White paper on forensic child interviewing: research-based recommendations by the European Association of Psychology and Law

Bridging behavioral science and public policy in Estonia.

“…However, the task of interviewing children is fraught with challenges due to children’s suggestibility (Ceci & Bruck, 1993), making their responses susceptible to the questioning techniques used (Krähenbühl & Blades, 2006; Lamb et al, 1998). Decades of memory research suggest that to obtain truthful and comprehensive information from child witnesses, interviewers should encourage children to recall as much information as possible and pose nonleading, open-ended questions (see Korkman et al, 2024; Lavoie et al, 2021; Lyon, 2014). However, this knowledge is not consistently applied in practice, even among officers aware of these principles in theory (Cederborg et al, 2000; Yii et al, 2014), as was also the case in Estonia (Kask, 2009).…”

“…Fortunately, memory science provides insights to improve child investigative interviewing. Research-based recommendations for eliciting truthful information from children include trained interviewers using age-appropriate language, building good rapport, allowing free recall in the child’s own words, followed by open questions that encourage elaboration (see Korkman et al, 2024). Unfortunately, scientific progress can remain divorced from practice.…”

Editorial: Technological solutions helping to train specialists' interviewing skills of possible victims and witnesses

“…Newly adopted The Mendez Principles (Association for the Prevention of Torture, 2022 ) form a framework how investigative interviews should be conducted worldwide. Just recently a white paper with recommendations based on the research regarding forensic child interviewing was published by the European Association of Psychology and Law (Korkman et al, 2023 ). The white paper clearly points out that interviews in cases of suspected child abuse should be conducted according to evidence-based interview protocols such as the NICHD interview protocol (Orbach et al, 2000 ).…”

“…The white paper clearly points out that interviews in cases of suspected child abuse should be conducted according to evidence-based interview protocols such as the NICHD interview protocol (Orbach et al, 2000 ). In addition, it is recommended that “the interviewers should receive specialized training, including continuous assessment and feedback on their interviewing style for quality assurance” (Korkman et al, 2023 ).…”