case, when investigating allegations about intra-familial abuse, she would purposefully ask the child about their family or ask the child to describe the layout of their house: a father assaulted their child and ehm this was over an argument “So you’ll, here’s one, about a computer game and maybe spoken to the child about got a PS2 does I’d “so you’ve your dad play computer games with and dad plays computer and so you?” “yes games” kind of games do you so it evolves from “what play?” that.” Mandy could then assess the responses to the family members to give some child’s insight into how the child felt with regards to the family. Or information about the family or the home would help the interviewer build a picture of the life. child’s child’s Sometimes these topics would be asked about in the recall or questioning phase, but the rapport phase provided the opportunity for the interviewer to do some assessment and groundwork, and leave more room for discussion of the allegation in the substantive phase. In summary, the rapport phase acted as a tool for the interviewers as it permitted them to assess the child based on their individual presentation. The developmental child’s stage, how they respond to rapport, how willing they are to communicate, and their background information are all extremely important aspects of the interview. They provide the foundation for how the interviewer will approach the remainder of the rapport phase and the interview in general. As demonstrated in the next section, the interviewer’s decision making stems from these factors and enables them to adjust to the child’s presentation for the purposes of facilitating communication. 3.3.4 The rapport phase as a tool in which the interviewer their approach adjusts based on the individual presentation. Theme 2a rapport phase redundancy –
case, when investigating allegations about intra-familial abuse, she would purposefully ask the child about their family or ask the child to describe the layout of their house: “So you’ll, here’s one, a father assaulted their child and ehm this was over an argument about a computer game and I’d maybe spoken to the child about “so you’ve got a PS2 does your dad play computer games with you?” and “yes dad plays computer games” and so “what kind of games do you play?” so it evolves from that.” Mandy could then assess the child’s responses to the family members to give some insight into how the child felt with regards to the family. Or information about the family or the child’s home would help the interviewer build a picture of the child’s life. Sometimes these topics would be asked about in the recall or questioning phase, but the rapport phase provided the opportunity for the interviewer to do some assessment and groundwork, and leave more room for discussion of the allegation in the substantive phase. In summary, the rapport phase acted as a tool for the interviewers as it permitted them to assess the child based on their individual presentation. The child’s developmental stage, how they respond to rapport, how willing they are to communicate, and their background information are all extremely important aspects of the interview. They provide the foundation for how the interviewer will approach the remainder of the rapport phase and the interview in general. As demonstrated in the next section, the interviewer’s decision making stems from these factors and enables them to adjust to the child’s presentation for the purposes of facilitating communication. 3.3.4 The rapport phase as a tool in which the interviewer adjusts their approach based on the individual presentation. Theme 2a – rapport phase redundancy