One element that we explore in detail on the Talking Life Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) training course is our ability, as practitioners, to develop strategies to deal with potentially difficult situations that might arise during our interviews. Whilst this might sound fairly obvious, recent research shows that interviewers are often uncertain how to deal with some questions that they are asked by their interviewees in order to stay within the acceptable guidance offered within the ABE manual. 

Do you have an ABE Strategy?

Because so many ABE interviews are visually recorded, the researchers were able to look at (and critique) a significant number of interviews of victims and witnesses. These were real interviews – not simulations – and so the findings make a strong impact on our day-to-day work practices. The researchers found that many interviewers didn’t appear to have any plan or broader strategies in place to deal with perfectly reasonable questions that they were asked by their young interviewees. What surprised the researchers was the fact that the more interviews they watched, the more often the same (or similar) situations cropped up or the same questions were asked of the professionals. This frustrated the researchers because not only did we not appear to have a strategy to deal with the situation, the situation itself was fairly predictable – making the lack of a plan or a tactic even more disappointing. 

The problem was many professionals knew the answer that they wanted to give – but were uncertain as to whether to give such a response would have breached the guidance. One could argue that this is an example of a practitioner just having a poor grasp of the guidance but I would challenge that assertion. The interviewer is there, in the moment, with a vulnerable interviewee in front of them and they have to deal with that ‘difficult situation’ then and there – not only in a manner that keeps within the guidance (and thus keeping it legally admissible) but also – and most importantly – in a way that is interviewee-centred. We should not be slaves to the ABE guidance, we need to be mindful of it, and respectful of it, but we should always put the interviewee at the heart of what we do and how we do it.

ABE Interview examples

Let me give you an example: the simple situation of a child interviewee asking you, during a visually recorded interview: “Do you believe me?” This seems like quite a straight forward and easy enough question to answer doesn’t it? And we probably instantly know what we want to answer – “Yes”. But, as trained interviewers we know we are being visually recorded. We know that our every word is going to be scrutinised and unpicked by a lawyer who will be looking for flaws in our approach. We also know that if we just answer, as we probably all want to, with the simple response “Yes” then we could be accused of giving, or at the very least, offering, the child ‘unconditional belief’. 

“Principles of Investigative Interviewing“

The original Principles of Investigative Interviewing, as published by the Home Office some years ago stated that we need to be prepared to believe what we are told by vulnerable and intimidated victims and witness – but we must be ready to check what we are being told against what we already know or can reasonably find out. This means that by implying (or even overtly giving) and no-conditions-attached belief to what we are being told by our interviewee runs a risk of jeopardising the admissibility of part (or the whole) of the interview. In practice, a defence lawyer could seek to have the interview edited so that an unacceptable response by the interviewer (along with some of what the child said surrounding that answer) is excluded from the evidence. Thus some of the child’s experiences may never be known to the jury or other decision makers. More worryingly it is very possible that everything that the child says after an interviewer answers “Yes” (to the “Do you believe me?” question) is edited out as being inadmissible – because the child had an implied permission to say whatever they wanted and they would be believed. Think now: if the child asks “Do you believe me?” half way through our interaction with them – and we answer it inappropriately – you could lose half of that interview. Half of that child’s experiences would never be heard in the court. Thus, through our lack of a strategy to deal with this perfectly anticipatable situation, we risk depriving the young person the access to justice that they deserve. They’ve taken a potentially life-changing decision to come forward and tell us of their experiences – and we have let them down. Not the courts, us. This is why we spend, on the third day of this staff development module, time to identify strategies and tactics to deal with all sorts of difficult situations and questions that might arise during the interview.

Do you believe me?

Let’s look again at that ‘difficult’ question we were being asked: “Do you believe me?”. Now let’s look at just one slight variation on that question: “You don’t believe me do you?”. At first glance these could appear to be saying the same thing – but they don’t. Thus our response (our strategy) needs to be different to stay within a child-centred / guidance-compliant area. Add to this another ingredient, namely our response may need to be different depending on when in the interview this situation arises. A child having spent the last seventy-five minutes telling us about the abuse that they have experienced then saying “You don’t believe me do you?” will almost certainly need a different answer to a child who makes that enquiry right at the beginning of the interview – before they’ve told us anything. 

Value of the Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) training course

The aim of this brief article is not to scare you away from ABE interviewing – in fact it is the opposite, it is to encourage you to come on the course. You will identify five, maybe six, different go-to solutions during the “Developing Strategies to Deal with Difficult Situations” session that will address pretty-much any situation that you are presented with. Having a strategy is the important end-game of the session. We can’t give you a script because, even if the question is the same, every child is different, every situation is different and, as discussed above, every timing-of-the-question makes it different. Thus your responses will be different – but, rest assured, you will have strategies and specific tactics in place to deal with them by the end of the session.

Don’t think that the above applies just to ABE interviews either. The strategies that we discuss will stand you in a much better stead to deal with some of the difficult situations and difficult conversations that you have on a day-to day basis within your working environment. Whether you are a police officer, a social worker, a health care professional or a member of an educational establishment you need these strategies in place. We’ll help you explore the problems and create solutions.

Read about our fully up-to-date Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) training course for either Adult’s Services or Children’s Services here

Read about our fully up-to-date ABE Refresher courses here