Expressions of shame in investigative interviews with Australian Aboriginal children

No Thumbnail Available
File version
Author(s)
Hamilton, Gemma
Brubacher, Sonja P
Powell, Martine B
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2016
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract

This study inspected a sample of 70 interview transcripts with Australian Aboriginal children to gain a sense of how frequently verbal shame responses were occurring in investigative interviews regarding alleged sexual abuse. Transcripts were examined to determine how children articulated shame, how interviewers reacted to these responses, and how shame related to children's accounts. Examination of frequencies revealed that verbal shame responses occurred in just over one-quarter of the interviews. One-way analyses of variance indicated that children who expressed shame within the interview spoke the same amount as children who did not express shame, however, they required more interviewer prompts before a disclosure was made. Interviews where children expressed shame also included a greater number of interviewer reminders compared to interviews without shame responses. Results emphasize the importance of interviewer awareness of shame, and also point to the value of reassurance, patience, and persistence with non-leading narrative prompting when interviewing children who express shame during discussions of sexual abuse.

Journal Title

Child Abuse & Neglect

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

51

Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Criminology

Social work

Psychology

Forensic psychology

Applied and developmental psychology

Social Sciences

Family Studies

Psychology, Social

Persistent link to this record
Citation

Hamilton, G; Brubacher, SP; Powell, MB, Expressions of shame in investigative interviews with Australian Aboriginal children, Child Abuse & Neglect 2016, 51, pp. 64-71

Collections