Misinterpreted testimonies: An educational video for interviewers’ and interpreters’ collaboration when interviewing children. (abstract only)

The growing migration in European Countries and other continents increased the need of foreign language interpretation services in investigative interviews and added to the continuous commitment in helping front line interviewers of children. Although interpreters are expected to literally interpret what is being said from one language to another, applied forensic linguistics suggests that things are not that simple! If interviewers, interpreters and children are not prepared for this group effort to extract forensic details, interpretation may lead to misinterpreted testimonies. This project was funded by the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group to explore the challenges faced by interviewers’ and interpreters' collaboration and support them within the various difficulties in which they function. A short educational video on Interviewers’ and Interpreters’ Collaboration in Investigative Interviews of Children (ICIC) will be developed based on interviewers and interpreters responses on our survey as well as a review of the literature. It is expected that ICIC will have a practical value by complementing practitioners’ training. Interviewers and interpreters may watch ICIC during training or importantly prior an interview reminding them the basic principles of their collaboration. Perhaps the most important benefit for practitioners its ICIC’s potential impact on the quality of police interviews with children.