Child Abuse: Training Investigating Officers

• NCJ Number: 177312
• Author(s): G Davies; E Marshall; N Robertson
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 47 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Great Britain Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate
• Sale Source: Great Britain Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This British study examined the police training in child abuse investigations in 12 forces, with attention to the training curriculum and officers' views on the strengths and weaknesses of training, the construction of a national curriculum for training courses, and the introduction of accreditation aimed at securing and maintaining standards in interviewing children.

Abstract

Britain's 1991 Criminal Justice Act established that police officers and social workers should have joint responsibility for conducting investigative interviews with child complainants of sexual abuse. This study examined the training needs of officers involved in this specialized work. Senior officers involved in child protection in the 12 forces agreed to be interviewed and to provide copies of their training materials. These interviews confirmed that there were widespread differences in the length, structure, and content of training among forces; there were also major differences in the organization of teams, tenure rules, and policy on criminal investigation division status. There were considerable concerns about the content and structure of existing training. Regarding content, there needs to be more attention to relevant aspects of child development, the interview of suspects, and the tactics and behavior of sex offenders. Regarding the structure of courses, there were calls for trainers to have operational experience, a greater emphasis on interviewing practice, and more opportunities to learn from viewing actual interviews. Officers supported the concept of a national curriculum. This project used information derived from interviews, focus groups, and existing training materials as well as current research findings on interviewing to construct an outline national curriculum. This curriculum envisages a two-part course spaced over three working weeks, the bulk of which was thought appropriate for both police officer and social worker trainees. 18 references and appended example of how material from the outline national curriculum might be distributed across a 3- week training course