Child Forensic Interviewing in Finland: Investigating Suspected Child Abuse at the Forensic Psychology Unit for Children and Adolescents

Korkman, Julia; Pakkanen, Tom; Laajasalo, Taina

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-58388-4_7

Cited by 24 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Training investigative interviewers to successfully implement guidelines for investigative interviewing requires extensive training, continuous feedback, and follow‐up sessions (Powell, 2018). In Finland, police officers who interview children suspected of being victims of sexual or physical violence are required to complete a year‐long training period (Korkman, Pakkanen, & Laajasalo, 2017). The training period for Finnish asylum officials is, by contrast, only 4 weeks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of question style and type in official Finnish asylum interview transcripts

Skrifvars

Korkman

Sui

et al. 2020

Journal Invest Psychology

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Interviews with asylum seekers are an important part of investigating the applicant's need of international protection. Few studies have examined if the questions used in interviews allow detailed and accurate narratives. In the current study, we analysed question style, question type, and question order from interviews of 80 official asylum cases realised by Finnish state authorities in 2017-2018. In accordance with best practise, questions were predominantly asked in an information-gathering style. However, four-fifths of the questions were closed questions, and onetenth were open questions. The recommended question order was followed to a small degree. Possibilities on how to improve the quantity and the accuracy of the information elicited from the interviews are discussed. Future research should assess which type of questions that are most efficient in eliciting relevant information within the asylum context as well as investigating the accuracy of the interpretation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of question style and type in official Finnish asylum interview transcripts

Skrifvars

Korkman

Sui

et al. 2020

Journal Invest Psychology

Self Cite

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“…This training may be especially important not only given the central role of prosecutors in investigations involving children but also since psychological expertise is not regularly used during CSA investigations or court proceedings in Sweden. In contrast to for example Finland (see Korkman, Pakkanen, & Laajasalo, 2017), there is no system in place for involving psychologists specialized in child interviewing or children's testimony during the investigative stage, even if clinical psychologists may be available at the Barnahus. As opposed to many other Western countries, psychological expertise is not frequently used in court either, and a recent study revealed that expert witnesses from the field of psychology only testified in 5% Swedish court cases concerning alleged CSA of a child below the age of 7 (Ernberg, Magnusson, Landström, & Tidefors, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prosecutors’ experiences investigating alleged sexual abuse against pre-schoolers

Ernberg

Magnusson

Landström

2020

Psychology, Crime & Law

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Investigating and prosecuting cases of alleged child sexual abuse is challenging, especially if the report concerns a young child. The present study aimed to examine prosecutors' experiences investigating and prosecuting cases of alleged sexual abuse of preschoolers. Ninety-four Swedish child abuse prosecutors participated in a 2017 national survey regarding their work with these cases and their experiences collaborating with police and Child Protective Services (CPS). Their responses were analysed using both quantitative (descriptive and inferential statistics) and qualitative (thematic analysis) approaches. The prosecutors described difficulties eliciting and evaluating testimony from the youngest children, alongside a lack of corroborative evidence, as the main challenges in investigating cases of alleged sexual abuse of pre-schoolers. Some prosecutors reported that an ongoing CPS investigation could negatively affect the criminal investigation. Furthermore, the quality of the investigative child interview was described as paramount to the investigation and as something that could be affected by the interviewer as well as the resources available to the police. Suggestions for future research and potential practical implications for CSA investigations involving pre-schoolers are discussed.

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“…S. Johansson and K. Stefansen model since 2014, although it implemented a similar model in forensic-psychology units at larger hospitals as early as 2008 (see Korkman, Pakkanen, and Laajasalo 2017). Even though the time of establishment and numbers of national Barnahus differ across the Nordic countries, the diffusion of the Barnahus model has been rapid and extensive within the Nordic region (Johansson et al 2017b).…”

Section: The Nordic Phase: Successive Policy Development and A Favourmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy-making for the diffusion of social innovations: the case of the Barnahus model in the Nordic region and the broader European context

Johansson

Stefansen²

2019

Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research

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The Barnahus model was launched in Iceland in 1998, and it subsequently spread to all the Nordic countries. It is an interagency, co-located model for working with cases of violence and abuse against children that addresses two vital concerns of welfare societies: to process cases through the legal system and to offer support and treatment to victims. The model is currently recommended as a best-practice model on the European leveland understood as representing a radical change in the organisational setup related to such cases. This paper analyses the diffusion and implementation of the model in two different contexts: the Nordic region and the wider European arena, where the model is currently promoted as an important innovation. Drawing on the concept of social innovation, we explore the structural and contextual conditions for the diffusion of the model and discuss its role in the ongoing transformation of welfare societies' response to children exposed to violence and abuse. We identify the policy-making means by which the model is promoted today and conclude that it can lead to manifold institutional changes, both radical and incremental, and both desired and undesired, depending on how the original idea is translated and adapted in different contexts.

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Child Forensic Interviewing in Finland: Investigating Suspected Child Abuse at the Forensic Psychology Unit for Children and Adolescents

Cited by 24 publications

References 22 publications

An analysis of question style and type in official Finnish asylum interview transcripts

An analysis of question style and type in official Finnish asylum interview transcripts

Prosecutors’ experiences investigating alleged sexual abuse against pre-schoolers

Policy-making for the diffusion of social innovations: the case of the Barnahus model in the Nordic region and the broader European context

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