a lie is considered perjury and subjects you to criminal sanctions?
¿Entiendes que el mentir se considera perjurio y que si mientes te pueden sancionar criminalmente?
Use open-ended questions. Do not lead the child. Never confront the child. Instead, ask the child to explain her statement in more detail. Let the interview flow at the child’s level.
Can you tell me what happened?
¿Puedes decirme lo que pasó?
Have you ever been touched in a way that made you uncomfortable?
¿Alguna vez te han tocado de una manera que te incomodó?
What kind of touching was it?
¿Cómo te han tocado?
Who touched you?
¿Quién te tocó?
How/when did it start?
¿Cómo/cuándo comenzó?
What happened next?
¿Y luego qué pasó?
What did he touch you with?
¿Con que te tocó?
Where did he touch you?
¿Dónde te tocó?
How were you feeling?
¿Cómo te sentías?
What did he say?
¿Qué te dijo?
Who was the first person you told?
¿A quién se lo contaste primero?
Do not use accusatory questions when interviewing the child.
Why didn’t you tell someone right away?
¿Por qué no le contaste a alguien enseguida?
Why did you let this go on?
¿Por qué lo permitías?
You should have told Mommy. Tell me why you didn’t. Don’t you trust her?
Debiste habérselo contado a tu mami. Dime por qué no lo hiciste. ¿No le tienes confianza?
Clinical experience suggests focused questions are optimal. They often elicit relevant information, but they are not leading. There are three types of focused questions:
Within each type, questions focused on daily routine and care activities may produce important information. For example, questions about bathing may elicit details about the body, the “helping” parent, and the abuse setting.
Questions focused on persons will include questions about the alleged offender. It is a good strategy to begin by asking questions that will not be difficult. Thus, focused questions might first be asked about siblings, then about the mother, and finally about the alleged offender. A series of focused questions about an alleged offender might be the following:
Where does Joe (mother’s boyfriend) live?
¿Dónde vive Joe (el amigo de tu madre)?
What kind of things does he do with the family?
¿Qué cosas hace con tu familia?
Are there things he does especially with you?
¿Hay cosas que sólo hace contigo?
Are there things Joe does that you like?
¿Hay cosas que hace Joe que te gustan?
Are there any things he does that you don’t like?
¿Hay cosas que hace que no te gustan?
Does he ever do anything with you that you don’t like?
¿Te hace alguna cosa que no te gusta?
There are two types of focused questions about the possible circumstances of the sexual abuse that many interviewers use.
Are there any secrets in your family?
¿Hay secretos en tu familia?
Does anyone ever play games with you?
¿Juega alguien algún juego contigo?
These questions are commonly used because often children are told that the sexual abuse is a special secret between themselves and the offender. Alternatively, offenders may induce children’s cooperation or normalize the behavior by defining the victimization as a game.
However, there are other potentially productive focused questions related to the circumstances of the abuse. These questions are suggested by the information the interviewer gathers before seeing the child. Examples might be as follows:
What do you do when Grandpa babysits?
¿Qué cosas haces cuando te cuida tu abuelito?
How does Daddy take care of you when Mom is at work?
¿Cómo te cuida tu papi cuando mamá está en el trabajo?
What happens when you are in the bath?
¿Qué pasa cuando estás en el baño?
Questions that focus on body parts are generally used in conjunction with anatomically explicit dolls or anatomical drawings. The interviewer has the child give names for the various body parts. Then focused questions can be asked. For example, the interviewer might ask the following questions with regard to the penis:
Have you ever seen anybody else’s ‘dinky’?
¿Le has visto el pajarito a alguien?
Whose did you see?
¿A quién le has visto?
What does a ‘dinky’ do?
¿Qué hace un pajarito?
If the child responds, “It goes ‘pee’, the interviewer might ask,
Does it do anything else?
¿Qué más hace?
Comparable questions might be asked of a female victim about the vagina:
Have you ever seen anyone else’s ‘peepee’?
¿Le has visto la cosita a alguien?
Did anyone ever ask you to touch their ‘peepee’?
¿Alguna persona te pidió que le tocaras la cosita?
Did anything ever happen to your ‘peepee’ that you didn’t like?
¿Pasó algo alguna vez con tu cosita que no te gustó?
Does it ever hurt?
¿Te duele a veces?
What makes it hurt?
¿Qué le hace doler?
Does anyone ever touch it?
¿Te la toca alguna persona?
If the child responds that she touches it, the interviewer might ask:
Does anyone else touch it?
¿Te la toca alguna otra persona?
If the child names someone, the evaluator might follow with:
When does he touch it?
¿Cuándo te la toca?
In some cases or at certain points during an interview, children may not respond to focused questions, or they may reply, “I don’t know,” or “I don’t remember.” In these cases, more directive questions are necessary.
When information is not forthcoming with a focused question, the interviewer may resort to a multiple-choice question. There are several caveats for their use. First, young children may have difficulty with this format, and they will have more difficulty the more options given. Second, interviewers must be sure to include a correct response, so that the child is not given the choice between two or more incorrect responses. Thus, in a case in which the victim has affirmed that another child was there, but did not respond when asked who it was, the interviewer might ask,
Was it one of your friends or someone else?
¿Fue alguno de tus amigos u otra persona?
In case it was someone the child did not know. Third, it is advisable to limit the use of multiple-choice questions to the circumstances of the sexual abuse and, if possible, not to use them to ask about the abuse itself. For example, the interviewer might ask:
Do you remember if you were wearing your day clothes or your night clothes?
¿Te acuerdas si usabas tu ropa de día o de noche?
The interviewer should avoid asking:
Was it your dad, your stepdad, both, or someone else who hurt your butt?
¿Fue tu papa, tu padrastro, o ambos o alguien más que te lastimó la colita?
Despite the fact that research indicates that even young children provide quite accurate information in response to yes-no questions, they are generally used in investigative interviews only when more open-ended questions are not productive, but the interviewer continues to have concerns about abuse. The reason for reservations about yes-no use is concern that they may elicit “social desirability” responses, especially in young children. That is, the child may answer in the affirmative because she/he thinks a positive response is desired. Alternatively, the child may not under-stand the question and nevertheless answer yes.
Unlike focused questions, yes-no questions usually identify both the alleged offender and the sexual behavior in question. (Focused questions, except those about the circumstances of the abuse, contain one or the other.) Examples of yes-no questions are as follows:
Did your mom put her finger in your vagina?
¿Tu mami te metió el dedo en la vagina?
Was it your stepfather who made your ‘bum’ (anus) bleed?
¿Fue tu padrastro quien te hizo sangrar tu colita?
The interviewer should use as many open-ended questions as possible. That is, the interviewer endeavors to use general or focused questions and only resorts to multiple-choice or yes-no questions if the former are not eliciting any information. As more close-ended questions are employed, it is prudent to have less confidence in the replies. When information is elicited in response to, for example, a multiple-choice question, the interviewer then reverts to a more open-ended approach, perhaps asking a focused question.
The following series of questions is illustrative: The interviewer asks the child where mom was when the abuse occurred (a focused question), and the child does not reply. The interviewer then asks whether mom was there or not (a multiple-choice question). The child replies that mom was there. The interviewer then asks, “What was she doing?” (A focused question). The child responds, “She was helping my dad.” The interviewer then asks how mom helped (another focused question). The child says, “It’s hard to say.” The interviewer responds, “Well, did she do any of the touching?” (A yes-no question). The child nods. The interviewer then asks where the mother touched (a focused question).
Source:
Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.