Week 7 (Core Notes) - Strategies and questions for interviews

Question 1

What interrogation technique is more commonly used in the United States/Canada?

Answer 1

The Reid technique

Question 2

What does gaining a confession mean for a criminal investigation?

Answer 2

• The defendants who confess are more likely to be convicted.
• 2 assumptions govern this conviction (generally); they are guilty OR have been physically coerced.

Question 3

What are the characteristics of physical coercion?

Answer 3

• Stems from the use of torture in the middle ages & referred to as enhanced interrogation (authority figure).
• Undermines credibility of confessions bc unreliable and places investigation in jeopardy (risk of loss)

Question 4

Differentiate between goals of questioning, interviewing and interrogating.

Answer 4

Questioning: encourage person to provide reliable info pertaining to alleged offence (witnesses, victims, suspects)
Interviewing: encourage person to provide you with confirmation of known elements of alleged offence in formal setting. (witnesses, victims, suspects)
Interrogation: To acquire confession from individual regarding alleged offence (suspects).

Question 5

What does the Reid technique entail?

1. Definition
2. Characteristics
3. Example

Answer 5

1. interview technique for effectively coaxing confession in interrogation
2. Reid Technique - 3 stages
   - Collection of evidence
   - Pre-interrogation interview (non-accusatorial interview/determine whether suspect is lying)
   - Interrogation - Guilty suspects only
3. Manipulating anxiety - on the premise that perps fear confessing/consequences, thus remain deceptive. Thus, interrogators must reframe this premise to instil fear associated with remaining deceptive > fear of the consequences of confessing. 2 ways to do this;

• Incr. anxiety towards remaining deceptive
• Decrease fear of consequences of confessing.

Question 6

What are the 9 interrogation principles? (Reid Technique).

Answer 6

1. Confront suspect with (fake) evidence (maximisation)
2. Develop themes to excuse the crime (minimisation)
3. Interrupt denials
4. Suspect becomes quiet and withdrawn
5. Reduce distance (maximisation)
6. Sympathy and understanding (minimisation)
7. Offer face-saving explanations (minimisation)
8. Develop admissions into full confession.
9. Suspect writes and signs full confession.

Question 7

What do interrogators look for when detecting deception?

Reid Technique

Answer 7

• verbal cues: long pauses before a response or qualified and rehearsed responses - indicates fabrication, cognitive load
• non-verbal cues: gaze aversion + frozen slouched, groomed posture (principle 4).
• behavioural attitudes: anxiety, lack of concern or guarded attitude.

Question 8

Identify and describe the 3 types of false confessions

Answer 8

Voluntary false confessions: Offered by innocent, with no encouragement.
- Incentives: Notoriety, delusion, need to protect someone else.
Coerced - compliant false confessions: Suspect confesses, despite being aware that fully innocent usually in response to coercion.
- incentives: Need to escape aversive situation, avoid explicit/implied threat, possible promised/implied reward.
- other incentives: perceived short term benefits of confessing/perceived long term costs of confessing.
Coerced Internalised false confessions: suspect believes he/she is guilty insofar as the suspect confabulates a false details/memories.
Possible explanations;
- Authority may claim to have privileged insight, subject is malleable, conducted in very isolation place, interrogation make invoke repression/disassociation (commonly associated with anxiety).

Question 9

What is the PEACE Model?
1. Definition
2. Characteristics
3 Example/s

Answer 9

1. Conversational, non-accusatory, non-confrontational approach to acquiring information during an interview (developed 1992, UK). Designed to gain accurate info, reduce possibility of false confessions resulting from persuasive/aggressive interrogation techniques.
   2.
   - Preparation and planning: formulating aims and objectives
   - Engage and explain: Establish rapport with interviewee
   - Account: obtaining account of person being interviewed: 2 methods = cognitive interview (w/ cooperative witnesses and suspects), conversation management (recommended when cog interview techniques not working.
   - Closure: investigator summarises main points of interview and gives the interviewee opportunity to correct or add information.
   - Evaluate: End of interview = information gathered is evaluated - implications on investigation.