Understanding child and adolescent development are of utmost importance when conducting forensic interviews. Development impacts a child/adolescent’s ability to participate in the forensic interview in every way. Interviewers who understand child development are better able to make appropriate developmental accommodations for children during the forensic interview. Understanding child development helps interviewers recognize the child’s developmental presentation and how development impacts both abilities and limitations during the forensic interview. This presentation will discuss the characteristics of children in the following areas of development; language, cognition, and social/emotional development. Information will be presented that will help child forensic interviewers understand how these areas of development impact a child’s ability to participate in and provide information during a forensic interview.
Learning Objectives:
Gain an understanding of developmental factors that are relevant to forensic interviewing.
Provide information on various stages and domains of “normal” development. Differentiate between Chronological and Developmental age as it relates to child forensic interviews.
Presentation of the child/adolescent at various stages of development will be discussed, along with considerations that forensic interviewers can make during the forensic interview to accommodate the child's development
Techniques that can be utilized during the forensic interview will be incorporated for each age group and discussed during the presentation.
This is a 2-part session: The first session will cover the learning objectives for ages 2-10 years of age. The second session will cover the learning objectives for ages 11-18.
