Investigative Interviewing of Child Sex Offender Suspects: Strategies to Assist the Application of a Narrative Framework

摘要

Obtaining a narrative account from a suspect during an investigative interview isnrecommended in the literature as best practice. However, research shows thatninterviewers have difficulty adhering to this recommendation. This paper aims to providenpolice officers who interview sex offender suspects with suggestions that may assist themnin the application of a narrative framework. Our approach involved individual in‐depthninterviews with experts (N = 16: police trainers, detectives, expert witnesses, defencenbarristers, and prosecutors) who were leaders in their relative fields, particularly innrelation to interviews with sex offender suspects. Specifically, the experts were asked tontalk about the process of interviewing and what constitutes a good interview with a sexnoffender suspect. Several strategies that may assist officers in adhering to a narrativenframework were extracted through qualitative analysis of the data. These strategies arendescribed under the following headings: letting the suspects answer the allegations put tonthem, transferring the locus of control to the suspect, adopting strategies to overcomenemotional barriers to reporting, and focusing on the relationship between the suspect andnthe victim. Directions for future research and training intervention are also discussed.