'Unreal Interviewing: Virtual Forensic Interviewing

1
'Unreal Interviewing Virtual Forensic
Interviewing

• Martine Powell
• Carolyn Hughes-Scholes Sarah Agnew
• Jennifer Ford Stephen Seagrave
• Peter Lane David OBrien

2
Q. What is a forensic interview?

• An interview where the purpose is to elicit
  accurate, detailed and reliable information from
  an interviewee about an event or situation.

3
Q. Skills required of forensic inters?

• Establish rapport with child
• Provide clear groundrules
• Adopt an open-minded approach
• Adhere to certain procedural and/or legislative
  requirements
• Use open-ended questions

4
Q. Why the need for on-line training in forensic
interviewing of children?

• A. Training currently isnt working.

5
Q. What specific skills need to be mastered to
maintain open-ended questions?

• Define OQs and establish why impt
• Recognise various types of OQs
• Choose the most effective OQ at various stages of
  an interview
• Vocalise the right questions
• Sustain regular (effective) practice
• Engage in critical evaluation (objective)
• Recognise and overcome organisational barriers to
  change

6
Q. Activities in on-line course

• Readings
• Film
• Rote learning tasks
• Mock interviews with adult playing role of child
• Computer simulated interviewing
• Quizzes
• Audio files/transcripts
• Workshop

7
Q. Major challenges to training?

• Pre-training baselines are poor (cultural,
  job-related)
• Knowledge does not equate good practice
• Transfer of training is poor unless mock
  interview exercises provide the stimuli that
  would normally provoke an inappropriate
  (specific) question
• Little incentive (within organisations) for
  practising skills
• Financial constraints, high workloads and staff
  turnover
• Trainees are resistant to believing in the
  benefits of persisting with open-ended questions.
  

8
Q. Major challenges to training?

• Legislative constraints on access to field
  interviews for evaluation purposes
• Lack of empirical research to guide the
  development of training programs

9
Q. Whats the precise contribution of the
simulated (virtual) interview over and above
equivalent pencil and paper task?

• Dont know.

10
Depends on..

• The precise contribution of (a) Beliefs (b)
  Knowledge (c) Habit (doing)
• The degree to which we have captured the critical
  elements of the interview environment
• Whether concepts are better encoded/stored/retriev
  ed in virtual environment?