Indonesian forensic practitioners’ reported use of strategies to reverse parental suggestions

Sometimes in alleged abuse cases, children have been exposed to suggestions already prior to any formal interviews. For example, research shows that parents who are concerned that their child might have suffered abuse talk to their children in oftentimes suggestive ways about what ostensibly happened. In the present survey we explored (1) Indonesian child protection service workers' (N = 71) perceptions of parental influence on children interviewed in forensic settings, (2) strategies they currently use to reduce the impact of such prior suggestions and (3) how feasible they rated different strategies. Seventy-five percent of participants (53/71) had worked on cases in the past in which they had been suspicious that parents had discussed alleged events with their child prior to the interview. Moreover, 55% (39/71) of our sample reported to already use strategies aimed at reducing the impact of parental involvement, such as telling children to only report what they really remembered (13/39). Participants rated all strategies we proposed as at least 'somewhat feasible' to employ during their interviews. We advocate for further research on the effectiveness of strategies to address prior contamination of witness statements.