Title
Repeated Self- and Peer-Review Leads to Continuous Improvement in Child Interviewing Performance
Abstract
The present study examined whether a training model that focuses on consistent exposure to protocol procedure, self-evaluation, and intensive peer-review sessions could improve interviewers’ ability to adhere to best practices. Law students (N¼19) interviewed 5- to 10-year-old children on a weekly basis as part of a semester-long forensic child interviewing class. They transcribed their interviews, and participated in 1-hr self- and peer-reviews. The proportion of each question type was calculated (option-posing, Wh- questions [what, how, where, why, when, and who], and open-invitations) within each interview for each interviewer. Across 10 weeks of interviews, interviewers consistently improved their performance, decreasing the proportion of option-posing questions by 31% and increasing the proportion of open-invitations by 47%. All interviewers improved. The present study suggests that with consistent self-evaluation and peer-review, forensic interviewers can incrementally improve their performance.
Disciplines
Child Psychology | Criminal Law | Criminal Procedure | Developmental Psychology | Evidence | Family Law | Juvenile Law | Law | Law and Psychology
Date of this Version
1-5-2016
Recommended Citation
Stacia N. Stolzenberg and Thomas D. Lyon, "Repeated Self- and Peer-Review Leads to Continuous Improvement in Child Interviewing Performance" (January 2016). University of Southern California Legal Studies Working Paper Series. Working Paper 192.
http://law.bepress.com/usclwps-lss/192
Included in
Child Psychology Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Developmental Psychology Commons, Evidence Commons, Family Law Commons, Juvenile Law Commons, Law and Psychology Commons
Comments
In 5 Journal of Forensic Social Work 20 (2015).