Dr Kimberlee Burrows is a Research Fellow and lecturer at Deakin University, and a Research Fellow with the Centre For Investigative Interviewing. Dr Burrows has a Bachelor of Law (Hons) and Psychology (Hons) and a background in law and child protection. In 2014 she was awarded a PhD for her thesis entitled Improving the Evidential Quality of Child Witness Interviews about Abuse.
Dr Burrows research role involves working closely with police and legal professionals in Australia and overseas to both (a) incorporate legal requirements into child witness investigative interviewing protocol,and (b) provide legal professionals with professional development around principles of child development and trauma so as to minimise systemic abuse of child witnesses and maximise the quality of their evidence.
In addition to her research, Dr Burrows currently chairs the undergraduate unit Child & Adolescent Development (currently undertaken by approximately 1100 students) and teaches across a variety of Psychology undergraduate units including Psychology in the Criminal Justice System and Individual and Social Development.
In this interview Dr Burrows opens our eyes to the complexity of investigative interviewing, and her passion and energy for researching, developing and supporting the implementation of best practice interviewing in legal systems around the world is inspiring. A quick note - everything Dr Burrows has said in this interview is based on her own views and are not representative of Deakin University.
For all the links Dr Burrows spoke about and her best self-care tip, check out the show notes.