REVIEWERS' COMMENTS

CLINICAL AND FORENSIC INTERVIEWING OF

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES: Guidelines for the Mental
Health, Education, Pediatric, and Child Maltreatment Fields

Jerome M. Sattler
Copyright 1998, 1,151 pages
Illustrated, hardbound, 8.5 x 11
ISBN 0-9618209-4-2

"Jerome Sattler's Clinical and Forensic Interviewing of Children and Families is by far the
best and most comprehensive resource on clinical interviewing with children and families that
has ever been available. This exciting new volume by a master clinician-scholar is a
contribution that will prove to be enormously useful to professionals and students who work
with children and families. This book fills a large void in the field and is bound to become an
instant classic."
- Eric J. Mash, University of Calgary, Canada

"Clinical and Forensic Interviewing of Children and Families will prove to be a landmark
publication with respect to the interview process. It is a superb vehicle for teaching the skills
required for successful interviewing. It is incredibly refreshing to have the opportunity to
review a work that obviously has required much time, much research, much scholarship, and
is definitely a labor of love. Dr. Sattler, thank you for a major contribution."
- Paula K. Lundberg-Love, University of Texas, Tyler

"Clinical and Forensic Interviewing of Children and Families is destined to be the classic text
in its field. The book is both rich in facts and wise in counsel. The breadth of Dr. Sattler's
scholarship is virtually unparalleled, and his acknowledgments make it quite clear that
impressive specialists in nearly every field covered have cross-checked his work. The
subsidiary materials consisting of figures, tables, and interview questionnaires will be
priceless for those learning to interview as well as for professionals in the field."
- William A. Hillix, San Diego State University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CLINICAL AND FORENSIC INTERVIEWING OF

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES: Guidelines for the Mental
Health, Education, Pediatric, and Child Maltreatment Fields

Jerome M. Sattler
Copyright 1998, 1,151 pages
Illustrated, hardbound, 8.5 x 11
ISBN 0-9618209-4-2
SECTION I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES OF INTERVIEWING AND
REPORTING

1. Introduction to Clinical Assessment Interviewing

 Goals of the Clinical Assessment Interview

 Factors to Consider in Performing Clinical Assessment Interviews
 Clinical Assessment Interviews in Relation to Other Assessment Procedures
 Theoretical Perspectives for the Clinical Assessment Interview
 Clinical Assessment Interviews Compared with Conversations and Other Types of
Interviews
 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Clinical Assessment Interview
 A Preferred Model for the Interviewer-Interviewee Relationship
 Stages of Clinical Assessment Interviews
 Degrees of Structure in Initial Clinical Assessment Interviews
 Steps in the Clinical Assessment Process
 Learning to Be an Effective Interviewer
 Ethical Considerations for Clinical Assessment Interviewers
 Children at Risk
 Overview of the Text
 Concluding Comments
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

2. Conducting the Interview

 Introduction to Interview Guidelines

 Factors Influencing the Interview
 External Factors and Atmosphere
 Forming Impressions
 Listening
 Sending Nonverbal Messages
 Analytical Listening
 Observation Guidelines
 Establishing Rapport
 Timing Questions Appropriately
 Changing Topics
 Widening the Circle of Inquiry
 Formulating Appropriate Questions
 Major Types of Questions to Avoid
 Using Structuring Statements
 Encouraging Appropriate Replies
 Probing Effectively
 Dealing with Difficult Situations
 Remaining Objective
 Recording Information and Scheduling
 Confidentiality of the Interview Material and Assessment Findings
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary
3. The Initial Interview with Children

 General Considerations in an Initial Interview with Children

 Developmental Considerations in Interviewing Children
 Techniques for Interviewing Children
 Areas Covered in the Initial Interview with Children
 Self-Monitoring Assessment
 Case History Report
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

4. The Initial Interview with Parents, Teachers, and Families

 Interviewing Parents
 Interviewing Teachers
 Interviewing the Family
 Closing the Initial Interview
 Evaluating the Initial Interview
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

5. The Post-Assessment and Follow-Up Interviews

 Post-Assessment Interview
 Follow-Up Interview
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

6. Reliability, Validity, and Other Considerations Related to the Interview

 Reliability and Validity of the Interview

 Assessment of Malingering
 Evaluating Your Interview Techniques
 The Challenges of Being an Expert Witness
 Interviewer Stress
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

7. Writing the Interview Report

 Introduction to Writing the Interview Report

 Sections of an Interview Report
 Principles of Report Writing
 Concluding Comment on Writing the Interview Report
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

SECTION II. INTERVIEWING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES OF ETHNIC MINORITY

GROUPS

8. Ethnic Minority Groups: An Overview

  Background Considerations
 Dynamics of Cross?Ethnic and Cross?Cultural Interviewing
 Interpreters
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

9. Specific Minority Groups

 Black Americans
 Hispanic Americans
 Native Americans
 Asian Americans
 Refugees
 Intervention Considerations
 Semistructured Interviews
 Recommendations for Interviewing Ethnic Minority Children and Their Families
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

SECTION III. INTERVIEWING CHILDREN WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

AND CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FACING LIFE STRESSORS

10. Children with Psychological Disorders: An Overview

 How Psychological Disorders Develop in Children

 Living with a Child with a Psychological Disorder
 Interviewing Issues
 Interventions
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

11. Children with Behavioral or Emotional Disorders

 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
 Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder
 Depression
 Anxiety Disorders An Overview
 Separation Anxiety Disorder
 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
 Dissociative Identity Disorder
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

12. Children with Developmental, Learning, or Sensory Disorders

 Autistic Disorder
 Mental Retardation
 Specific Learning Disability
 Visual Impairment
 Hearing Impairment
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary
13. Children and Families Facing Bereavement or the Threat of Suicide

 Bereavement
 Suicide
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

14. Children and Families Facing Adoption, Divorce, or Homelessness

 Adoption
 Divorce and Custody Evaluations
 Homeless Families and Children
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

SECTION IV. APPLYING PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES OF INTERVIEWING TO

THE PEDIATRIC FIELD

15. Children with Health-Related Disorders: An Overview

 Children's Understanding of Their Medical Illnesses and the Disruptive Effects of

Medical Illnesses on Development
 Coping with a Medical Illness
 Adherence
 Families of Medically Ill Children
 Healthy Children in a Family with a Medically Ill Member
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

16. Children with Health-Related Disorders: Interviewing and Formulating Interventions

 Interviewing Children with Medical Illnesses

 Interviewing Parents of Medically Ill Children
 Interviewing in Cases of Terminal Illness
 Evaluating the Interview
 The Post-Assessment Interview with Medically Ill Children and Their Parents
 Interventions with Medically Ill Children and Their Families
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

17. Interviewing and Interventions for Specific Pediatric Health-Related Disorders, Part 1

 Pain
 Asthma
 Diabetes
 Childhood Cancer
 HIV and AIDS
 Pediatric Headaches
 Failure to Thrive
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary
18. Interviewing and Interventions for Specific Pediatric Health-Related Disorders, Part 2

 Sleep Disorders of Childhood

 Substance Abuse
 Eating Disorders
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

19. Children with Brain Injuries

 Background Considerations in Understanding Brain Functions

 Causes of Brain Injury
 Traumatic Brain Injury
 Specific Effects of Brain Injury
 Diagnostic Techniques for Brain-Injured Children
 Interviewing Brain-Injured Children
 Observing Brain-Injured Children
 Interviewing Parents of Brain-Injured Children
 Evaluating the Assessment Findings
 Rehabilitation Programs for Brain-Injured Children
 Concluding Comment on Interviewing Brain-Injured Children and Parents
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

SECTION V. CHILD MALTREATMENT

20. Background Considerations in Child Maltreatment, Part 1

 The Challenge of Child Maltreatment Interviewing

 The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
 Definition and Types of Child Abuse and Neglect
 Reporting Child Maltreatment
 Child Maltreatment as a Social Problem
 Reasons Why People Maltreat Children
 The Offender In Cases of Child Physical Abuse and Neglect
 The Offender in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse
 The Offender in Cases of Child Emotional Abuse
 Statistics on Perpetrator Characteristics for All Types of Maltreatment
 Child Maltreatment in Facilities, Institutions, or Foster Homes
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

21. Background Considerations in Child Maltreatment, Part 2

 Process of Disclosure of Maltreatment

 Effects of Child Maltreatment
 Children's Memory, Lying, and Suggestibility Allegations of Child Maltreatment
 Comment on the Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

22. Interviewing Considerations in Cases of Child Maltreatment

  A Model for Interviewing in Cases of Child Maltreatment
 Preparing for the Initial Interview in Cases of Child Maltreatment
 Interviewing the Child in Cases of Child Maltreatment
 Interviewing the Family in Cases of Child Maltreatment
 Interviewing the Alleged or Known Offender in Cases of Child Maltreatment
 Concluding Comment on Interviewing Children, Families, and Alleged Offenders in
Cases of Child Maltreatment
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

23. Evaluation and Intervention in Cases of Child Maltreatment

 Evaluating Allegations of Child Maltreatment

 Evaluating the Known Offender
 Evaluating Facilities, Institutions, or Foster Homes
 Risk Assessment
 Interventions
 Concluding Comment About Interviewing Children Who May Have Been Maltreated
 Thinking Through the Issues
 Summary

EPILOGUE

APPENDIXES

 A: List of National Organizations for Families with Special Needs

 B: General Sources of Information for Families with Special Needs
 C: Miscellaneous Tables
 D: New York State Risk Assessment Profile
 E: Highlights of the Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-
3)
 F: Semistructured Interviews

GLOSSARY
REFERENCES
NAME INDEX
SUBJECT INDEX

PREFACE
-
CLINICAL AND FORENSIC INTERVIEWING OF
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES: Guidelines for the Mental
Health, Education, Pediatric, and Child Maltreatment Fields

Jerome M. Sattler
Copyright 1998, 1,151 pages
Illustrated, hardbound, 8.5 x 11
ISBN 0-9618209-4-2
Clinical and Forensic Interviewing of Children and Families is designed to help students and
professionals in human services fields become competent clinical assessment and forensic
interviewers. The impetus for writing this text was my renewed appreciation of the
importance of the interview as an assessment tool. The human services field is evolving
rapidly. More and more children are being referred for custody evaluations, maltreatment,
depression, suicide attempts, and health-related conditions. Homelessness, AIDS, substance
abuse, and crisis intervention have become extremely important areas for mental health
professionals. The increase in managedhealth care programs places greater demands on all
clinicians to provide time-limited, focused, and cost-effective service. There is less time and
money for intense diagnostic study, despite the potential benefits. A text that addressed these
topics was clearly needed.

This book is based on the philosophy that one cannot be a competent clinical
assessment or forensic interviewer unless he or she has the relevant information
about the child's presenting problem, as well as knowledge of the interventions that
might help the child and family. Therefore, in this text, you will find information
about the major problem areas encountered by children and their families and about
interventions, along with suggestions for conducting interviews. You should
consult additional references about the child's problem areas, as needed.

This book will benefit students and professionals in all human services fields,
including social work, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school
psychology, rehabilitation psychology, health psychology, pediatric psychology,
psychiatry, education, and speech therapy. In addition, professionals in such allied
fields as medicine, nursing, law, and law enforcement have much to gain from
reading it. This text provides both theoretical and practical guidelines to help
students and professionals develop skills in interviewing children, adolescents,
parents, families, and teachers.

One entire section of the book is devoted to the assessment of child maltreatment.
Two considerations led me to give extensive coverage to this area. First, child
maltreatment is of increasing concern to human services workers, as billions of
dollars are being spent by governmental agencies for the investigation, care, and
treatment of children who are alleged to have been maltreated or who have been
maltreated. Second, the interview plays a critical role in the assessment of child
maltreatment. The more you know about the pitfalls of interviewing in cases of
child maltreatment, the more effective you will be in interviewing children and in
presenting your findings in any criminal proceedings, in which interview
techniques are sometimes challenged. The material in Section V will give you a
foundation for understanding child maltreatment and a foundation for conducting
child maltreatment interviews.

To conduct effective clinical assessment or forensic interviews with children and

adolescents, you need to know about normal children and their families and about
children who have developmental or behavioral problems or special needs.
Although this book presents normal developmental landmarks and reviews features
associated with several behavioral and medical problems found in children, I
encourage you to read appropriate texts in normal child development and child
psychopathology if you are unfamiliar with these areas.