Boulton, L (2017) Exploring the Decision Making of Police Officers Investigating Cases of Child Abuse within the Family. In: Conference Proceedings of The 13th International Conference On Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM13) . (NDM13: 13th International Conference on Naturalistic Decision Making, 20 June 2017 - 23 June 2017, University of Bath, Bath, UK).

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Abstract

Identifying the cognitive processes underlying investigative decision making in cases of child abuse is vital for reducing risk to safeguarding and justice through improved training. Despite this, very little research has been conducted into this specialised field. This study begins to address this gap by intitially exploring the decision making of four British Senior Investigating Offciers (SIOs) during challenging cases of child abuse using Cognitive Task Analysis methods. Whilst a range of cognitive, situational and organisational factors were identified as impacting on the decision making of the investigators, safeguarding was considered to be ‘paramount’ despite conflict with traditional investigative goals. This study provides some insight into the investigative decision making processes of specialist teams, but should be considered as a pilot study which will inform the design and provide a rationale for the proposal of a larger, more comprehensive study into SIO decision making in cases of child abuse.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Divisions:	Justice Studies (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	University of Bath
Date Deposited:	27 May 2020 11:40
Last Modified:	13 Apr 2022 15:18
Editors:	Gore, J and Ward, P
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/12983

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