The impact of interpreters on the forensic interview
Abstract
As the United States population grows, more people are speaking languages other than English. It will be increasingly difficult to conduct sound forensic interviews when the investigator does not speak the same language as the community members who are interviewed. In these cases interpreters must be used as mediators. Most research on interpreters has been qualitative. In contrast, this study used a quantitative approach to look at the amount of information transmitted and remembered among interviewers, interpreters and witnesses during the interview process. This study also examined the role of the interpreter and the perceptions of participants regarding the effectiveness of the interview. While the data did not support the hypotheses that groups with Interpreters would perform worse than groups without Interpreters, an effective paradigm to study interpreters has been established.
Subject Area
Social psychology|Psychology|Experiments|Cognitive therapy
Recommended Citation
Pruss, Nicole, "The impact of interpreters on the forensic interview" (2007). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI1444106.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1444106