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The use of paraphrasing in investigative interviews
Objective
Young childrenâs descriptions of maltreatment are often sparse thus creating the need for techniques that elicit lengthier accounts. One technique that can be used by interviewers in an attempt to increase childrenâs reports is âparaphrasingâ, or repeating information children have disclosed. Although we currently have a general understanding of how paraphrasing may influence childrenâs reports, we do not have a clear description of how paraphrasing is actually used in the field.
Method
The present study assessed the use of paraphrasing in 125 interviews of children aged 4 to 16 years conducted by police officers and social workers. All interviewer prompts were coded into four different categories of paraphrasing. All childrenâs reports were coded for the number of details in response to each paraphrasing statement.
Results
âExpansion paraphrasingâ (e.g., âyou said he hit you. Tell me more about when he hit youâ) was used significantly more often and elicited significantly more details, while âyes/no paraphrasingâ (e.g., âhe hit you?â) resulted in shorter descriptions from children, compared to other paraphrasing styles. Further, interviewers more often distorted childrenâs words when using yes/no paraphrasing, and children rarely corrected interviewers when they paraphrased inaccurately.
Conclusions and Practical Implications
Investigative interviewers in this sample frequently used paraphrasing with children of all ages and, though childrenâs responses differed following the various styles of paraphrasing, the effects did not differ by the age of the child witness. The results suggest that paraphrasing affects the quality of statements by child witnesses. Implications for investigative interviewers will be discussed and recommendations offered for easy ways to use paraphrasing to increase the descriptiveness of childrenâs reports of their experiences
Can paraphrasing increase the amount and accuracy of reports from child eyewitnesses?
Young childrenâs descriptions of sexual abuse are often sparse thus creating the need for techniques that elicit lengthier accounts. âParaphrasingâ, or repeating information children have just disclosed, is a technique sometimes used by forensic interviewers to clarify or elicit information. (e.g., if a child stated âHe touched meâ, an interviewer could respond âHe touched you?â). However, the effects of paraphrasing have yet to be scientifically assessed. The impact of different paraphrasing styles on young childrenâs reports was investigated. Overall, paraphrasing per se did not improve the length, richness, or accuracy of reports when compared to open-ended prompts such as âtell me more,â but some styles of paraphrasing were more beneficial than others. The results provide clear recommendations for investigative interviewers about how to use paraphrasing appropriately, and which practices can compromise the quality of childrenâs reports
The Effectiveness of Paraphrasing Strategy in Increasing University Students' Reading Comprehension and Writing Achievement
Reading comprehension and writing as the crucial skills must be instructed effectively in order to engage the students in the meaningful teaching and learning process. One of the ways to increase students' reading comprehension and writing achievement is by the use of paraphrasing strategy in the classroom instruction. Through the application of the paraphrasing strategy, it is easy for the students to internalize the information of the original source comprehensively; thus, students' reading comprehension achievement is increased. In relation to the improvement of students' reading comprehension achievement, students' writing achievement is also increased by the use of paraphrasing strategy since the students can rewrite the text in to their own writing style. Therefore, the use of paraphrasing strategy is considered as one of the beneficial ways used to enhance students' reading comprehension and writing achievement
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