TY - JOUR
T1 - International consensus on effective and ineffective interviewing strategies
T2 - A survey of experienced practitioners
AU - Sivasubramaniam, Diane
AU - Goodman-Delahunty, Jane
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - We explored interviewing practitioners’ views about the effectiveness of a range of diverse interview strategies in the field. An online survey examined 73 interviewing practices comprising six broad strategy types and their perceived effectiveness. Interview practices were rated by a multinational sample of 324 criminal investigators and intelligence operators. Experienced interviewers reported preferences for cooperative, non-coercive information-gathering approaches. Rapport-building was rated highly effective in securing reliable information. Interviewers reported some use of coercive techniques, but more commonly employed procedural justice elements of respect, kindness, genuine concern, and addressing basic interviewee needs to build rapport. They favoured non-coercive presentations of testimonial inconsistencies and evidence. Results demonstrate support by a large, experienced, international sample of interviewing practitioners for rapport-based techniques over coercive techniques and revealed broad consensus on effective strategies. Furthermore, findings demonstrated that this consensus centres around the effectiveness of rapport-based investigative interviewing, rather than coercive or accusatorial techniques.
AB - We explored interviewing practitioners’ views about the effectiveness of a range of diverse interview strategies in the field. An online survey examined 73 interviewing practices comprising six broad strategy types and their perceived effectiveness. Interview practices were rated by a multinational sample of 324 criminal investigators and intelligence operators. Experienced interviewers reported preferences for cooperative, non-coercive information-gathering approaches. Rapport-building was rated highly effective in securing reliable information. Interviewers reported some use of coercive techniques, but more commonly employed procedural justice elements of respect, kindness, genuine concern, and addressing basic interviewee needs to build rapport. They favoured non-coercive presentations of testimonial inconsistencies and evidence. Results demonstrate support by a large, experienced, international sample of interviewing practitioners for rapport-based techniques over coercive techniques and revealed broad consensus on effective strategies. Furthermore, findings demonstrated that this consensus centres around the effectiveness of rapport-based investigative interviewing, rather than coercive or accusatorial techniques.
KW - Accusatorial interviews
KW - investigative interviewing
KW - information-gathering
KW - interrogation
KW - policing
KW - rapport
U2 - 10.1080/15614263.2019.1628756
DO - 10.1080/15614263.2019.1628756
M3 - Article
VL - 22
SP - 921
EP - 937
JO - Police Practice and Research
JF - Police Practice and Research
SN - 1477-271X
IS - 1
ER -