Outcome-based practice: Disclosure rates of child sexual abuse comparing allegation blind and allegation informed structured interviews

Abstract

The way in which children are interviewed can make the difference between prosecution, protection, or continued abuse. There is a clear need for the development of an interview style that is acceptable in the legal system without compromising disclosure rate. This study was conducted to compare the disclosure rate of alleged child sexual abuse victims interviewed in a formal forensic setting with a structured “allegation informed” technique versus a structured “allegation blind” technique. The only difference between techniques was that the interviewer did not know the allegation for condition “allegation blind.” Of the 1,535 interviews, 1,330 or 86.64% were conducted “allegation blind,” 196 or 12.76% were conducted “allegation informed” and for 9 or .6% the interview type was unknown. The “allegation blind” interview technique yielded a statistically higher disclosure rate ( X 2 p = .0378). Further research is warranted.