Interviewing children about trauma: Problems with “Specific” questions

✍ Scribed by Carole Peterson; Marleen Biggs

• Book ID: 102925943
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 632 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-9867
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.2490100208

✦ Synopsis

A methodological ambiguity is described that may well adversely affect the quality of information provided by young child witnesses. Because the information children provide during interviews b sometimes the on& evidence in forensic situations, its qualify i s a serious concern. "Specijic" questions are often necessary to elicit enough information, but we describe a confusion between wh-questions (which request particular information) and yeslno questions (which merely require confirmation or disconfirmation). Research in which children are systematically interviewed about stressful medical experiences is reviewed, and we present results of a pilot investigation in which 2-to 13-year-old children were interviewed about traumatic injuries necessitating hospital treatment. Yeslno questions were problematic for preschoolers. Implications for testimony are discussed.