BEYOND ANATOMICAL DOLLS - PROFESSIONALS USE OF OTHER PLAY THERAPY TECHNIQUES

Many researchers have recently focused on professionals' use of anatomical dolls. This focus is appropriate since professionals who use anatomical dolls have drawn so much fire, and since anatomical dolls have recently been barred from court proceedings in some states (Yates & Terr, 1988). However, the current emphasis on anatomical dolls has presented a skewed picture of sexual abuse evaluations. This emphasis seems to indicate that anatomical dolls are the only tools that professionals use to evaluate cases of sexual abuse. The present study asks professionals who work with suspected victims of sexual abuse to indicate if they use techniques in addition to anatomical dolls, and which techniques they use. The study also examines whether factors such as sex of the interviewer, profession of the interviewer (mental health vs. law enforcement), expectation of the interviewer (believe that children do not lie about sexual abuse vs. interview neutrally), and years of experience with child victims influences the number of techniques that professionals use. © 1992.