Forensic Interviewing Term Paper

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forensic interviewing of rape victims. It addresses the often asked question to postpone the interview. That request comes from the victims and their families. This study provides evidence that it is important to conduct the interview with the victim within 72 hours of the attack.

On television, forensic interviewing is often dramatized to the point of being illegal. Interviewers on the big screen hit the interviewees, intimidate them, lead them and coerce them into providing the information needed to neatly wrap up the crime in the allotted hour. While this makes for good entertainment and it almost always leads to putting the bad guys away, it is far from realistic. In real life, forensic interviewing can be a tedious process that does not always bear fruit. Forensic interviewing is something that can help uncover valuable information or lead to a dead end. The key elements to how successful a forensic interview turns out to be include the interviewer and the interviewee. When a victim is interviewed he or she can provide information about the crime and the criminal that can be invaluable to the criminal justice process. They can also provide false information if they are unsure, scared or intimidated by the interview process or the interviewer. One of the most sensitive and potentially volatile interview situations is the rape case. When someone is raped the forensic interview often takes place during or shortly after the examination for physical evidence that the victim has indeed been raped. Because of the need to examine the victim immediately after the attack many rape victims describe it as being violated all over again. By the time the interview takes place the victim has not only been raped, but also been put through the humiliation of a very private exam before she has even processed what happened to her. The rape victim is still in shock and traumatized by the violent event that took place and the way the forensic interview is handled can mean the difference between justice being served or a rapist going free. The victim and the victim's family often express a desire to hold off on performing the interview until the victim has had time to heal emotionally and physically.

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The forensic team often has to decide whether to push for an immediate interview or let the victim have several days to several weeks to process the attack before being interviewed. This paper examines the process of interviewing rape victims for the purpose of forensic investigation. Using a literature review as the research instrument the study concludes the most effective interviews are those that take place within 72 hours of the assault.

Statement of the Problem

Forensic interviews must be handled and conducted in such a way that they are fruitful without destroying the case. Often times, a defense attorney will hinge an entire defense on attacking the forensic interview or the interviewer. It was seen in the O.J. Simpson trials when Mark Furham's entire personal life and past were brought into the mix to prove that anything he uncovered during his interviews should be suspect. What evidence was gathered during those interviews no longer mattered as the defense attorney successfully turned attention to the interviewer himself. This can happen in any court case in which there were forensic interviews conducted. In the case of rape trials it becomes even more tenuous because in most cases the only actual witnesses were the victim and the defendant. Rape cases easily turn into he said, she said, arguments with the judge and jury becoming dependent on the strength of the evidence gathered during the forensic interview of the victim.

The trials are often many months after the alleged attack and during that time victims have often undergone therapy and begun to put the event behind them as best they can. Evidence that is important to the case for the purpose of proving a rape occurred is often gathered during….....

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