The Interactional Costs of “Neutrality” in Police Interviews with Child Witnesses

This paper concerns the interactional dilemma between displaying affiliation and doing being neutral. is highly salient in police interviews with child witnesses where interviewing guidelines encourage officers to take a neutral stance avoid steering children’s stories. In this article, we use conversation analysis analyze childrens’ volunteered accounts of their own role during alleged offense, e.g., how they resisted. Such make relevant affiliative uptakes such as approval, disagreement, or reassurance that may be seen nonneutral. Hence, these raise dilemmas for officers: Should do what interactionally follow guidelines? Our shows display deal children add it by pursuing something more than neutralistic uptakes. The upshot attempting interaction cause apparently undesirable difficulties. data are from Netherlands.