A Guide to Interviewing Children

Essential Skills for Counsellors, Police Lawyers and Social Workers

Claire Wilson, Martine Powell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• Topic: Psychology
• eBook ISBN:
  9781135133979
• Subtopic: Family Law
• Index: Psychology

Children may be witnesses to crimes or accidents, or suspected victims of abuse or neglect, or they may be involved in some form of legal action such as custody cases. In these situations, they may need to be interviewed formally, and if this is not done properly, incorrect or inadequate information may be recorded or the child's position may not be correctly represented later in court. In cases of child abuse, the child may not be the only witness, and the quality of their verbal evidence is critical.
A Guide to Interviewing Children is a practical guide the evidential interviewing techniques needed by a range of professionals: social workers, forensic psychologists, lawyers, police and teachers. It outlines basic techniques, explains how to deal with children of different ages (from pre-school to fifteen years), how to deal with parents, the particular issues of sexual abuse, handling multiple interviews of one child and so on. It is written for an international readership, and will be more practical and cover a broader range of contexts than the other titles currently available.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Understanding a child’s mind
• 2. Preparation and planning of the interview
• 3. Essential elements of the interview
• 4. Tailoring the interview to the child’s needs
• 5. Evaluating the process and outcome of an interview
• Appendix 1: Suggested solutions to boxes
• Appendix 2: References for interviewing different cultural groups
• Appendix 3: Self-assessment form
• Bibliography
• Index