Het horen van kinderen bij een vermoeden van seksueel misbruik : Een interactie-analyse

This article presents an analysis of forensic interviews with children in cases of alleged sexual abuse. There is an abundance of studies dealing with children's competence as witnesses in criminal and civil cases. In contrast, the focus of the present study is not on the child's competence or the interviewer's skills, but on forensic interviews as interaction. Borrowing Shatz and O'Reilly's (1990) observation system, we analysed three interviews with children of five and six years ofage. We analysed miscommunication sequences, in which the interlocutors acknowledged and repaired misunderstandings. The children turned out to be competent participants in the conversations. They issued less requests for repair than in everyday contexts, which is understandable because of the institutional constraints ofthe interviews. The interviewers asked for clarification in 5,8% of their turns. This figure is comparable to data from mundane interactions between parents and their children. Because the interviewers were strangers to the children, a higher figure of requests for repair was expected. In the discussion, the observation instrument is evaluated and it is argued that analysing the interaction in forensic interviews may contribute to the quality of these interviews.