Perspectives on improving communication during police interviews: insights from police officers and individuals convicted of child sexual abuse

Sex offences against children are crimes that are abhorrent to society. Interviews with people suspected of child sexual abuse need to be conducted professionally and with understanding. This process becomes challenging if an officer’s emotional responses and reactions to a suspect’s statements or descriptions hinder the suspect’s ability to provide a full account. To explore this topic, the views of 65 detectives and 32 convicted child sex offenders were gathered regarding four theoretical models related to cognitive distortions and the behaviours commonly referred to as ‘grooming’. Questionnaires were distributed to detectives from four police forces (regions) in England and convicted child sex abuse offenders in an English prison. Content analysis was used to analyse response to open ended questions and Principal Factor Analysis were performed on Likert-scale data. Both detectives and convicted child sex offenders believed that a better understanding of cognitive distortions could increase the likelihood of openness and admissions during interviews. Additionally, both groups perceived that enhanced training would enable officers to more effectively identify and interpret these distortions, resulting in more effective interviews characterised by reduced negativity and aggression.