Exploring Alternative Hypotheses in Child Abuse Interviews and Investigations

Every investigation and forensic interview of child abuse should start with multidisciplinary team members generating multiple reasons to account for the allegation of abuse. Since the forensic interview is often the beginning of a child abuse investigation, as many reasonable alternative hypotheses should be explored within the interview. All nationally recognized child forensic interview protocols emphasize the importance of exploring alternative hypotheses as part of the interview; however, sometimes this is no more than an occasional tag question at the end of the interview: “Did anyone tell you what to say here today?” This session will examine various alternative hypotheses to be considered in forensic interviews and subsequent investigations, and techniques to address them.