Assessing the quality of interviews with children alleging sexual abuse in Scotland

Child sexual abuse is a significant problem in the UK. The key to successful prosecution of child sexual abuse lies in investigators conducting high quality victim interviews that are based on guidelines provided by the Home Office (2002) and the Scottish Executive (2003). However, previous research has shown that just because scientifically based guidelines are made available by the Government, investigative agencies do not always follow them (Sternberg et al., 2001). It is currently unknown whether the interview guidelines for Scotland are actually being adhered to by interviewers. If this is the case, there is a need for quantitative assessment of the quality of interviews currently being conducted so that training resources can be effectively directed.