NCJ Number
208319
Journal
Policing & Society Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2004 Pages: 269-278
Date Published
September 2004
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study used a qualitative method to examine the experiences of 20 police officers in interviewing children with intellectual disabilities.
Abstract
The interviews revealed three main themes that posed challenges to the officers when interviewing children with intellectual disabilities i.e., police organizational culture, the officers' perceptions of these children, and prior information. The officers noted a low priority within the organization for the investigation of child abuse cases and committing to cases that involved children with intellectual disabilities. Further, there was inadequate support for general training in interviewing skills. Although officers considered prior information on the child to be interviewed as an important aspect of preparation, they also indicated that such information might at times prejudice the interview and cause them to ignore the pursuit of new information being provided by the child in the course of the interview. Certain characteristics of children with intellectual deficiencies were mentioned as being factors in making such interviews different from those with mainstream children. These included communication problems, slowness in recalling events, and being more easily distracted from a topic. The paper advises that more empirical research is required to determine the effectiveness of various types of questions. Further, government agencies and professional groups must invest in translating research findings into practical guidelines for interviewing children with intellectual disabilities, and training must focus on various interviewing strategies and perceptions required for children with intellectual disabilities. 1 table and 28 references