The Presence of a Monitor in Forensic Interviews with Child Witnesses

Abstract

In New Zealand, forensic interviews with children are carried out by an interviewer with specialist training and must be monitored by a police officer or a child, youth and family professional. As well as managing the recording equipment, the primary role of a monitor is to ensure that all issues are covered by the interviewer during the forensic interview. Research on children’s suggestibility leads us to question whether the act of monitoring forensic interviews may impede children’s ability to provide accurate reports. The aim of the present study was to examine whether the presence of a monitor in simulated child forensic interviews has an effect on children’s memory reports. Children aged between 5 and 6 years (n = 60) took part in a standardised event where they received a health check by a nurse, before being interviewed under conditions which mimic forensic interviews. For some children, the presence of the monitor during the interview was designed to be obtrusive; while for other children, the presence of the monitor was designed to be unobtrusive. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that the presence of a monitor, obtrusive or unobtrusive, did not influence the accuracy of information that children provided, nor children’s willingness to disclose a parental transgression. Our findings suggest that having a monitor present for forensic interviews with children does not impede children’s eyewitness testimony.