Strategies for working with traumatized/victimized youth
The first consideration for dealing with children who are victims of abuse, violence or neglect is to assure the child they are in a safe environment. Schools should be a “safe haven” where the child can feel free of fear. School Security Personnel should foster that feeling of safety and protection by being a mentor and role model for youth. Officers should be friendly and approachable to discuss problems the student may be having.
Law enforcement officers will often need to interview the victim of abuse to determine if a criminal action has occurred. School Security Officers should not attempt to conduct investigative interviews, but rather seek assistance from the school administration and/or councilor. School Police Officers may not have jurisdiction in such matters as criminal activity would have most likely taken place off school property.
Interviewing children who are victims of abuse can be difficult. The child will in many cases deny the abuse for several reasons:
- They may feel they were responsible for the abuse and have low self-esteem.
- Abusive parents often blame the child for doing things to them with the reason they were bad or are bad children.
- Many abused children still love their parents and will try to protect them.
Approach the interview with caution and be prepared for such denials. It may be advisable to have school staff with you to act “in loco parentis”.
Simple interview methods work best to remove barriers to communications. Remove headgear and sit on the same level as the child. Try not to have a desk or table in between. Speak in soft tones with age-appropriate wording. Do not invade their personal space. Sometimes dolls or stuffed animals may facilitate a warmer more comforting environment. Sometimes this can be an ice breaker, to allow the child to talk about their home. A lead in question such as “do you have a special teddy bear at home?” can bring up the subject of home. You may consider using crayons and paper and ask them to draw their family or house to give insight into the home environment. Start with non-accusatory questions such as “who takes care of you?” or “is there anybody in your house you don’t like?” Build each question slowly on the last answer.
Gender may be a barrier to communications. It may be appropriate to have another officer of the same sex conduct the interview. In many cases boys who are sexually abused by a man will deny it, to avoid being thought to be homosexual.
Martha Finnegan is a Child Interview Specialist with the Federal Bureau of Investigations who made some recommendations for child interviews.
Many children prefer to use props to identify body parts and describe alleged abuses. Dolls or anatomical diagrams can help a child illustrate how the suspect interacted with him. The use of an inanimate object also avoids making the child the object of abuse, as the victimizer had originally done. Whether words or props are utilized, there should be no ambiguity about how the child perceives his own body parts and the suspect’s actions.
Avoiding mistakes is of paramount responsibility to the investigator, who needs to be sensitive to the linguistic differences among different victims. Some children use words like “boo-boo,” which can be a reference to a small injury or to a private part. A common colloquial for private parts in some Latin cultures is “pollo” (Spanish for “chicken”). Establishing which words each victim uses to reference his or her private parts of the body can avoid further misunderstandings. Finnegan emphasizes the need for investigators to know and adhere to established interview protocols for children. She notes that each age demographic has its own prospective landmines. Small children can be quite susceptible to suggestions; older victims tend to be more reticent to communicate what happened.
Be patient.
It is prudent to look at other resources within your community to deal with the aftermath of the interview, such as police sex crimes investigators, social services, mental health services, school counselors and the medical community.