Interviewing suspects: Examining the association between skills,questioning, evidence disclosure, and interview outcomes

Date

2015-04-09

Advisors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

ISSN

1068-316X

Volume Title

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

Type

Article

Peer reviewed

Abstract

The interviewing of suspects is an important element in the investigation of crime. However, studies concerning actual performance of investigators when undertaking such interviews remain sparse. Nevertheless, in England and Wales, since the introduction of a prescribed framework over twenty years ago, field studies have generally shown an improvement in interviewing performance, notwithstanding ongoing concerns largely relating to more demanding aspects (such as building/maintaining rapport, intermittent summarising, and the logical development of topics). Using a sample of 70 real-life interviews, the present study examined questioning and various evidence disclosure strategies, examining their relationships between interview skills and interview outcomes. It was found that when evidence was disclosed gradually (but revealed later) interviews were generally both more skilled and involved the gaining of comprehensive accounts, whereas when evidence was disclosed either early or very late, interviews were found to be both less skilled and less likely to involve this outcome. These findings contribute toward an increased research base for the prescribed framework.

Description

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.

Keywords

Investigative interviewing, evidence disclosure, questioning strategies, PEACE, GQM

Citation

Walsh, D. and Bull, R. (2015) Interviewing suspects:examining the association between skills, questioningevidence disclosure, and interview outcomes. Psychology,Crime and Law, 21(7), pp. 661-680.

Rights

Research Institute