Use of anatomical dolls by Boston-area professionals

Anatomical dolls are a widely used but controversial tool for interviewing child victims of sexual abuse. The present research examines how a representative sample of professionals who evaluate children actually use the dolls. Contrary to past reports, the results revealed that 96.6% of professionals who use the dolls had received training in anatomical doll use, 77.8% followed some standard protocol for interviewing, and 97.3% had at least 1 year of experience with anatomical dolls. The results also revealed that the majority of professionals did not engage in the "leading" behaviors of presenting unclothed dolls to children or undressing the dolls for the child, again contrary to past reports. The present research indicates that the professionals in this sample are more experienced and better trained than is typically thought.