Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse: A Guide to Evidence-Based Practice PDF
Preview Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse: A Guide to Evidence-Based Practice
William T. O'Donohue · Matthew Fanetti Editors Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse A Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse William T. O’Donohue (cid:129) Matthew Fanetti Editors Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse A Guide to Evidence-Based Practice Editors William T. O’Donohue Matthew Fanetti Department of Psychology Department of Psychology University of Nevada Missouri State University Reno, NV , USA Springfi eld , MO, USA ISBN 978-3-319-21096-4 ISBN 978-3-319-21097-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-21097-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015951953 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 T his work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. T he use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. T he publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper S pringer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface D uring the decades of the 1980s and 1990s, a signifi cant problem arose. General concern regarding child sexual abuse dramatically increased because of aggressive media coverage of cases of alleged abuse at several child daycare centers potentially involving hundreds of children (e.g., McMartin, Fells Acres, and Kelly Michaels). Fears of the widespread abuse of children seemed to overpower the limited scope of professional’s abilities to accurately understand children’s ability to make accurate report about such matters. The public and many professionals become polarized. The arguments of one side took positions such as “children never lie about sexual abuse,” or, on the other hand, “children are just too unreliable to serve as accurate witnesses.” Of course, both of these positions are overly simplistic, but a lack of relevant research—or a lack of research integration—had failed to resolve these questions in the minds of the public or in the minds of many professionals. B ut fortunately this is a problem where the need for scientifi c knowledge seems to have been at least partly answered. Well-known researchers such as Professors Elizabeth Loftus, Steven Ceci, Gail Goodman, Maggie Bruck, David Finkelhor, and James Wood as well as others drove a push for knowledge so strongly that the fi eld has begun to coalesce around principles of memory, suggestibility, and sound forensic interviewing practices that answer the question, “How did these reports of abuse happen?” If there is a set of problems that the fi eld of psychology can be credited with improving, both dramatically and quickly, then this must be foremost among them. As the fi eld fi gures out how to apply relevant scientifi c principles to very diffi cult assessment problems like child sexual abuse, specifi c recommendations emerge as “best-practices” or “guidelines” to reduce errors and mistakes. This does not mean that the assessment of sexual abuse will no longer improve or develop. Quite the contrary: The scientifi c push to understand forensic interviewing and event memory will likely encourage ever more study and refi nement. But the fi eld has come a long way from the interviewing practices used in the McMartin case, for example. v vi Preface The purpose of this book is to gather some of the most notable results in the scientifi c pursuit of knowledge related to child sexual abuse assessment, and to allow the working professional to better understand the problems, demands, and practices that will comprise an effective method of assessing these children. We hope that this encourages the use of good practices which can only strengthen the pursuit of justice for all concerned. Acknowledgements W e would like to thank our editor Janice Stern for all her expertise, good will, and support. I would also like to thank my family, Jane, Katie, and Anna for all the ways they make my life wonderful. —Bill I want to thank my children, Alex and Lauren, for making me so proud and showing me what life is supposed to be about. I enjoy watching you grow and look forward to seeing you fi nd ever more love and happiness in your lives. I would also like to thank my wife, Svetla, for her love and devotion through the years. Without you, I am lost. —Matthew vii Contents 1 History of Forensic Interviewing ........................................................... 1 Cara Laney and Elizabeth F. Loftus 2 The Purpose of the Forensic Interview: A Lawyer’s Perspective ....... 19 Kresta Daly 3 Working with the Multidisciplinary Team ........................................... 41 Kristen J. MacLeod 4 Forensic Interviewing and Charging: A Prosecutor’s Perspective ...... 57 Mark Krueger 5 Childhood Memory: An Update from the Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective ........................................................................ 81 Dwight J. Peterson , Kevin T. Jones , Jaclyn A. Stephens , Filiz Gözenman , and Marian E. Berryhill 6 The Process of Disclosure for Child Victims ........................................ 107 Rachel Fondren Happel 7 Disclosure Failures: Statistics, Characteristics, and Strategies to Address Them ............................................................ 123 Kathleen C oulborn Faller 8 Understanding Suggestibility ................................................................. 141 Stephen Ceci , Amelia Hritz , and Caisa Royer 9 Forensic Interviewing for Child Sexual Abuse: Why Psychometrics Matters .................................................................. 155 Scott O. Lilienfeld 10 Basic Principles of Interviewing the Child Eyewitness........................ 179 Jonni L. Johnson , Kelly McWilliams , Gail S. Goodman , Alexandra E. Shelley , and Brianna Piper ix
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