ICDVP Child Witnesses 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When interviewing a child witness to domestic violence, the ICDVP-recommended approach prioritizes:
- Leading questions to confirm what adults suspect
- Open-ended, non-suggestive questioning techniques (Correct answer)
- Asking the child to re-enact the violence physically
- Interviewing the child in the presence of both parents
Correct answer: Open-ended, non-suggestive questioning techniques
Forensic best practices require open-ended, non-suggestive questions to obtain reliable disclosures and avoid contaminating the child's account.
Question 2: Illinois law requires courts to consider a parent's history of domestic violence when making custody determinations primarily because:
- Domestic violence is always a criminal conviction
- Exposure to domestic violence endangers children's safety and well-being (Correct answer)
- Courts must side with the victim parent by default
- Domestic violence only matters if the child was physically harmed
Correct answer: Exposure to domestic violence endangers children's safety and well-being
Illinois courts weigh domestic violence history because children's safety and healthy development are directly jeopardized by exposure to an abusive household.
Question 3: A child witness discloses abuse only to a trusted teacher and not to a parent. The teacher's most appropriate immediate response is:
- Promise the child absolute secrecy
- Notify the abusive parent first
- Fulfill mandatory reporting obligations and provide support to the child (Correct answer)
- Dismiss the disclosure as childhood fantasy
Correct answer: Fulfill mandatory reporting obligations and provide support to the child
Mandatory reporters must report the disclosure to DCFS and should reassure and support the child without making promises of secrecy.
Question 4: The concept of 'secondary traumatic stress' in DV advocates working with child witnesses refers to:
- Trauma symptoms the advocate develops from indirect exposure to clients' trauma (Correct answer)
- Physical injuries sustained during home visits
- Stress from heavy caseloads unrelated to trauma content
- The child's second traumatic episode
Correct answer: Trauma symptoms the advocate develops from indirect exposure to clients' trauma
Secondary traumatic stress occurs when helpers absorb trauma-related distress through repeated exposure to survivors' experiences.
Question 5: Which statement about children's memory and testimony regarding witnessed violence is most accurate?
- Children always fabricate accounts of domestic violence
- Children's accounts are generally reliable when gathered with non-suggestive techniques (Correct answer)
- Young children never have accurate memories of traumatic events
- Memory accuracy is unaffected by the interviewing method used
Correct answer: Children's accounts are generally reliable when gathered with non-suggestive techniques
Research shows children can provide reliable accounts of witnessed events when interviewed with evidence-based, non-leading techniques.
Question 6: In a safety planning session, which strategy is most appropriate to share with a school-age child who has witnessed domestic violence?
- Tell the child to physically intervene to stop the violence
- Identify a safe place to go and a trusted adult to call (Correct answer)
- Advise the child to hide weapons so the abuser cannot find them
- Instruct the child to record arguments for court evidence
Correct answer: Identify a safe place to go and a trusted adult to call
Age-appropriate safety planning teaches children to go to a pre-identified safe location and contact a trusted adult rather than intervening.
Question 7: A batterer's attorney argues that children are 'unharmed' because they were never struck. The evidence-based response is:
- Agree — physical absence of injury means no harm occurred
- Witnessing violence causes documented psychological, neurological, and developmental harm (Correct answer)
- Only infants are harmed by witnessing domestic violence
- Harm requires the child to verbally report feeling scared
Correct answer: Witnessing violence causes documented psychological, neurological, and developmental harm
Extensive research demonstrates that witnessing domestic violence causes significant psychological, neurological, and developmental harm even without direct physical contact.
ICDVP Child Witnesses 3
When interviewing a child witness to domestic violence, the ICDVP-recommended approach prioritizes: