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A qualitative examination of police officers' questioning of children about repeated events
journal contribution
posted on 2009-02-01, 00:00 authored by Belinda GuadagnoBelinda Guadagno, Martine PowellFor an offender to be convicted in relation to repeated child abuse, most jurisdictions require that each separate act be identified with reasonable precision with reference to time, place, or some other unique contextual detail (S v. R, 1989). The current study provided a qualitative examination of the way in which police officers assist children to identify and distinguish between occurrences of a repeated event. Field, as well as mock interviews (about an innocuous staged event) were examined, with child witnesses' ages ranging from 3 to 16 years. Overall, several problems in the questioning were highlighted. These included: over-reliance on specific questions, use of 'labels' for occurrences without inquiring as to whether these were unique, and frequent shifting of the focus between occurrences. The implications of these findings are discussed.
History
Journal
Police Practice and Research: an international journalVolume
10Issue
1Pagination
61 - 73Publisher
RoutledgeLocation
Abingdon, EnglandPublisher DOI
ISSN
1561-4263eISSN
1477-271XLanguage
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2009, Taylor & FrancisUsage metrics
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