Conducting Interviews with Child Victims of Abuse and Witnesses of Crime: A Practical Guide

This book is a practical and thoughtful guide for the forensic interview of children, presenting a synthesis of the empirical and theoretical knowledge necessary to understand the account of child victims of abuse or witnesses of crime.

It is a complex task to interview children who are suspected of being abused in order to gather their stories, requiring the mastery of many skills and knowledge. This book is a practical one in that constant links are made between the results of the research and their relevance for the interventions made when interviewing child victims of abuse or witnesses of crime and in understanding their accounts. This book also presents in a detailed and concrete way the revised version of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD-R) Protocol, a forensic structured interview guide empirically supported by numerous studies carried out in different countries. The step-by-step explanations are illustrated with a verbatim interview with a child, as well as other tools to help the interviewer to prepare and handle an efficient and supportive interview.

Conducting Interviews with Child Victims of Abuse and Witnesses of Crime is essential reading for stakeholders in the justice, social and health systems as well as anyone likely to receive allegations from children such as educators or daycare staff. Although the NICHD-R Protocol is intended for forensic interviewers, the science behind its development and application is relevant to all professionals working with children.

Mireille Cyr is a licensed psychologist and a professor in the Department of Psychology at the Université de Montréal. Among other research in child sexual abuse, she has conducted studies on the French version of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Protocol, that is now taught in Québec, Canada and in many French-speaking countries in Europe. She is the scientific director of CRIPCAS, a research center dedicated to sexual abuses and marital problems and co-holders of Marie-Vincent Foundation Chair on Sexual Abuse Against Children. In the last 20 years, she has trained police officers and other psychosocial and judicial professionals, mostly in Europe and Canada. She is the author of numerous books, chapters, and articles and the impact of her work has been recognized by numerous awards. She is a member of the Royal Society of Canada.