Learning disabilities: Children benefit from multiple interviews

Children with learning disabilities are more communicative in police interviews if they are questioned on different occasions, say researchers.

Research conducted at Cambridge University looked into 20 cases of reported sexual and physical abuse in Sweden.  It highlighted that in 80% of the cases, new and different information was gathered in later interviews.

“We’re hoping it might eventually prompt a change in policy to encourage investigators to provide more than one opportunity for children with intellectual disabilities to talk about abusive experiences.  This may help maximise the number of useful leads,” said one of the researchers, Dr La Rooy, senior psychology lecturer at Kingston University.

The research was funded by the Crime Victim Foundation in Sweden and was carried out by professors from Linkoping University, Sweden and Kingston University.

Readers have asked Community Care to highlight good practice ensuring people with learning disabilities know their rights and know how to report a crime .

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Caroline Lovell