ABSTRACT
Investigations often involve interviewing about acts that were perpetrated repeatedly over time. For example, crimes of a repeated nature include many cases of child physical and sexual abuse, neglect, sex and labor trafficking, drug dealing, and domestic violence. Investigations into unsafe labor practices, or interviews with asylum-seekers (many of whom have experienced ongoing violence) may also require interviewing about repeated events. Activities that occur repeatedly are paradoxical in memory because they are both easier and more difficult to remember than single or infrequent experiences. The present chapter aims to explain this paradox and discuss special considerations for interviewing people about repeated experiences. The primary focus is on the questioning of child victims due to the relatively large body of extant research devoted to children’s repeated-event memory and the added challenges associated with interviewing children. Nevertheless, applications to interviews with adult victims, as well as suspects of repeated crimes, are discussed.
