Lecture 6 Police Psychology Flashcards
What are some guidelines for joining the police?
Age
Previous applications
Criminal histories
Nationality
Tattoos and body piercings
What do the psychologists do when hired by the police?
Assessment and selection
Offender profilers
What is police culture?
Refers to the characteristic patterns of belief, thinking and interaction that police officers tend to share in common
Explain police bias
Where a negative stereotype is developed as a result if repeated interaction of specific groups of people, such as blacks etc
How are the police trained to interview people?
Interview in search of truth
Interview approached with open mind
Fair treatment
Example of a good interview
Communication skills
Conversation management
Empathy
Knowledge of the law
Open mindedness
Appropriate use if pauses.
Example of bad interviews
Use of tactics
Closed questions
Complex questions
Undue use of pressure
What is a cognitive interview?
Procedures for conducting interviews based on the findings of cognitive psychology and communications psychology
What is an enhanced cognitive interview?
Research evidence on effective memory recall
What are the basic principles of the cognitive interview?
Recall in an environment that reproduces the original context
Using a variety of strategies to facilitate memory recall
What should witnesses be encouraged to do?
Repeat everything they can think of
Mentally reinstate the circumstances of the event
Use specific retrieval methods (e.g. Reverse order)
Reports event from alternative perspectives
What are the 5 sequential components of the cognitive interview?
Introduction
Open-minded narration
Probing
Review
Closing
What are the certain characteristics of police officers involved in shootings?
College educated less likely
Females less likely
Lower ranked less likely
Older officers less likely
Previous involvement in shooting more likely
What are the stresses of police work?
Being threatened
Homicides and suicides
Notifying next of kin
Taking children into custody
Traffic accidents
What do the police HAVE to do?
Compulsory counselling sessions
