Interview A Highly Abused Child Essay

Words: 545
Pages: 3

2. If I were to interview a severely abused child, there would need to be extreme precautions taken in order to make sure the child felt safe and comfortable. In any interview with a child it is important to put them in a setting where they feel normal. For example, is a child is really interested in games or drawing, that can help them express their feelings without thinking about it because they are distracted. (). When dealing with victims of abuse it can be benefiting to create a system with four main components. For example, the first factors is rapport building. This involves asking simple positive, open ended questions to the child to potential ease some anxiety. (). The second step in competency testing which involves continuing the …show more content…
(). The fourth and final step for this technique is closing the interview. With children it is important to close an interview correctly making sure that they are still comfortable. (). Additionally, there needs to be protocols in place to make sure it is in the best interest in for the child’s sake. For example, active listening, non leading questions, appropriately pacing the interview, and positive attitude can all play effective roles in an interview. (). Therefore, the themes that would important to cover first would be the setting the abuse happened it, is the abuse still occurring, and if they feel safe when they are by themselves. These questions can be looked at as vague when comparing it to a normal interview but it is important to understand that a child of abuse is very vulnerable and one does not want to scare the child into answering questions. These basic questions can answer whether the child is in immediate danger which is the most important factor to address initially. The other questions can come as time goes on and there is a bond between the interviewer and the