ABSTRACT Background: Legal cases and research have shown that due to suggestive therapeutic interventions, people can start to remember abuse that they never experienced. Some of these people eventually retract their claims of abuse. This study examined the memory reports of self-defined retractors of abuse and the prevalence of nonbelieved memories. Method: In this study, a retrospective survey method was used to investigate 56 individuals who had retracted their claims of abuse. We examined details, plausibility, beliefs, and recollections of the abuse before and after retraction, as well as the reasons for withdrawing their belief and the outcomes of both recovered and retracted memories. Results: Twenty-four participants took significantly longer to retract the memories than to initially recover them. The belief in the occurrence of the abusive event and personal plausibility scores were significantly lower after the retraction, whereas the recollection scores were similar before and after the retraction. The main reason for withdrawing the belief in the abuse-related memory was the emergence of external evidence putting doubt on the retractors' claims. After the withdrawal of the memories, some retractors (n = 17, 70.83%, 95% CI [52.6%, 0.89%]) believed that they gained more benefits (e.g., giving them a new chance to re-build their lives and to establish new relationships with others). Conclusion: While the reliability of retractors' reports is unclear, these findings support related work on retractor memory reports and highlight the presence of nonbelieved memories within retractors' memory reports.

RESUMEN Antecedentes: Los casos judiciales y la investigación han demostrado que debido a intervenciones terapéuticas sugestivas, los pacientes pueden recordar abuso que no han sufrido. Algunos de estos se retractan de las denuncias de abuso. En esta investigación se analizan las memorias de testigos que se retractaron de las denuncias de abusos y la prevalencia de memorias implantadas. Método: Se investigó mediante un método de encuesta retrospectiva a 56 pacientes que se retractaron de la denuncia de abuso. Se analizaron los detalles, la verosimilitud, creencias y recuerdos del abuso antes y después de retractarse, así como los motivos por los que desistieron de la creencia en el abuso y los resultados de las memorias recuperadas y retractadas. Resultados: 24 participantes tardaron significativamente más en asumir la memoria de retractación de la denuncia que en la recuperación inicial de la memoria de abuso. La creencia sobre la realidad del evento de abuso y la plausibilidad de este fueron significativamente menores después de retractarse, mientras que los recuerdos eran semejantes antes y después de retractarse. El motivo principal para retractarse de la creencia en el recuerdo relacionado con el abuso fue la aparición de la prueba externa que sembró dudas en la declaración de quienes se retractaron. Tras haber desistido del recuerdo implantado, algunos de los que se retractaron (n = 17, 70.83%, 95% CI [52.6%, 0.89%]) manifestaron haberse beneficiado (e.g., les había dado una nueva oportunidad para reconstruir su vida y establecer nuevas relaciones con otros). Conclusión: Aunque no está clara la fiabilidad de los informes de los testigos que se retractan, los resultados avalan la investigación de la memoria de los testigos que se retractan y destacan la presencia de memorias implantadas en las declaraciones de los que se retractan.

Conhecer as diferentes etapas do desenvolvimento humano é uma competência essencial para o entrevistador em contexto policial e forense. É imprescindível adaptar a entrevista em função da avaliação das competências da testemunha. Este artigo caracteriza as etapas do desenvolvimento humano ao longo da infância e adolescência, destacando o desenvolvimento da memória e outras competências relevantes para a entrevista de testemunhas. Analisou-se ainda a adequabilidade de várias metodologias utilizadas para este fim, salientando algumas diretrizes fundamentais para a condução de uma boa entrevista. Por fim, focou-se na Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada enquanto técnica promissora para entrevistar crianças e adolescentes. Pretende-se não apenas rever de forma crítica a literatura existente, mas também construir um guia para os profissionais desta área.

Knowing the different developmental stages is an essential skill for the forensic or police interviewer. It is crucial to adapt the interview according to the witness developmental assessment. This article describes the stages of human development throughout childhood and adolescence, with particular emphasis on the development of memory and other skills involved in the interview process. The appropriateness of several methodologies used for interviewing child witnesses is discussed, as well as some fundamental guidelines for conducting a good interview. Lastly, the article focuses on the Enhanced Cognitive Interview as a promising technique for interviewing children and adolescents. The aim of this study is not only to critically review the existing studies, but also to write a guide for professionals in this area.

A entrevista de testemunhas é um procedimento fundamental no decurso das investigações policiais e avaliações forenses. No entanto, o conhecimento, formação e treino destes profissionais para entrevistar testemunhas é frequentemente insuficiente, levando ao uso de técnicas de entrevista inadequadas e à obtenção de informação limitada e pouco fidedigna. Neste artigo abordamos a Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada, atualmente aceite como um dos métodos mais eficazes para obter bons testemunhos. Descrevemos pormenorizadamente esta entrevista, quais os pressupostos teóricos que justificam a sua utilização, incidindo ainda sobre a investigação relevante. Por fim, elaboramos um guia de utilização para esta entrevista baseado nos resultados da investigação e no modelo utilizado pelas forças policiais de Inglaterra e Gales (i.e. “PEACE”). Não existindo nenhum outro protocolo publicado em língua portuguesa para a aplicação da Entrevista Cognitiva Melhorada, consideramos a leitura deste artigo um primeiro passo para todos os profissionais que pretendam utilizar este modelo de entrevista.

Interviewing witnesses is a fundamental procedure during police investigations and forensic evaluations. However, professionals” knowledge, training and experience to interview witnesses is often scant, leading to the use of improper interview techniques and the obtaining of limited and unreliable information. In this paper we address the Enhanced Cognitive Interview, currently accepted as one of the most effective methods to obtain good accounts. We fully describe this interview, the theoretical principles that justify its use, and the relevant research. Lastly, we have developed a Portuguese guide for using this interview, based on research and on the interviewing approach used by police forces in England and Wales (i.e. “PEACE”). Since no other protocol for the implementation of the Enhanced Cognitive Interview has been published in Portuguese, we consider reading this article a first step for all professionals that wish to use this style of interviewing.

Recent research has demonstrated that the way in which interviewers reveal information/evidence to interviewees/suspects can produce noticeable differences between truthful and deceptive verbal statements. However, very little of this research has involved adolescents. In the present study, 12 to 14 year old adolescents were asked to commit (n = 26) or not to commit (n = 26) a mock crime and at interview to deny involvement in this crime. Prior to interview some information about each adolescent's behaviour was made available to the interviewer but this was not enough to enable determination of whether he or she had committed the crime. The interviewer revealed such information either at the beginning of the interview (the 'traditional method'), at the end of the interview (as pioneered by the 'SUE' technique), or gradually. The interviews were analysed for interviewees' 'evidence omissions' and 'statement-evidence contradictions'. As predicted, liars omitted more crime-related information/details and their statements were significantly more inconsistent with the information/evidence known to/ disclosed by the interviewer. The timing of the interviewer's evidence revelation had a significant effect on liars' mentioning during their free recall of some of this information and on the total number of details mentioned in free recall.

Investigaciones recientes han demostrado que la forma en que los entrevistadores revelan información/ pruebas a los entrevistados/sospechosos puede producir diferencias considerables entre declaraciones orales verdaderas y falsas. Sin embargo, muy poca investigación se ha centrado en adolescentes. En este estudio se pidió a adolescentes de 12 a 14 años que cometieran (n = 26) o no cometieran (n = 26) un delito en un contexto de simulación y que negaran en una entrevista la participación en dicho delito. Previamente a la entrevista se le proporcionó al entrevistador cierta información sobre la conducta de cada adolescente, pero no era suficiente para establecer si había cometido el delito. El entrevistador revelaba dicha información bien al inicio de la entrevista ('método tradicional'), bien al final (como establece la técnica SUE) o gradualmente. En las entrevistas se analizó la 'omisión de pruebas' y las 'contradicciones en la declaración'. En consonancia con las predicciones, los mentirosos omitían más información/detalles relacionados con el delito y sus declaraciones eran significativamente más incongruentes con la información/pruebas conocidas/reveladas por el entrevistador. La dosificación temporal con la que el entrevistador revelaba las pruebas tuvo un efecto significativo en la declaración de los mentirosos durante el recuerdo libre de la información y en el número total de detalles mencionados en el recuerdo libre.