Child Sexual Abuse Interview : Questions

by Child Welfare Information Gateway

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Focused Questions

Clinical experience suggests focused questions are optimal. They often elicit relevant information, but they are not leading. There are three types of focused questions:

• questions focused on people,
• questions focused on the circumstances of the abuse, and
• questions focused on body parts.

Within each type, questions focused on daily routine and care activities may produce important information. For example, questions about bathing may elicit details about the body, the "helping" parent, and the abuse setting.

Questions focused on persons will include questions about the alleged offender. It is a good strategy to begin by asking questions that will not be difficult. Thus, focused questions might first be asked about siblings, then about the mother, and finally about the alleged offender. A series of focused questions about an alleged offender might be the following:

"Where does Joe (mother's boyfriend) live?"
"What kind of things does he do with the family?"
"Are there things he does especially with you?"
"Are there things Joe does that you like?"
"Are there any things he does that you don't like?"
"Does he ever do anything with you that you don't like?"

There are two types of focused questions about the possible circumstances of the sexual abuse that many interviewers use.

"Are there any secrets in your family?"
"Does ______ ever play games with you?"

These questions are commonly used because often children are told that the sexual abuse is a special secret between themselves and the offender. Alternatively, offenders may induce children's cooperation or normalize the behavior by defining the victimization as a game.

However, there are other potentially productive focused questions related to the circumstances of the abuse. These questions are suggested by the information the interviewer gathers before seeing the child. Examples might be as follows:

"What do you do when Grandpa babysits?"
"How does Daddy take care of you when Mom is at work?"
"What happens when you are in the bath?"

Questions that focus on body parts are generally used in conjunction with anatomically explicit dolls or anatomical drawings. The interviewer has the child give names for the various body parts. Then focused questions can be asked. For example, the interviewer might ask the following questions with regard to the penis:

"Did you ever see a 'dinky' (penis)/anybody else's 'dinky'?"
"Whose did you see?"
"What does a 'dinky' do?"

If the child responds, "It goes 'pee'," the interviewer might ask, "Does it do anything else?"

Comparable questions might be asked of a female victim about the vagina:

"Did you ever see anyone else's 'peepee'?"
"Did anyone ever ask you to touch their 'peepee'?"
"Did anything ever happen to your 'peepee' that you didn't like?"
"Does it ever hurt?"
"What makes it hurt?"
"Does anyone ever touch it?"

If the child responds that she touches it, the interviewer might ask: "Does anyone else touch it?"

If the child names someone, the evaluator might follow with: "When does he touch it?"

In some cases or at certain points during an interview, children may not respond to focused questions, or they may reply, "I don't know," or "I don't remember." In these cases, more directive questions are necessary.

Multiple-Choice Questions

When information is not forthcoming with a focused question, the interviewer may resort to a multiple-choice question. There are several caveats for their use. First, young children may have difficulty with this format, and they will have more difficulty the more options given. Second, interviewers must be sure to include a correct response, so that the child is not given the choice between two or more incorrect responses. Thus, in a case in which the victim has affirmed that another child was there, but did not respond when asked who it was, the interviewer might ask, "Was it one of your friends or someone else?" in case it was someone the child did not know. Third, it is advisable to limit the use of multiple-choice questions to the circumstances of the sexual abuse and, if possible, not to use them to ask about the abuse itself. For example, the interviewer might ask: "Do you remember if you were wearing your day clothes or your night clothes?" Focused Questions

The interviewer would avoid asking: "Was it your dad, your stepdad, both, or someone else who hurt your butt?"

Yes-No Questions

Despite the fact that research indicates that even young children provide quite accurate information in response to yes-no questions, they are generally used in investigative interviews only when more open-ended questions are not productive, but the interviewer continues to have concerns about abuse. The reason for reservations about yes-no use is concern that they may elicit "social desirability" responses, especially in young children. That is, the child may answer in the affirmative because she/he thinks a positive response is desired. Alternatively, the child may not understand the question and nevertheless answer yes.

Unlike focused questions, yes-no questions usually identify both the alleged offender and the sexual behavior in question. (Focused questions, except those about the circumstances of the abuse, contain one or the other.) Examples of yes-no questions are as follows:

"Did your mom put her finger in your vagina?"
"Was it your stepfather who made your 'bum' (anus) bleed?"

Leading Questions

A leading question is one in which the desired answer is specified in the question. Leading questions are commonly encountered by witnesses when they are cross-examined in court. However, they are not appropriate to investigative interviewing of children. Leading questions are usually not necessary and may be perceived as coercive because they convey the interviewer's own view of events. Interrogations using leading questions also may influence children's interpretations of events and are likely to lead to an attack on the validity of the interview findings. Examples of leading questions are as follows:

"Your dad sucked your penis, didn't he?"
"Isn't it true your grandmother told you to say your stepdad put his 'dick' in your sister?"

Strategic Use of Questions

The interviewer should use as many open-ended questions as possible. That is, the interviewer endeavors to use general or focused questions and only resorts to multiple-choice or yes-no questions if the former are not eliciting any information. As more close-ended questions are employed, it is prudent to have less confidence in the replies. When information is elicited in response to, for example, a multiple-choice question, the interviewer then reverts to a more open-ended approach, perhaps asking a focused question.

The following series of questions is illustrative: The interviewer asks the child where mom was when the abuse occurred (a focused question), and the child does not reply. The interviewer then asks whether mom was there or not (a multiple-choice question). The child replies that mom was there. The interviewer then asks, "What was she doing?" (a focused question). The child responds, "She was helping my dad." The interviewer then asks how the mom helped (another focused question). The child says, "It's hard to say." The interviewer responds, "Well, did she do any of the touching?" (a yes-no question). The child nods. The interviewer then asks where the mother touched (a focused question).

About the Author

www.childwelfare.gov
Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.