Biomedical subjects

Y Orbach

Publications and source records attributed to Y Orbach.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Assessing the value of structured protocols for forensic interviews of alleged child abuse victims.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a structured interview protocol (NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol) operationalizing universally recommended guidelines for forensic interviews. METHOD: The NICHD Investigative Protocol was designed to maximize the amount of information obtained using recall memory probes, which are likely to elicit more accurate information than recognition memory probes. Forensic investigators were trained to use the NICHD protocol while conducting feedback-monitored simulation interviews. The utility of the protocol was then evaluated by comparing 55 protocol interviews with 50 prior interviews by the same investigators, matched with respect to characteristics likely to affect the richness of the children's accounts. The comparison was based on an analysis of the investigators' utterance types, distribution, and timing, as well as quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the information produced. RESULTS: As predicted, protocol interviews contained more open-ended prompts overall as well as before the first option-posing utterance than non-protocol interviews did. More details were obtained using open-ended invitations and fewer were obtained using focused questions in protocol interviews than in non-protocol interviews, although the total number of details elicited did not differ significantly. In both conditions, older children provided more details than younger children did. CONCLUSION: The findings confirmed that implementation of professionally recommended practices affected the behavior of interviewers in both the pre-substantive and substantive phases of their interviews and enhanced the quality (i.e., likely accuracy) of information elicited from alleged victims.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Assessing the accuracy of a child's account of sexual abuse: a case study.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the case study reported in this paper was to examine the accuracy of one child's account of a sexually abusive incident. The availability of an audio recording of the last in a series of abusive incidents enabled us to assess accuracy in greater detail than has hitherto been possible in forensic contexts. METHODS: Information given by the victim during an investigative interview was compared with an audio-taped record of the incident. Content analyses of the interview involved quantitative and qualitative analyses of the victim's account, and a qualitative analysis of the eliciting utterances. A CBCA analysis was performed on the victim's account to assess its purported credibility. RESULTS: Over 50% of the informative details reported by the victim were corroborated by the audio-recorded account (of which 98% were central, i.e., allegation related and 64% were confirmed by more than one source (audio-recording, suspect, witness). A total of 10 CBCA criteria were present in the victim's free-narrative account of the last abusive incident. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm that children can indeed provide remarkably detailed and accurate accounts of their experiences.

Child↗

PubMed1997

Criterion-based content analysis: a field validation study.

Transcripts of forensic interviews with 98 alleged victims of child sexual abuse were scored for the presence or absence of certain criteria believed to be more characteristic of accounts concerning experienced than nonexperienced events. Other information regarding the events was independently evaluated by individuals unfamiliar with the children's accounts. As predicted, more of the CBCA criteria were present in accounts independently rated as Likely or Very Likely to have occurred (M = 6.74) than in accounts of events deemed Unlikely or Very Unlikely to have occurred (M = 4.85). In addition, several of the criteria were helpful in distinguishing between plausible and implausible accounts. The group differences were not as dramatic as those reported in earlier studies, however, and the results suggest caution regarding forensic application of the CBCA system.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Effects of introductory style on children's abilities to describe experiences of sexual abuse.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to evaluate the relative effectiveness of two rapport-building techniques for eliciting information from children who made allegations of sexual abuse. METHOD: Fourteen interviewers conducted 51 investigations of child sexual abuse with children ranging from 4.5 to 12.9 years of age. In 25 of the investigations, interviewers used a script including many open-ended utterances to establish rapport, whereas in 26 of the investigations the same interviewers used a rapport-building script involving many direct questions. Both rapport-building scripts took about 7 minutes to complete. All children were asked the same open-ended question to initiate the substantive phase of the interview. RESULTS: Children who had been trained in the open-ended condition provided 2 1/2 times as many details and words in response to the first substantive utterance as did children in the direct introduction condition. Children in the open-ended condition continued to respond more informatively to open-ended utterances in the later (unscripted) portion of the interview. Two-thirds of the children mentioned the core details of the incident in their responses to the first substantive utterance and a further 20% mentioned core details more vaguely. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that children respond more informatively to an open-ended invitation when they have previously been trained to answer such questions rather than more focused questions. These results demonstrate the sensitivity of children to the goals and expectations of forensic interviewers. Structured interview protocols also increase the amount of information provided by young interviewees.

Child↗