Pojdi na slovensko stran članka / Go to the article page in Slovene
Police interrogations through the prism of science
Full text (pdf) | Views: 338 | 
Written in English. | Published: March 18, 2016
https://doi.org/10.20419/2016.25.440 | Cited By: CrossRef (2)
Abstract: Several approaches can be employed for information gathering from human sources, differing in their theoretical basis, goals, realisation, and ethical acceptability. The paper critically presents and compares two prevalent approaches to suspect interrogation used by the police. The older, prevalent interrogation approach focuses on obtaining suspects’ incriminating statements and admissions, which severely elevates the risk of false confessions. Consequently, this interrogation approach is termed accusatorial or coercive since suspects are forced to admit to a crime. The newer interrogation approach is the information-gathering approach, also known as the investigative interview. It focuses on gathering accurate information in order to exclude or accuse a suspect in a criminal investigation. In comparison with coercive interrogation models, the information-gathering approach has a lower probability of false confessions since suspects are exposed to significantly lower levels of psychological pressure. Moreover, it is ethically more acceptable, has scientific grounds, enables the gathering of more accurate information, and has been found to be at least as effective as the coercive approach in criminal investigations. The investigative interview relies mainly on findings from social psychology. An analysis of coercive interrogation models reveals that they have no scientific basis and as such rely mainly on uncorroborated common-sense assumptions from authorities. In developed countries, coercive interrogation models are increasingly being replaced by the information-gathering approach, a trend connected with the enforcement of high human rights standards and a higher awareness of risks associated with coercive interrogation methods by the general public, academia, and professionals alike.
Keywords: interrogations, police, suspects, coercion, investigative interview
Cite:
Areh, I. (2016). Police interrogations through the prism of science. Psihološka obzorja, 25, 18–28. https://doi.org/10.20419/2016.25.440
Reference list
Alison, L. J., Alison, E., Noone, G., Elntib, S., Waring, S., & Christiansen, P. (2014). Whatever you say, say nothing: Individual differences in counter interrogation tactics amongst a field sample of right wing, AQ inspired and paramilitary terrorists. Personality and Individual Differences, 68, 170–175. CrossRef
Areh, I. (2011). Forenzična psihologija: Predstavitev, pričanje in ugotavljanje laži [Forensic psychology: Introduction, eyewitness testimony, and detecting lies]. Ljubljana: Fakulteta za varnostne vede. CrossRef
Areh, I., Walsh, D., & Bull, R. (2015). Police interrogation practice in Slovenia. Psychology, Crime and Law. Advance online publication. CrossRef
Areh, I., Zgaga, S., & Flander, B. (2016). Police interrogation in Slovenia: Selected legal and psychological aspects. In D. Walsh, G. Oxburgh, A. Redlich, & T. Myklebust (Eds.), International developments and practices in investigative interviewing and interrogation: Vol. 2. Suspects (pp. 204–214). London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Asch, S. E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 70(9), 1–70. CrossRef
Bond, C. F. & DePaulo, B. M. (2006). Accuracy of deception judgments. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10, 214–234. CrossRef
Bond, R. & Smith, P. B. (1996). Culture and conformity: A meta-analysis of studies using Asch's (1952b, 1956) line judgment task. Psychological Bulletin, 119, 111–137. CrossRef
Brandon, S. E. (2014). Towards a science of interrogation. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 945–946. CrossRef
British Psychological Society. (2004). A review of the current scientific status and fields of application of polygraphic deception detection: Final report from the BPS Working Party. Leicester, United Kingdom: Author.
Bull, R. & Soukara, S. (2010). Four studies of what really happens in police interviews. In G. D. Lassiter & C. A. Meissner (Eds.), Police interrogations and false confessions: Current research, practice, and policy recommendations (pp. 81–95). Washington, DC, USA: American Psychological Association. CrossRef
Buller, D. B., Borland, R., & Burgoon, M. (1998). Impact of behavioural intention on effectiveness of message features: Evidence from the family sun safety project. Human Communication Research, 24, 433–453. CrossRef
Bushman, B. J. (1988). The effects of apparel on compliance: A field experiment with a female authority figure. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 14, 459–467. CrossRef
Bushman, B. J. (1998). Effects of warning and information labels on consumption of full-fat, reduced-fat, and no-fat products. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 97–101. CrossRef
Cialdini, R. B. (2008). Influence: Science and practice. Boston, MA, USA: Allyn and Bacon.
Clarke, C. & Milne, R. (2001). National evaluation of the PEACE investigative interviewing course: Police Research Award Scheme. London, United Kingdom: Home Office.
Clarke, C., Milne, R., & Bull, R. (2011). Interviewing suspects of crime: The impact of PEACE training, supervision, and the presence of a legal advisor. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8, 149–162. CrossRef
Daempfle, P. A. (2014). Good science, bad science, pseudoscience, and just plain bunk: How to tell the difference. Plymouth, United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Deslauriers‐Varin, N., Lussier, P., & St‐Yves, M. (2011). Confessing their crime: Factors influencing the offender's decision to confess to the police. Justice Quarterly, 28, 113–145. CrossRef
Dixon, D. (2010). Questioning suspects: A comparative perspective. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 26, 426–440. CrossRef
Evans, J. R., Meissner, C. A., Ross, A. B., Houston, K. A., Russano, M. B., & Horgan, A. J. (2013). Obtaining guilty knowledge in human intelligence interrogations: Comparing accusatorial and information-gathering approaches with a novel experimental paradigm. Journal of Applied Research in Memory & Cognition, 2, 83–88. CrossRef
Fahsing, A. & Rachlew, A. (2012). Investigative interviewing in the Nordic region. In T. Williamson, B. Milne, & S. Savage (Eds.), International developments in investigative interviewing (pp. 39–65). New York, NY, USA: Routledge.
Flander, B. (2000). Mednarodni mehanizmi in standardi varstva človekovih pravic: posameznik v mednarodnih sistemih varstva človekovih pravic [International mechanisms and standards of human rights protection: An individual in international systems of human rights protection]. In B. Lobnikar & J. Žurej (Eds.), Raziskovalno delo podiplomskih študentov Slovenije: Družboslovje in humanistika [Reseach work of Slovenian postgraduate students: Social sciences and humanities] (pp. 1–15). Ljubljana, Slovenia: Društvo mladih raziskovalcev Slovenije.
Flander, B. & Meško, G. (2013). Punitivnost in kaznovalni populizem v Sloveniji [Punitivity and penal populism in Slovenia]. Revija za kriminalistiko in kriminologijo, 64, 330–344.
Gallini, B. R. (2010). Police 'Science' in the interrogation room: Seventy years of pseudo-psychological interrogation methods to obtain inadmissible confessions. Hastings Law Journal, 61, 529–580.
Goodman-Delahunty, J., Martschuk, N., & Dhami, M. K. (2014). Interviewing high value detainees: Securing cooperation and disclosures. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 883–897. CrossRef
Gudjonsson, G. H. (2003). The psychology of interrogations and confessions: A handbook (2nd ed.). Chichester, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons.
Gudjonsson, G. H., Sigurdsson, J. F., & Sigfusdottir, I. D. (2009). Interrogations and false confessions among adolescents in seven countries in Europe: What background and psychological factors best discriminate between false confessors and non-false confessors? Psychology, Crime and Law, 15, 711–728. CrossRef
Guéguen, N., Pascual, A., & Dagot, L. (2002). Low-ball and compliance to a request: An application in a field setting. Psychological Reports, 91, 81–84. CrossRef
Häkkänen, H., Ask, K., Kebbell, M., Alison, L., & Granhag, P. A. (2009). Police officers' views of effective interview tactics with suspects: The effects of weight of case evidence and discomfort with ambiguity. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 468–481. CrossRef
Holmberg, U. & Christianson, S. Å. (2002). Murderers' and sexual offenders' experiences of police interviews and their inclination to admit or deny crimes. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 20, 31–45. CrossRef
Holmberg, U. & Madsen, K. (2014). Rapport operationalized as a humanitarian interview in investigative interview settings. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 21, 591–610. CrossRef
Horvath, F., Jayne, B., & Buckley, J. (1994). Differentiation of truthful and deceptive criminal suspects in behavior analysis interviews. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 39, 793–807. CrossRef
Horvath, F. & Meesig, R. (1996). The criminal investigation process and the role of forensic evidence: A review of empirical findings. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 41, 963–969. CrossRef
Huff, R. C. & Killias, M. (2008). Wrongful conviction: Conclusions from an international overview. In R. C. Huff & M. Killias (Eds.), Wrongful conviction: International perspectives on miscarriages of justice (pp. 287–300). Philadelphia, PA, USA: Temple University Press.
Inbau, F. E., Reid, J. E., Buckley, J. P., & Jayne, B. C. (2011). Criminal interrogation and confessions (5th ed.). Gaithersberg, MA, USA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
John E. Reid and Associates, Inc. (n.d.). Company information. Retrieved from http://www.reid.com/r_about.html
Kassin, S. M. (2008a). Confession evidence common-sense myths and misconceptions. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35, 1309–1322. CrossRef
Kassin, S. M. (2008b). The psychology of confessions. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 4, 193–217. CrossRef
Kassin, S. M., Appleby, S. C., & Perillo, J. T. (2011). Interviewing suspects: Practice, science, and future directions. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 15, 39–55. CrossRef
Kassin, S. M. & Gudjonsson, G. H. (2004). The psychology of confessions: A review of the literature and issues. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5, 33–67. CrossRef
Kassin, S. M., Kukucka, J., Lawson, V. Z., & DeCarlo, J. (2013). Does video recording alter the behavior of police during interrogation? A mock crime-and-investigation study. Law and Human Behavior, 38, 73–83. CrossRef
Kassin, S. M., Leo, R. A., Meissner, C. A., Richman, K. D., Colwell, L. H., Leach, A. M., & Fon, D. L. (2007). Police interviewing and interrogation: A self-report survey of police practices and beliefs. Law and Human Behavior, 31, 381–400. CrossRef
Kassin, S. M. & Wrightsman, L. S. (1985). Confession evidence. In S. M. Kassin & L. S. Wrightsman (Eds.), The psychology of evidence and trial procedure (pp. 67–94). Beverly Hills, CA, USA: Sage. Retrieved from http://www.williams.edu/Psychology/Faculty/Kassin/files/kassin_wrightsman_1985.pdf
Kebbell, M., Hurren, E., & Mazerolle, P. (2006). An investigation into the effective and ethical interviewing of suspected sex offenders: Final report to the Australian Criminology Research Council.
Kelly, C. E., Miller, J. C., & Redlich, A. D. (2015). The dynamic nature of interrogation. Law and Human Behavior. Advance online publication. CrossRef
Kelly, C. E., Miller, J. C., Redlich, A. D., & Kleinman, S. M. (2013). A taxonomy of interrogation methods. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 19, 165–178. CrossRef
King, L. & Snook, B. (2009). Peering inside the Canadian interrogation room: An examination of the Reid model of interrogation, influence tactics, and coercive strategies. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 36, 674–694. CrossRef
Leakey, R. & Lewin, R. (1979). People of the Lake: Mankind & its beginnings. Dresden, TN, USA: Avon Books.
Leo, R. A. (1996). Inside the interrogation room. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 86, 266–303. CrossRef
Leo, R. A. (2009). Police interrogation and American justice. Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press.
Lykken, D. T. (1998). A tremor in the blood: Uses and abuses of the lie detector. Reading, MA, USA: Perseus Books.
Martin, D. L. (2002). The police role in wrongful convictions: An international comparative study. In J. A. Humphrey & S. D. Westervelt (Eds.), Wrongly convicted: Perspectives on failed justice (pp. 77‐95). Brunswick, OH, USA: Rutgers University Press.
Masip, J., Herrero, C., Garrido, E., & Barba, A. (2011). Is the behaviour analysis interview just common sense? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 593–604. CrossRef
Meissner, C. A., Hartwig, M., & Russano, M. B. (2010). The need for a positive psychological approach and collaborative effort for improving practice in the interrogation room. Law & Human Behavior, 34, 43–45. CrossRef
Meissner, C. A. & Kassin, S. M. (2002). "He's guilty!": Investigator bias in judgments of truth and deception. Law and Human Behavior, 26, 469–480. CrossRef
Meissner, C. A., Redlich, A. D., Bhatt, S., & Brandon, S. (2012). Interview and interrogation methods and their effects on investigative outcomes. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 8(13), 1–53.
Milgram, S. (2009). Obedience to authority: An experimental view. New York, NY, USA: Harper Perennial Modern Classics.
Miller, C. H., Lane, L. T., Deatrick, L. M., Young, A. M., & Potts, K. A. (2007). Psychological reactance and promotional health messages: The effects of controlling language, lexical concreteness, and the restoration of freedom. Human Communication Research, 33, 219–240. CrossRef
Milne, R., Poyser, S., Williamson, T., & Savage, S. (2010). Miscarriages of justice: What can we learn? In J. Adler & J. Gray (Eds.), Forensic Psychology: Concepts, Debates and Practice (pp. 17–36). New York, NY, USA: Willan.
Miron, A. M. & Brehm, J. W. (2006). Reaktanz theorie - 40 Jahre spater [Reactance theory - 40 years later]. Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie, 37(1), 9–18. CrossRef
Nickerson, R. S. (1998). Confirmation bias: A ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises. Review of General Psychology, 2, 175–220. CrossRef
Ogloff, J. R. P. & Finkelman, D. (1999). Psychology and law: An overview. In R. Roesch, S. D. Hart & J. R. P. Ogloff (Eds.), Psychology and law: The state of the discipline (pp. 1– 20). New York, NY, USA: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. CrossRef
Ord, B., Shaw, G., & Green, T. (2011). Investigative interviewing explained (3rd ed.). Sydney, Australia: Butterworths.
Oxburgh, G. E., & Dando C. J. (2011). Psychology and interviewing: What direction now in our quest for reliable information? The British Journal of Forensic Practice, 13, 135–144. CrossRef
Quick, B. L. & Stephenson, M. T. (2008). Examining the role of trait reactance and sensation seeking on perceived threat, state reactance, and reactance restoration. Human Communication Research, 34, 448–476. CrossRef
Redlich, A. D., Kelly, C. E., & Miller, J. C. (2014). The who, what, and why of human intelligence gathering: Self-reported measures of interrogation methods. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 28, 817–828. CrossRef
Redlich, A. D. & Meissner, C. A. (2009). Techniques and controversies on the interrogation of suspects: The artful practice versus the scientific study. In J. Skeem, K. Douglas & S. Lilienfeld (Eds.), Psychological science in the courtroom: Controversies and consensus (pp. 124–148). New York, NY, USA: Guilford Publications.
Shepherd, E. (2007). Investigative interviewing: The conversation management approach. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Silvia, P. J. (2005). Deflecting reactance: The role of similarity in increasing compliance and reducing resistance. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 27, 277–284. CrossRef
Soukara, S., Bull, R., Vrij, A., Turner, M., & Cherryman, J. (2009). What really happens in police interviews of suspects? Tactics and confessions. Psychology, Crime & Law, 15, 493–506. CrossRef
Stephenson, G. M. & Moston, S. J. (1993). Attitudes and assumptions of police officers when questioning criminal suspects. Issues in Criminological & Legal Psychology, 18, 30–36.
Štirn, M. & Podvršič, I. (2003). Zbiranje obvestil od osumljencev [Gathering information from a suspect]. Unpublished manuscript, Ministry of the Interior, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Sullivan, T. P. (2004). Police experiences with recording custodial interrogations. Chicago, IL, USA: Northwestern University School of Law, Center on Wrongful Convictions.
Sullivan, T. P., Vail, A. W., & Anderson, H. W. (2008). The case for recording police interrogation. Litigation, 34(3), 1–8.
Tickle-Degnen, L., & Rosenthal, R. (1990). The nature of rapport and its nonverbal correlates. Psychological Inquiry, 1, 285–293. CrossRef
Vanderhallen, M. & Vervaeke, G. (2014). Between investigator and suspect: The role of working alliance in investigative interviewing. In R. Bull (Ed.), Investigative Interviewing (pp. 63–90). New York, NY: Springer. CrossRef
Vanderhallen, M., Vervaeke, G., & Holmberg, U. (2011). Witness and suspect perceptions of working alliance and interviewing style. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8, 110–130. CrossRef
Vrij, A. (2008). Detecting lies and deceit: Pitfalls and opportunities. Chichester, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons.
Walsh, D. & Bull, R. (2012). How do interviewers attempt to overcome suspects' denials? Psychiatry, Psychology & Law, 19, 151–168. CrossRef
Walsh, D. & Bull, R. (2013). The investigation and investigative interviewing of benefit fraud suspects in the UK: Historical and contemporary perspectives. In B. Cooper, D. Griesel, & M. Ternes (Eds.), Applied issues in investigative interviewing, eyewitness memory, and credibility assessment (pp. 33–58). New York, NY, USA: Springer. CrossRef
Walsh, D. & Milne, R. (2007). Perceptions of benefit fraud staff in the UK: Giving P.e.a.c.e. a chance? Public Administration, 85, 525–540. CrossRef
Walsh, D., Redlich, A. Oxburgh, G., & Myklebust, T. (2016). Interview and interrogations of suspects: Obtaining the truth, not just confessions. In D. Walsh, G. Oxburgh, A. Redlich, & T. Myklebust (Eds.), International developments and practices in investigative interviewing and interrogation: Vol. 2. Suspects (pp. 267–270). London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Wedekind, C. & Milinski, M. (2000). Cooperation through image scoring in humans. Science, 288, 850–852. CrossRef
White, W. S. & Kamisar, Y. (1981). Police interrogation and confessions: Essays in law and policy. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 129, 994–1005. CrossRef
Williamson, T., Milne, B., & Savage, S. P. (2009). International developments in investigative interviewing. Cullompton, United Kingdom: Willan Publishing.
Zimbardo, P. G. (2007). The Lucifer effect: Understanding how good people turn evil. New York, NY, USA: Random House.
Cited By via CrossRef (2)
Examining the Causes and Consequences of Confession-Eliciting Tactics during Interrogation
Joeann M. Salvati, Shannon C. Houck
Journal of Applied Security Research, 2019
https://doi.org/10.1080/19361610.2019.1621508
A free account or not? Its effect upon information yield in strategic interviews with suspects
Martijn L. J. van Beek, Ray Bull, Suzana Mijalkovic
Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 2022
https://doi.org/10.1002/jip.1600
