Child Sexual Abuse Interview : Use of Anatomically Explicit Dolls, Part 2

by Child Welfare Information Gateway

(Page 4 of 8)

Similar questions can and in many cases should be asked about other genitalia and the anus. However, caution should be used in asking questions about erections, semen, and how the semen tastes when there is no independent information that the child is likely to possess such knowledge. This will avoid a circumstance in which the interviewer introduces the child to advanced sexual knowledge.

In cases in which the child spontaneously picks up the dolls, they can be used somewhat differently as an anatomical model as follows: rather than asking children about their own experiences, once the dolls have been undressed, children can be asked what might have happened to the doll, or the doll can be named (using a name other than the child's) and then questions asked about its experiences. This may make the discussion less threatening. Thus, instead of asking a female victim about her own vagina, the interviewer might ask about "this girl's 'peepee'." If positive information is elicited, it is important to ask if something like that happened to the child and, if so, with whom.

Comparable questions can be asked about the naked dolls, rather than their parts. Examples might be:

"What do they do when they have their clothes off?" inviting the child to demonstrate.
"Do the mom and dad ever do anything when they're naked?"
"Show me how they take a bath."
"Does the daddy ever do anything to the girl when she's naked?" If the child affirms, "Can you show me that?"

Again, the interviewer must ascertain that the child is speaking about her/his own experience if the child reveals any knowledge of sexual activity.

Scenario in which the dolls are introduced during the discussion of sexual abuse. Another way the dolls can be used is during the course of verbal disclosure. In this instance, the dolls are used as a demonstration aid. There are several circumstances in which they can be used in this manner. If a child is saying, "I don't want to talk about it," the interviewer may ask the child if she/he prefers or would find it easier to show. Second, the dolls may be used to clarify or obtain more detail about a verbal disclosure, for example, what exactly "humping" is. Third, the dolls may be used as a medium to corroborate the child's verbal statements. It is especially important, with children who are 2 to 6 years old, to get them to clarify or corroborate any verbal disclosures with the dolls. With children aged 6 and older, the evaluator may ask if they prefer to show what happened with dolls, draw a picture, or tell about it.

To introduce the dolls, the interviewer may say to the child that she/he has some dolls that are a little bit different. The interviewer may then select relevant dressed dolls and might ask the child if she/he has ever seen dolls like these before, as they are undressed. Alternatively, the evaluator may introduce one doll, undressing it to show the child how the dolls are different, and then have the child choose the dolls to use to "show what happened." Children may demonstrate by using two (or more) dolls, or they may use the doll and their own bodies.

For example, one 3-year-old girl, when asked to show how Daddy hurt her, using the dolls, picked up the naked adult male doll and thrust his penis into her crotch, saying "unh, unh, unh."

In such a situation, questions can be asked to obtain specific detail, such as:

"Can you show me how far his 'dick' went into your mouth?" "Did anything come out of his 'dick' when he did that?"

"Do you remember what room you were in?" "Were you on the bed or somewhere else?" "Can you show how he did it?"

Some children will not respond when asked to use the dolls to demonstrate the alleged abuse. The interviewer then may proceed to less spontaneous approaches. For example, the child may be asked to point to the place on the child doll where something happened to her/him, and if the child does point, then the child may be asked what exactly happened. Similarly, the interviewer may ask the child to point to the part of the adult doll's body that was used in the encounter, assuming some sort of an encounter has been affirmed. If the child designates a body part, the child is then asked to demonstrate exactly what happened.

Finally, if no information is forthcoming from the approaches already described, the interviewer can ask the child if she/he will answer "yes" or "no" if the interviewer points on the child doll to the parts of the child's body that might have been involved. Alternatively, the interviewer can use the adult male doll to ask the child to reply "yes" or "no" to the parts of the alleged offender's body that might have been involved. These are yes-no questions and therefore fairly close-ended. It is advisable to point to some body parts very unlikely to be involved in order to test for possible "social desirability" responses. If confirming information is elicited, then, of course, the interviewer reverts to more open-ended questions.

Scenario in which the dolls are introduced without any cues. Finally, the dolls can be introduced independent of any opening by the child. If no opportunities for a discussion on sexual abuse have arisen, some professionals will introduce the dolls toward the middle of the interview. However, others prefer to introduce the dolls rather early to elicit material about possible sexual abuse. When used in this manner, the dolls may serve as a memory stimulus or a diagnostic screen, but their major use is as an anatomical model.

Some professionals use the dolls to assist in identifying private (where it's "ok" to touch yourself in private, but where others should not touch you) versus other body parts, or good and bad touch areas. Sometimes touch is differentiated as good (e.g., a hug), bad (e.g., a slap), and trick - which feels good but is bad because it is in a private area. Then the child is asked about any experiences of touching in the private area or bad or trick touching.

Objections have been raised to the concept of good and bad touch, and it may be advisable to avoid using this concept for three reasons. First, the term "touch" is confusing to young children and may foreclose consideration of some types of activity (e.g., licking and object or penile intrusion). Second, the terms, "good" and "bad" may be too vague in that they do not connote the actual body parts. Third, the use of good and bad to refer to breasts, genitalia, and anus may lead to negative perceptions of the private body parts. However, these views of good and bad touch represent professional preference. There is no evidence that the use of the "good touch/bad touch" approach either contaminates or invalidates an interview.

About the Author

www.childwelfare.gov
Formerly the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway provides access to information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families. A service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.