OUTCOME-BASED PRACTICE - DISCLOSURE RATES OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE COMPARING ALLEGATION BLIND AND ALLEGATION INFORMED STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

The way in which children are interviewed can make the difference betw een prosecution, protection, or continued abuse. There is a clear need for the development of an interview style that is acceptable in the l egal system without compromising disclosure rate. This study was condu cted to compare the disclosure rate of alleged child sexual abuse vict ims interviewed in a formal forensic setting with a structured ''alleg ation informed'' technique versus a structured ''allegation blind'' te chnique. The only difference between techniques was that the interview er did not know the allegation for condition ''allegation blind.'' Of the 1,535 interviews, 1,330 or 86.64% were conducted ''allegation blin d,'' 196 or 12.76% were conducted ''allegation informed'' and for 9 or .6% the interview type was unknown. The ''allegation blind'' intervie w technique yielded a statistically higher disclosure rate (chi(2) p = .0378). Further research is warranted.