ASSESSING THE CREDIBILITY OF CHILDRENS ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE - A SURVEY OF RECENT RESEARCH

Alarmed by the increasing numbers of alleged incidents of child sexual abuse, forensic psychologists have attempted to learn whether credibl e and implausible allegations can be discriminated reliably. Most atte ntion has focused on components of Statement Validity Analysis (SVA), particularly Criterion-Based Content Analysis (CBCA). Recent studies h ave shown that CBCA scores indeed distinguish plausible from implausib le accounts, although the precision is still too poor to permit forens ic application. Sensitivity may be enhanced by further improvements in the quality of the investigative interviews on which evaluations of c redibility are based, and may be additionally enhanced by development and application of techniques like the Validity Checklist, a little st udied component of SVA.