-68
While interviewing persons in a situation of vulnerability, it is particularly
counterproductive for the interviewer to display signs of unease, anxiety
and embarrassment. He/she should maintain composure if the interviewee
becomes emotional or upset. He/she should also never imitate situations of
abuse as this may cause emotional breakdown in the respondent. Moreover,
if possible, the interviewer should avoid loaded terms, such as “abuse”,
“rape” or “violence”. It should be made clear to the interviewee that he/
she can ask for a break at any time. These may be required more frequently
in the case of detainees in a situation of vulnerability.100
As the main aim of the interview is to obtain the respondent’s account of
the events and circumstances, the interviewer needs to rely on some means
of encouragement. One such means is probing. There are several techniques
of probing: silent expectation, open encouragement (“yes, yes”, “aha”),
requests for details and elaborations (“Did anything else happen?”; “Is there
more on this you can tell me?”), and repetition of respondent’s statements
etc. Some interviewers use the so-called “cognitive interviewing procedures”
(CI) for recall of the events. These include mental context reinstatement (i.e.
putting someone back into the context where the event occurred), changing
the order of recall, and changing perspective (imagining viewing the events
from a different perspective)101 and others. These are useful techniques,
which however require extensive training of the interviewers.
The detention monitor should be conscious at all times that the interview is
a unique and one-off event, and that there will normally be no possibility to
return to the same respondent. This is why all details of names, places and
time should be very carefully clarified and properly recorded.
Upon closing the interview, the interviewer usually asks whether the
respondent has anything else to add and, if appropriate, provides contacts
in case the respondent wants to communicate in the future. The interviewer
should ensure that the respondent is not distressed and is in a positive
state of mind. Thus, even if the interview was not very informative, the
interviewer should not show disappointment.
100. Ibid., p. 71. The authors of this useful manual recommend using a “touch card”, i.e. a card placed
beside the interviewees, which they can touch when they want a break.
101. See for more detail: Miller, K. et al., Cognitive Interviewing Methodology, New Jersey, Wiley, 2014.
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents