Interview

CJ 140 Project Three Scenario Victim Witness Advocate

You are a victim witness advocate assigned to the district attorney’s office at the local court. As part of your responsibilities, you meet with witnesses and victims before criminal hearings and trials. Part of your job is to explain the criminal proceedings and prepare the witness/victim for what he or she may expect to see and hear during the proceedings. You are preparing to meet with and interview a victim at the courthouse in the days before trial. Your meeting will take place in a meeting room inside the courthouse. The meeting rooms are small. Usually, the only furniture in these meeting rooms is a rectangular table with four hard, wooden chairs. All of these meeting rooms also have a small, tilt-in window with bars on the wall opposite the door; a picture of the current president of the United States and a picture of your state’s supreme court justices on one side of the room; and a copy of the U.S. Constitution on the wall opposite these pictures. Victim: John Smith Suspect: Jane Smith Alleged Facts A male victim and female suspect have been married for over twenty years. The female arrived home, intoxicated, at approximately 1:00 a.m. She entered the marital bedroom and violently attacked the victim. The victim was beaten with closed fists, and his face was stomped and kicked with bare feet. The victim’s screams alerted a neighbor, who dialed 911. Police arrived, conducted their investigation, and arrested Jane Smith. They charged her with domestic assault and battery as well as domestic assault and battery with serious bodily injury. The victim was transported to the hospital, where it was determined he sustained bruising on his torso, a broken rib, a broken nose, and dental injury (a broken tooth). He applied for and was granted a domestic violence protection order. The victim provided and signed a written statement. Jane Smith was arraigned and ordered held in custody pending criminal proceedings due to the risk of danger to the victim. Family History Police have responded to the victim’s residence frequently for disturbances between the couple. None of the previous responses resulted in criminal charges. However, after reviewing those police reports, you note that the husband is identified as the victim and the wife is identified as the aggressor. It is clear based on your case assessment that the husband experiences regular verbal and emotional abuse from his wife. There are no children in the home. Prior to your meeting, you are told the victim “has cold feet” and may no longer want to testify against his wife.

Competency
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:

Apply interviewing types and techniques to collect information
Scenario
You are newly hired victim/witness advocate interviewing a male victim of domestic violence. This requires sensitivity, yet you have a job to do: assess the victim’s readiness for and willingness to participate in the court process. Because you are new to your job, your supervisor would like you to describe your strategy for this interview before you go into the field.

Directions
First, read the Project Three Scenario PDF. Then complete each of the following:

Strategy Part 1: Interview Purpose
To begin your interview strategy, in about one paragraph, describe the purpose and context of the interview. Answer the following questions in your description:

Why are you interviewing this person?
Why do you need this information?
What information do you need to provide to this person?
Strategy Part 2: Setting
Next, explain how the setting impacts an interview. In 250–300 words, answer the following:

What is the impact of the overall setting on the interviewee (the person being interviewed)?
What is the impact of the overall setting on the interviewer (the person conducting the interview)?
Strategy Part 3: Techniques and Strategies
Next, describe the effectiveness of interview techniques and strategies. In 250–300 words, answer the following:

Does your interviewee feel “free to leave”? Why or why not?
What type of body language will you use? Why?
What tone of voice will you use? Why?
Strategy Part 4: Question Types
Next, predict which question types will be the most helpful to gather necessary information. There are seven question types: reflective, directive, pointed, indirect, self-appraisal, diversion, and leading. Answer the following questions as you consider these question types:

What information do you need in this interview?
Which types of questions will help you gain the information you need?
Are there any question types that will be more useful to gain the information you need than others? Why?
Are there any question types that will be less useful to gain the information you need than others? Why?
What are some pitfalls you will want to avoid in creating your questions?
Strategy Part 5: Questions
Finally, to make sure you are fully prepared to conduct this interview, you will need to develop various types of interview questions that will help you gather the information you need.

Note: While preparing questions in advance is a good strategy for any interview situation, you will often have to adjust your questions based on the responses you get from your subject.

Using the information provided in the scenario, complete the following:

Create 5–10 interview questions.
Identify which question type you are creating.
(Hint: You may wish to present your question types and questions as follows: Diversion question: “How long have you lived in the area?”)
What to Submit
To complete this project, you must submit the following:

Word document, Times New Roman, 12-point font.

Supporting Materials
The following resource(s) may help support your work on the project:

Document: Project Three Scenario PDF
This scenario provides background information that will help you complete this project.

Document: Victims Advocate Job Description
This job description provides background information on the role and responsibilities of a victim advocate