Methods of Interviewing in Criminological Psychology/PEACE & PACE model

INTERVIEWING

• Gudjonsson (1992) identifies four categories of people who may be interviewed by police

  • Victims of the offence

  • Witnesses

  • Suspects

  • Complainants - people who report crime

• ‘Standard Police Interview’ - describes how untrained police investigators interview witnesses (Geiselman et al, 1995)

• According to Gudjonsson, this has four stages:

  • Orientation - purpose of interview stated/legal requirements fulfilled

  • Listening - free recall of events w/ minimal interruptions

  • Q+A’s - questions to fill gaps/reduce ambiguity of information

  • Advice - finished statements/inform on any potential further action

• Research suggests SPI’s have features against quality of testimony e.g. sequencing of questions asked by want of specific details as opposed to order of events and frequent interruptions so interviewees only spoke when asked (Fisher et al, 1987)

• Recommended witnesses speak 80% of the time with techniques to enhance recall (Shepherd, 2007)

COGNITIVE INTERVIEWING

• Suggested by Geiselman et al (1985) around the retrieval of memory is more likely if the information in cue overlaps with information in the memory trace

• Police should interview in ways that maximise the availability of the retrieval cue whilst avoiding leading Q’s that contaminate recall

• The following methods are required:

  • Reinstate context: witness asked to imagine being in the situation (environment and emotional state)

  • Report all: everything witnessed - may include reporting events that appear insignificant

  • Change the order: recall events in reverse

  • Change perspective: witness recalls events from a different POV/angle

• Interview process should be explained first, then handed over to witness. Establishment of a social relationship between the interviewer and the witness

• Non-directive verbal prompts used to keep…