Doctoral Dissertation Research: Balancing Costs and Benefits of a New Method of Eliciting Children's Disclosures

博士论文研究：平衡儿童披露新方法的成本和收益

• 批准号: 1155816
• 负责人: Jodi Quas
• 金额: $ 1.21万
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-03-01 至 2013-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1155816&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Balancing; Costs

Researchers, clinicians, and child welfare professionals alike recognize that nondisclosure and delayed reporting of child maltreatment is a significant concern that prevents the identification and treatment of abuse victims. Because of this concern, interviewing techniques effective in increasing disclosures while remaining non-suggestive are sorely needed. The current study will investigate such an interviewing technique termed the putative confession (PC), which involves an interviewer telling children that the perpetrator has already told everything that happened and wants [the child] to tell the truth. The technique follows from precepts of Social Cognitive Theory in that it directly addresses internal and external motivational influences on children?s disclosures by both providing reassurance and making an explicit appeal to tell the truth. Two studies have found that PC is effective in increasing disclosures of adults? transgressions. However, whether PC may augment false reports when children have been previously exposed to misinformation regarding allegations of wrongdoing has not been tested. It is critical to do so because in actual maltreatment investigations children often experience conversations with others (e.g. caregivers) that may expose them to misinformation about incorrect abuse allegations. In the current study, children will experience a laboratory play session during which a transgression (toys breaking) will or will not occur. Subsequently, children will be questioned by a parent, who has or has not been given suggestive information that something bad happened during play. Finally, children will experience an investigative interview in which the interviewer will employ either the PC or control instructions. The experimental methodology will allow a clear test of the impact of PC on true and false disclosures, and of how exposure to misinformation may augment its efficacy.Results have the potential to advance our knowledge regarding how certain investigative interview technique specifically designed to elicit disclosures from reluctant children may operate in the field. Additionally, the research will provide opportunities for introducing undergraduates to the process of conducting scientific research.

研究人员，临床医生和儿童福利专业人员都认识到，不披露和延迟报告虐待儿童是一个重大问题，防止虐待受害者的识别和治疗。由于这一关切，迫切需要有效增加披露而又保持非暗示性的访谈技术。目前的研究将调查这样一种被称为推定供词（PC）的采访技术，即采访者告诉孩子，肇事者已经告诉了发生的一切，并希望[孩子]说出真相。该技术遵循社会认知理论的戒律，因为它直接解决内部和外部的动机对儿童的影响？通过提供保证和明确呼吁说出真相，美国政府的披露。两项研究发现，PC是有效的，在增加披露的成年人？违法行为然而，当儿童先前接触到有关不当行为指控的错误信息时，PC是否可能增加虚假报告尚未得到测试。这样做至关重要，因为在实际的虐待调查中，儿童经常与其他人（如照顾者）交谈，这可能使他们接触到关于不正确虐待指控的错误信息。在目前的研究中，孩子们将经历一个实验室游戏会议期间，一个越轨行为（玩具打破）将或不会发生。随后，孩子们将被父母询问，他们是否得到了暗示性的信息，即在玩耍过程中发生了不好的事情。最后，儿童将经历一次调查性面谈，面谈者将使用PC或控制指令。实验方法将允许一个明确的测试的影响PC上的真实和虚假的披露，以及如何暴露于错误的信息可能会增加其efficiency.Results有可能推进我们的知识，关于如何特定的调查性访谈技术，专门设计，以引起披露不情愿的儿童可能会在外地运作。此外，这项研究将为本科生介绍进行科学研究的过程提供机会。