Posted: February 26th, 2023

Practice Activity: Interview Setting

Prompt

Setting can have a significant impact on the outcome of an interview. It can drive the behavior of both the interviewer and the interviewee. This assignment will help you practice identifying the type of setting in which an interview is taking place and how that setting affects both the interviewer and the interviewee. It also will help prepare you to address setting questions in your Project Three assignment. To complete this activity, read the three scenarios contained in the template and respond to the accompanying questions.

For this assignment, you will respond to three different scenarios and will be graded on your responses to the three scenarios in one set of rubric criteria, as shown in the rubric below.

Specifically, the following rubric criteria must be addressed in the

Module Seven Practice Activity Template Word Document

:

• Scenario 1

  Identify the setting of the interview as formal or informal.
  Describe how the setting is formal or informal.
  Describe how the setting affects the interviewee.
  Describe how the setting affects the interviewer.

• Scenario 2

  Identify the setting of the interview as formal or informal.
  Describe how the setting is formal or informal.
  Describe how the setting affects the interviewee.
  Describe how the setting affects the interviewer.

• Scenario 3

  Identify the setting of the interview as formal or informal.
  Describe how the setting is formal or informal.
  Describe how the setting affects the interviewee.
  Describe how the setting affects the interviewer.

Guidelines for Submission

This assignment must be completed using the Module Seven Practice Activity Template. Please use complete sentences when filling out your template. Any references must be cited in APA format.

Shapiro Library APA Style Guide

CJ 140 Module Seven Practice Activity Template

To complete this template, replace the bracketed text with the relevant information. An example has been provided.

Example

Scenario

Would you consider this setting to be formal or informal?

How is the setting formal or informal? (Answer this question in 1–3 sentences.)

How does the setting affect the interviewee and his or her willingness to share information? (Answer this question in 2–4 sentences.)

How does the setting affect the interviewer? (Answer this question in 2–4 sentences.)

You are a caseworker for the Department of Children and Families in your area. You are conducting a home visit with a family for the first time. The family was referred to you by the local police for possible child neglect. The goal of the visit is to take basic notes on the condition of the home and interview the family to determine if additional intervention is needed.

Informal

The setting is informal because it’s taking place in the home of the person being interviewed.

The interviewees should feel very willing to share information since there is no immediate threat of being detained. However, they may be nervous because they probably feel they have to say the right things or have their house look a certain way if they’re worried about their child or children being taken away.

Note: Be sure to cite any resources you use in support of your answer in the References section.

The interviewer is at a disadvantage in regard to controlling the environment since the interview is taking place in a private home. I would try to sit at the dining table directly across from the female and at an angle to the male (if both are present). I would sit across from the female to make her feel more comfortable since I am male, and I would sit at an angle to the male to make the interview less confrontational.

Note: Be sure to cite any resources you use in support of your answer in the References section.

Scenario 1

Scenario

Would you consider this setting to be formal or informal?

How is the setting formal or informal? (Answer this question in 1–3 sentences.)

How does the setting affect the interviewee and his or her willingness to share information? (Answer this question in 2–4 sentences.)

How does the setting affect the interviewer? (Answer this question in 2–4 sentences.)

You are an investigator at your local law enforcement agency. You have scheduled an interview with a 12-year-old female who has filed a report with your agency that she has been sexually abused by her mother’s live-in boyfriend. She will be arriving at your location in the care and custody of her aunt, who has temporary custody of her.

[Insert text.]

[Insert text.]

[Insert text.]

[Insert text.]

Scenario 2

Scenario

Would you consider this setting to be formal or informal?

How is the setting formal or informal? (Answer this question in 1–3 sentences.)

How does the setting affect the interviewee and his or her willingness to share information? (Answer this question in 2–4 sentences.)

How does the setting affect the interviewer? (Answer this question in 2–4 sentences.)

You are a patrol officer sent to investigate a shoplifting incident. You arrive at a local shopping mall, where a 15-year-old juvenile male has allegedly stolen a video game console. The juvenile suspect is being detained in the mall security office.

[Insert text.]

[Insert text.]

[Insert text.]

[Insert text.]

Scenario 3

Scenario

Would you consider this setting to be formal or informal?

How is the setting formal or informal? (Answer this question in 1–3 sentences.)

How does the setting affect the interviewee and his or her willingness to share information? (Answer this question in 2–4 sentences.)

How does the setting affect the interviewer? (Answer this question in 2–4 sentences.)

You are working at the local courthouse as a victim witness advocate and are meeting with a victim of a domestic assault and battery. The purpose of the interview is to prepare the victim for an upcoming criminal trial.

[Insert text.]

[Insert text.]

[Insert text.]

[Insert text.]

References

[Insert references.]

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