Critical Thinking on Interviewing Children Who Are Victims of Child Exploitation

Response to Professor

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For the interview conducted on a child that has been sexually exploited to be a fruitful one, the child needs to undergo two processes of an interview to open up and give information that will be helpful in building a case. First and foremost, the child must be interviewed and psychologically shaped by a therapist. A child victim of any form of sexual exploitation is usually psychologically depressed and not in her right state of mind. As such, that child can be mentally unstable. Therefore, it would be very helpful to have a therapist to talk to the child and help open up herself so that she can openly and fearlessly speak about the unfortunate events that she passed through (Lanning, 2010). The therapist is expected to collect some helpful information that may help build a case and bring the perpetrator of such heinous act to justice. After that, the therapist is expected to share the information with an advocate who has the specialty with children rights the information he or she collects.

The advocate of the victim is expected to go through the information and try to build a case. However, before proceeding with the case to court, it is advisable that the advocate has a brief and sensitive interview with the victim so that to help clarify and get relevant information from the child whose right has been violated. Since the child has gone through therapy sessions, it is expected that the interview between the victim and the advocate would be brief and very effective. The victim is always stabilized hence ready to open up and give detailed information that would help develop a strong case that would lead to the perpetrator being charged for sexually exploiting a minor.

Response to Classmate #1

According to this individual, there are some problems that are experienced when interviewing a child who is a victim of child exploitation. The case becomes difficult since, in court, it is usually the word of a mature but irresponsible adult against a fragile and scared young child who has been molested. However, the case holds when the suspect in one individual against several children who have been molested. As such, it is important to note that the interview part is critical as it is where the case is built.

Corroboration is an important investigation process in which the child is carefully interviewed by the law enforcers and important points collected. The points collected are well formulated as evidence which is used in court to present a strong case to serve justice to the perpetrators of the act of child exploitation. Another factor that hinders successfully interview of the victim is the fact that the interviewers might allow their feelings and emotions to override and cloud their thinking (Criddle, 2010). In some case, there are stereotypes such as that the children who are involved in such exploitation were forcefully dragged to it by the perpetrators. This is usually not true in some cases. The mental stereotypes make the interviews shift position to the sides of the young girls who are viewed as innocent girls who were forcefully taken advantage. In nature, it has been proven that this is usually not the case as some of the children willing fully engage in the act only for the culprit to be victimized as having molested a minor.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is an advance problem that gets to see a child treated for a condition that has been falsified especially by their caregivers. This condition is very common in the society especially for the cases of child exploitation (Criddle, 2010). MBP is considered to be a very dangerous form of child abuse because it is tough to treat. The treatment of such form of abuse is usually difficult since it is hard to know the main problems the child is suffering due to lack of physical injuries such as broken bones or bruises.

Response to Classmate #2

According to classmate #2, interviewing children who are victims of child exploitation is tough. This is a fact that I am in unison with and as a result, must be done with utmost moderation. The manner through which such interview is done would either break or make a case in court against the law offenders. Since different cases would have different children exploited in different ways, therefore, for a substantive case, the interviewers are expected to give the cases different approaches. Some of the problems that occur in this interview are the fact that the interviewers tend to believe that the children are always correct hence will not give falsified information (Allison, 2012). This case can always be subject to what the child victim is saying. For instance, in case the child is saying lies against the offender, the case built is usually marred by invalid statements.

The classmate opines Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MBP) is a situation whereby a parent falsifies some sickness of his or her child so as to be able to gain some medical attention. Children may falsify information so that they be in a position to get the attention of the adults. Furthermore, there are situations when a parent suffers from MBP thus poisoning their children so as to get the attention of some people such as the medical professional.

References

Allison, T. S. (2012). Proving medical child abuse: The time is now for Ohio to focus on the victim and not the abuser. Journal of Law and Health (Online), 25(1), 191-232. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.apus.edu/docview/1220659590?accountid=8289

Criddle, L. (2010). Pediatric Care. Monsters in the Closet: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Critical Care Nurse, 30(6), 46-56. doi:10.4037/ccn2010737

Lanning, K. V. (2010). Child molesters: A behavioral analysis for professionals investigating the sexual exploitation of children. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children with Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.