ABSTRACT

Children from Indigenous cultures experience higher rates of abuse than non-Indigenous children, and their cases face extra challenges progressing through the legal system. When abuse is reported, an investigative interview is conducted with the child. The current study aimed to examine interviewers’ perceptions of interviewing Aboriginal Australian children. Sixteen experienced interviewers participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences interviewing Aboriginal children. Thematic analysis revealed three perceived challenges: engaging the children, communication differences, and obtaining evidential details. Creating strong rapport with the child, simplifying language, and adapting questioning approaches were reported as key strategies to help overcome these challenges, but the interviewers voiced a need for more support and targeted resources to assist them in their roles. This study highlights the need for highly specialist interviewers versed in Aboriginal culture, and the need for future research into the appropriateness of contemporary protocols for children from minority cultural groups.

摘要

来自土著文化的儿童比非土著儿童遭受虐待的可能性更高，而且他们的案件在通过法律制度发展方面面临额外的挑战。当报告有虐待事件时，将对孩子进行调查性采访。当前的研究旨在检验访调员对采访澳大利亚原住民儿童的看法。16名经验丰富的访调员参加了半结构化访谈，介绍了他们采访原住民儿童的经历。主题分析揭示了三个可感知的挑战：与儿童互动，沟通差异以及获取证据细节。据报告，与孩子建立牢固的融洽关系，简化语言和采用提问方法是帮助克服这些挑战的关键策略，但是访调员表示需要更多的支持和有针对性的资源，以帮助他们发挥作用。这项研究强调了需要精通原住民文化的高度专业化的访问员，并且有必要进一步研究当代协议对少数民族文化儿童的适用性。