A nationwide survey of child interviewing practices in Canada

The goal of the present study was to create professional awareness about the degree of consensus and consistency in the interview techniques that ultimately influence child victims’ experiences and progression through the legal system in Canada. We surveyed 200 professionals who interview children in Canada about the guidelines and techniques they use, their perceptions of their training and interviewing arrangements, and the needs and challenges they face in daily practice. Results revealed a wide variety of practices in use across the country, and differences in length of training and who provided it. Police and child protection workers tended to differ on their satisfaction with interviewing arrangements. Commonalities were observed across organizations and locales in that most interviewers could readily identify challenges in talking to vulnerable witnesses and desires for additional training (e.g., greater topic breadth and regular follow-ups). Responses revealed awareness of contemporary research, as well as pockets of more traditional thinking, about child witness capabilities and interviewing techniques. Although variety in interviewing guidelines and training providers is not necessarily problematic, the development of a single nationwide policy on the core components of vulnerable witness interviewing, to which training programs must adhere, could have particular value.