Research-Based Guidelines for Child Forensic Interviews Alison R. Perona Bette L. Bottoms Erin Sorenson SUMMARY. We present important considerations for conducting foren- sic interviews with children who are witnesses to or alleged victims of crime. Specifically, we (a) present the basic principles of the forensic in- terview and review some of the best structured forensic protocols cur- rently available; (b) provide a detailed, practical blueprint for conducting a structured forensic interview and emphasize how the components of the interview are based upon empirical research; and (c) discuss special con- Address correspondence to: Bette L. Bottoms, PhD, Department of Psychology (MC 285), University of Illinois at Chicago, 1007 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60607-7137 (E-mail: bbottoms@uic.edu). The authors would like to thank Aaron Rudnicki and Danielle Lemon for research assistance. They also thank the members of the Cook County (Illinois) Task Force on Intake and Interviewing, a multidisciplinary task force responsible for a manual that preceded and influenced this paper. The foundation of this paper was laid in the authors' book Intake and Forensic In- terviewing in the Children's Advocacy Center Setting: A Handbook (published by Na- tional Network of Children's Advocacy Centers, 1997), which was made possible by grants from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Na- tional Children's Alliance (formerly the National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers). [Haworth co-indexing entry note]: "Research-Based Guidelines for Child Forensic Interviews." Perona. Alison R., Bette L. Bottoms, and Erin Sorenson. Co-published simultaneously in Journal 0.(Aggression, Mal- treatment & Trauma (The Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press. Inc.) Vol. 12, No. 3/4, 2006; and: Ending Chi/dAbl/se: New F;lfo!1s in Prevellfion, Investigation. and Training (ed: Victor 1. Vieth, Bette L. Bottoms, and Alison R. Perona) The Hawotth Maltreatment & Trauma Press, an im- print of The Haworth Press, Inc., 2006. Single or multiple copies of this article are available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service [1-800-HAWORTH, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (EST). E-mail address: docdelivery@haworthpress.coml. Available online at http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JAMT © 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. doi:1O.13001Jl46v12n03_04 81 .. ('