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

研究人员、临床医生和儿童福利专业人员都认识到，不披露和延迟报告儿童虐待是一个严重的问题，它阻碍了对虐待受害者的识别和治疗。由于这种担忧，在增加信息披露的同时保持非暗示性的采访技巧是非常必要的。目前的研究将调查这样一种被称为假定认罪（PC）的访谈技巧，它包括一个采访者告诉孩子，肇事者已经告诉了所发生的一切，并希望[孩子]说出真相。该技术遵循社会认知理论的原则，因为它直接解决了对儿童的内部和外部动机影响。通过提供保证和明确呼吁说出真相来揭露真相。两项研究发现，电脑在增加成年人的信息披露方面是有效的。犯罪。然而，当儿童先前接触到有关不法行为指控的错误信息时，PC是否会增加虚假报告尚未经过测试。这样做至关重要，因为在实际的虐待调查中，儿童经常经历与其他人（例如照顾者）的对话，这可能使他们接触到有关不正确的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环节，在此期间会发生或不会发生违规行为（打破玩具）。随后，孩子们将被父母询问，父母是否被告知在游戏中发生了不好的事情。最后，孩子们将经历一个调查性访谈，在访谈中，采访者将使用PC或控制指令。实验方法将允许对PC对真实和虚假披露的影响进行清晰的测试，以及暴露于错误信息如何增强其功效。研究结果有可能提高我们对某些专门设计用于从不情愿的儿童中引出信息的调查性访谈技术如何在该领域发挥作用的认识。此外，该研究将为本科生介绍进行科学研究的过程提供机会。

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.