NCJ Number
147900
Date Published
1993
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video previews three videos that instruct viewers in investigative interviewing techniques in child sexual abuse cases.
Abstract
One of the videos portrays and explains the format and techniques for interviewing child victims of sexual abuse. A second video profiles an interview of the spouse of a man suspected of incest. The third video dramatizes techniques for interviewing a parent suspected of incest. This preview tape presents segments of each of these three types of interviews, interspersed with written comments on the uses and benefits of the videos and explanations of the interview techniques presented. Each tape is introduced by actor Edward James Olmos. In this preview tape, he provides an overview of the prevalence and seriousness of child sexual abuse. The dramatization of the interview with the alleged child victim of sexual abuse portrays the types of questions designed to build rapport with the child and the child's body language that shows anxiety and relaxation. Techniques are also shown for getting the child to describe the sexual molestation. The preview of the interview with the spouse of a man suspected of sexually abusing his daughter shows how the wife moves from defensiveness to acceptance as more and more facts point to the truth of the victim's allegations. The interviewers show the wife the child's drawings that depict the incest and also discuss other information the child has provided. The interview with the suspected perpetrator of the incest presents the child's allegations and any evidence that tends to support the allegations. The suspect is not under arrest, and there is no pressure to obtain a confession from him.