Abstract:
Concerns regarding repeat interviews with child witnesses include greater use of suggestive
questions in later interviews due to bias, and that children may appear inconsistent and,
therefore, be judged as less reliable in court. UK transcripts of first and second interviews
with 21 child victims/witnesses (conducted by qualified interviewers) were coded for
question types and child responses. Interviewers were consistent in their proportional use of
question types across interviews. Furthermore, children were as informative in second
interviews as in first, mostly providing new details consistent with their prior recall. Despite
the apparent lack of training in conducting repeated interviews, no negative effects were
found; second interviews appeared to be conducted as well as initial interviews and they
provided new details without many contradictions. It is suggested that when a child’s
testimony is paramount for an investigation, a well-conducted supplementary interview may
be an effective way of gaining further investigative leads. (Author Abstract)