Today's guest author is Daniel Pollack, professor, Yeshiva University, School of Social Work, New York City, and a frequent expert witness in child abuse and foster care abuse cases.
From a family lawyer's point of view, the adherence to standards and protocol when a child is being interviewed during allegations of child sexual abuse can spell the difference between whether a conclusion drawn by the interviewer can be said to be valid or invalid. In order to be certain that the protocol is followed, what could be better (especially since no lawyer and no parent may be present during the interview) than having a videotape that can later be viewed to document the procedure followed?
I am not alone in my opinion that “[a]t the best child advocacy centers, interview protocols are followed, the interviews are videotaped, and both social services and the police observe the interviews in order to minimize the need for multiple interviews. Because the interviews are recorded, the exact words used by the interviewer and by the child can be closely scrutinized for evidence of suggestion, confabulation, or misinterpretation.” Lyon, T. & Dente, J. (2012). Child witnesses and the Confrontation Clause. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.
Access Professor Pollack's article "Videotaping Child Sexual Abuse Investigation Interviews," recently published in Policy & Practice 73(1), 36-37 here. Download Pollack Videotaping child sexual abuse investigation interview
Michigan's Forensic Interviewing Protocol Manual can be accessed here: Download Forensic Interviewing Protocol - Michigan
ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT RESOURCES ON THIS BLOG FOR PARENTS AND LAWYERS:
The Mother Who Cried Wolf | Unsubstantiated Allegations of Abuse (2012 Court of Appeal decision and Commentary)
Unsubstantiated CPS Reports of Abuse Result in Loss of Custody (2014 Court of Appeal decision and Commentary)
Child sexual abuse | High quality tools for use in detection & proof
