title: Enhancing Interviewing and Outcomes of Children and Adolescents with ADHD within Forensic Settings
Creators: name: Cunial, Kimberley
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
subject: ADHD
subject: Criminal Justice System
subject: perceived awareness
subject: detectives

description: The aim of this thesis was to examine detectives’ perceived awareness of how to recognise, accommodate and support children and adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who come into contact with the Criminal Justice System (CJS) through the investigative interviewing process. This objective was based on a comprehensive body of literature establishing the negative trajectory for youth with ADHD as well as the difficulties in the investigative interviewing process for such youth. The aim of this thesis was investigated through three empirical studies and one discussion paper. This involved three published papers and one paper under review. Study One investigated 46 detectives’ perceptions of the extent to which they encountered ADHD type behaviour in interviewees and their predictions on the likelihood of ongoing CJS contact for these youth. Study One further explored the extent to which detectives perceived ADHD interviewee behaviour to impact their work as well as their ability to identify ADHD as a likely diagnosis in youth interviewees. This involved detectives making ratings based on four purpose-written vignettes. The detectives reported their perception that they encountered a high number of interviewees displaying ADHD-type behaviour in their work. They also reported perceiving such youth to be at a very significant risk of future contact with the Criminal Justice System and and that ADHD-type behaviour exerted a highly significant impact on interviewing time efficiency as well as quality. The detectives provided highly significant ratings of ADHD as a likely explanation of the ADHD type behaviour described in all vignettes. However, they were unable to identify ADHD as the most likely explanation over and above other possible explanations for the behaviour. Study Two explored the perceptions of 102 Child Protection Investigation Unit (CPIU) detectives, regarding the impact of ADHD type behaviour on each of the ten components of the Cognitive Interview (CI), based on four vignettes. CPIU Detectives reported perceiving ADHD type interviewee behaviour to exert a highly significant impact on their ability to implement every components of the CI. In particular, CPIU detectives perceived ADHD type behaviour to exert the most significant impact on the CI components “Encourage Concentration”, “Mentally Recreate” and “Change Order” respectively. Study Three surveyed the same 102 CPIU detectives as surveyed in Study Two. The detectives were surveyed about perceptions of their own skill and knowledge regarding youth interviewees with ADHD; past and present training opportunities in this area; as well as preferences regarding future training. Specifically, CPIU detectives were asked to report their perceptions regarding their own knowledge and skill as well as their potential to access training, regarding the interviewing of youth with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). They were also asked to rate the degree to which they would like to see a new training program developed, which addresses the interviewing of youth with ADHD. Finally, participants were asked to provide pedagogical preferences regarding future training opportunities. The results showed detectives perceived only a moderate ability to recognize ADHD and how it may impact the interviewing process, as well as just an average confidence in their ability to modify the CI to accommodate youth with ADHD. Furthermore, they reported below average satisfaction with past training as well as with their ability to access existing training in the area. These detectives stated a desire for a new training program focused on interviewing youth with ADHD and in particular for this to involve online learning, followed up with workshops and role plays. The final study in this thesis was a discussion paper. This paper summarises the literature reviews and empirical results of the three previously mentioned studies/papers. The findings are drawn together to form a rationale for a future specialized detective training program in this area. Specifically, recommendations are made regarding the design features of a potential specialized training program for detectives interviewing ADHD-affected youth. This includes suggested accommodations and adjustments for each of the ten components of the CI, based on best-practice cited in the literature regarding how schools and families may support youth with ADHD. Such accommodations and adjustments target a range of difficulties in executive function and emotional regulation skills, known to be associated with a diagnosis of ADHD. Recommendations also cover pedagogical considerations such as the mode of delivery, use of resources and format for assessment of competency. Together, the research reported in this thesis provides a strong rationale for future research and detective training development, as well as a potential roadmap to enhanced interviewing and outcomes of children and adolescents with ADHD within forensic settings.