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In the United Kingdom alone, it is estimated that between 550,000 - 850,000 individuals pose varying degrees of sexual risk to children (with a central estimate of 700,000; National Crime Agency, 2021). Whilst the interview process is central to information gathering, empirical research focusing on child sexual abuse (CSA) suspect interviewing is limited. The present study analyses 45 hours of interviews with CSA suspects using the Observing Rapport-Based Interpersonal Techniques (ORBIT) framework. Originally used to code interviews with terrorist suspects (see Alison et al., 2013), this is the first application of ORBIT to another offender population. The ORBIT framework consists of three elements: (i) Motivational Interviewing skills (MI; Miller & Rollnick, 2009) include autonomy, acceptance, adaptation, empathy, and evocation; and (ii) the Interpersonal Behaviour Circle (IBC; Leary, 1955) measures interviewer and suspect interactions along two orthogonal dimensions (control-capitulate and confront-cooperate). Each IBC quadrant has adaptive (promoting conversation) and maladaptive (hampering communication) facets. The third element of ORBIT is an outcome measure of information that is of evidential significance or intelligence value – the ‘interview yield’. Multilevel structural equation modelling revealed interviewer adaptive/maladaptive behaviours had a direct impact on suspect adaptive/maladaptive behaviours respectively which, in turn, were associated with interview yield. Further, MI was associated with decreased suspect maladaptive (though not increased adaptive) behaviours. The study provides further support for the ORBIT research from Alison et al. (2013) in a new criminal population. It highlights that interviewers who adopt a rapport- based and interpersonally skilled approach will have information-gathering success with CSA suspects. |
