An Evaluation of Victim Centered, Trauma Informed Interview Training for Sexual Assault Investigators using Standardized Patient Actors: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Kentucky, 2019-2022 (ICPSR 38497)
Version Date: Jan 16, 2024 View help for published
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Bradley A. Campbell, University of Louisville;
Rachel Carter, University of Louisville
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38497.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
In 2019, the National Institute of Justice funded the University of Louisville and the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training to form a multidisciplinary team that implemented and evaluated a 40-hour training course on victim centered, trauma informed interview techniques for sexual assault investigators. This study used a randomized experimental design to assign 8 training courses to treatment (4 courses) and control (4 courses) groups between November of 2019 and August of 2021 to assess the effects of training on behavioral, attitudinal, and cognitive outcomes.
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None
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Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.
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Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The goal of the study was to use a randomized experimental design to evaluate a new training program offered to officers in Kentucky that aimed to improve police officers' response to victims through exposure to victim centered, trauma informed interview techniques.
This study sought to answer the following research questions:
- Does victim centered, trauma informed (VCTI) training improve police officers' knowledge of sexual assault trauma and victim behaviors as measured by the Ask Perceptions of Victim Behaviors (PVB) scale?
- If VCTI training does initially improve police officers' knowledge of trauma and victim behaviors, are the improvements maintained?
- Does VCTI training reduce rape myth acceptance as measured by the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale Short Form (IRMA-SF) scale?
- If VCTI training does reduce rape myth acceptance, do these reductions remain stable?
- Does VCTI training improve police officers' comfort with interviewing survivors as measured by the Confidence with Interviewing (CWI) scale?
- If VCTI training improve police officers' confidence with interviewing scores, are these improvements maintained?
- Does VCTI training improve police officers' performance in interviews with standardized patients portraying survivors of sexual assault?
Study Design View help for Study Design
This study used a randomized experimental design to assign 8 training courses to treatment (4 courses) and control (4 courses) groups to assess the effects of training on behavioral, attitudinal, and cognitive outcomes. Police officers participated in a 40-hour training program focused on improving responses to survivors of sexual assault by exposing officers to victim centered, trauma informed (VCTI) interviewing techniques. A portion of the training used standardized actors to portray survivors of sexual victimization in simulated interviews with officers enrolled in the course. The control group completed simulated interviews on the first day of training after a brief 1-hour introduction to the course. Control group members also completed a second interview after learning about VCTI techniques. The treatment group completed simulated interviews after receiving the VCTI training. All study participants were asked to complete a pre-training paper and pencil survey on the first day of training after a brief 1-hour introduction to the course. Participants were also asked to complete a post-training paper and pencil survey on the final day of the training course. Finally, all course participants were emailed a long-term follow-up survey at least six months after completing the training program.
Participants in the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training (KYDOCJT) VCTI course were recruited by advertising the training program through the KYDOCJT website and at meetings held by the Kentucky Sexual Assault Response Team Advisory Committee (SART-AC) and the Kentucky Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Task Force (KySAKI Task Force). On average, 14.13 officers attended each course producing a sample of 113 officers who completed the training.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Police officers in the Commonwealth of Kentucky
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Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
Variables include information related to demographics, training and experience, self control items, perceptions about crime victim behaviors, a rape myth acceptance scale, knowledge of trauma informed responses and Kentucky laws, and comfort with interviewing sexual assault survivors.
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
A sample of 113 officers who completed the training. Of these 113 officers, completed surveys were available from 95 training participants producing a survey response rate of 84.07 percent. Additionally, audio and/or video recordings of officer interviews were available for 88 of the 113 course participants, producing a simulated interview response rate of 77.88 percent.
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
Perceptions of Victim Behaviors (PVB)
Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale Short Form (IRMA-SF)
Comfort with Interviewing Victims (CWI)
Simulated Interview Dependent Variables: Officer Interview Performance
Investigator Rapport Building (IRB)
Elements of the Offense (EOO)
Use of Victim Centered, Trauma Informed Interview Techniques (UVCTI)
Self Control Items (adopted from the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS))
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2024-01-16
Version History View help for Version History
2024-01-16 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Created variable labels and/or value labels.
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Notes
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This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.