Children in Court Taking Testimony from Children Tennessee

Children in Court: Taking Testimony from Children Tennessee Joint Task Force on Children’s Justice/ Child Sexual Abuse Presented by Anne Fisher

Agenda n Developmental Expectations – n What is the best case scenario? Qualifying Children to Take the Oath n A Structured Conversation with a Child n Building Rapport n Getting to the Topic of Concern n Problem Areas in Questioning n n Understanding Children’s Language

Developmental Expectations

Generally Speaking … n Typically-developed children under 12 n Preschoolers, Adolescents, Children with Special Needs are considered special populations Cultural Differences n Placement/moves in foster care regression n Sustained abuse/neglect development 1 -1 ½ years below average n

Guidelines for Age-Appropriate Questions Who Age 3 Age 4 Ages 5 -6 Ages 7 -8 Ages 9 -10 Ages 11 -12 What Where When How # of times Circumstance

Notes about Developmental Guidelines Represent average, general abilities n Stress affects children’s cognitive/ linguistic performance n Trauma interferes with memory n Reluctance to discuss abuse is common n New research about time: 10 -12 important developmentally n

Qualifying Children to Take the Oath

Qualifying Children to Take the Oath Despite seriously delayed vocabulary skills, most maltreated children by 5 have a basic understanding of the meaning and morality of lying … depending on how that is assessed n Often, children who can identify truths/lies cannot provide minimally sufficient definitions of “truth”/“lies” n Young children may be reluctant to discuss lying n Lyon & Saywitz, 1999, “Young Maltreated Children’s Competence to Take the Oath, ” Applied Developmental Science, 3, 1, 16 -27

Qualifying: Two Tasks Truth vs. Lie Evaluate whether child understands that “truth” and “lie” refer to statements that correspond to reality and statements that fail to correspond to reality n Morality Determines whether a child understands the consequences of telling a lie n

Instructions n n n n Give the child the 4 truth vs. lie tasks Emphasize words in capital letters When child answers, say “okay” in a friendly manner Always start with the child on left side of the picture Give the child 4 morality tasks Ask the child to promise to tell the truth “I talk with lots of children. It’s always important that they tell me the truth. So, before we begin, I want to make sure that you understand how important it is to tell the truth. ”

Truth vs. Lie Task n n n Changes from ♀ to ♂ Changes question from “truth” to “lie” Changes which side is correct answer

Morality Task “Here’s a lady who comes to visit these girls at home. ” “Here’s a doctor. She wants to know what happened to these boys. ”

Structured Conversation with a Child

Setting n When possible – reduce the power differential n In chambers? n Comfortable/appropriately-sized furniture n Let the child choose seat Lose the robe? n Sit at the same level as the child n Have child-friendly area/ furnishings, décor/materials n

Building Rapport n Purposes Put child at ease n Generate flow of conversation n Help child understand your expectations n Help you understand child’s conversational abilities in this setting n n In forensic interview … 7 -9 minutes (average)

Building Rapport: Looking for the “Spark” n n Introduce yourself as simply as you can Ask open-ended questions n n I’d like to get to know you; tell me about yourself. What do you like to do? Tell me about school. For very small children, small subjects work n n n Did you have breakfast? Tell me about it Tell me everything you did today before you got here. Tell me all about your room/favorite toy/pet

Useful Statements in Child Interviews “Tell me everything you remember …” n “I wasn’t there, so I need you to tell me what happened. ” n n Kids think that if they told one adult, other adults know “Even if you think I know, tell me anyway. ” n “Even if you think it doesn’t matter …” n

Useful Statements in Child Interviews n “It’s okay to tell me that you don’t know. ” n n “It’s okay to tell me that you don’t understand. ” n n n One of the first conversational rules that children learn: you take turns in conversation, and every question has an answer Strategy for understanding unknown words: look for something familiar from experience/education Scarpology “It’s okay to correct me if I make a mistake. ”

Shifting to Topic of Concern n Use the “hourglass” method n n Focus on concrete, observable elements and details n n Open-ended questions/prompts: “Tell me about your Mom. ” When the narrative is exhausted focused questions: “What happens when Mom gets mad? ” Return to open-ended prompts: “Tell me all about that. ” Using marijuana Ensure that you share vocabulary n “Sex”? What happened to her/his body?

Talking about the Issue (s) n Use reflective statements to “check-in” n n Ask 1 question at a time, allow time to formulate an answer n n Count to 8 -10 before rephrasing Signal when you are shifting to a different topic or time n n Establish at beginning that they should correct you if you make a mistake Frame the question first (“I’d like to ask you about …”) Use the child’s name often

Problem Areas in Questioning Estimates of measurement – size, speed, distance, height, weight, length – before 10 n Estimates of time n Negative stereotypes n Never ask the child to guess n Repeated Questions n Presumptive Questions n Leading/Misleading Questions n

Understanding Children’s Language

Requirements for Answering Questions n n Must be able to remember the question from beginning to end Must be able to pay attention to the question Can’t give an accurate answer if you don’t understand the question Response to a question is not necessarily an answer – Follow up!

Kids and Language n n n Adults and children do not speak the same language Kids are egocentric restricted ability to reason & compare Language and cognition develop at different rates n n Words come first, meaning comes later. Children have concrete interpretation of language based on sound, experience create language based on analogy to familiar words n e. g. , a baby caterpillar is a “kittenpillar”

Young Children and Language n Struggle with higher order or umbrella words n “Clothes” may not include pajamas, bathing suits Tend to believe that adults know what they know n Believe adults are right, sincere, wouldn’t trick them n Cannot make “source attribution” n n Focus on sensory information

Using Clear Language n Add an open-ended option to forced-choice questions n n Do not assume that a child knows the meaning of a word he/she uses OR that you mean the same thing n n n “Was it at your Mom’s house, your Dad’s house, or somewhere else? ” “He tickled me. ” Use names of places (geographic or anatomical) – “the house on Main Street, ” “your peter” – instead of vague referents – “over there, ” “down there” Avoid relationship words n Use names instead of (or paired with) “your stepfather, ” “your foster mother, ” or “your real mom”

Using Clear Language n n n Avoid quantifiers like “a couple, ” “several, ” “most” Avoid asking “why” (because it can sound accusatory) Avoid beginning questions with “Do you remember …” or “Can you…” “Before” and “After” are slippery before age 7/8 Negation takes longer to process. n Use of simple negatives (not/no) in a question appears to increase the chance of an incorrect answer by AT LEAST 50% in children age 4 -10 (Graffam-Walker)

“Some” Vs. “Any” “I ate ice cream. ” n “I didn’t eat ice cream. ” n Did he say something? Did he say anything? (Is this the same question? ) n “Some” patterns with neutral or positive response, “Any” patterns very strongly with negative – 2 x more likely to get negative response with “any” than “some. ” n

Avoiding Problems w/ Pronouns, Pointing Words n n When YOU speak n Be specific n Put nouns back in n Indexicals (words that point – personal pronouns, here/there, this/that, come/go, bring/take) n Incorporate phrases from earlier questions and/or statements When the CHILD speaks n Don’t take meaning of pronouns for granted n Be alert if responses seem inconsistent, confused

References n n Graffam Walker, 1999, Handbook on Questioning Children: A Linguistic Perspective (ABA Center for Children and the Law). Lyon & Saywitz, 1999, “Young Maltreated Children’s Competence to Take the Oath, ” Applied Developmental Science, 3, 1, 16 -27 Friedman & Lyon, 2005, “Development of Temporal. Reconstructive Abilities, ” Child Development, 76, 6 Orbach & Lamb, 2007, “Young Children’s References to Temporal Attributes of Allegedly Experienced Events in the Course of Forensic Interviews, ” Child Development, 78, 4

Contact Information Anne Fisher Forensic Interviewer Montgomery County Child Advocacy Center 227 A Dunbar Cave Road Clarksville, TN 37043 acfmccac@charterinternet. com (931) 553 -5140