Investigative Interviewing: Psychology and Practice

by Rebecca Milne, Ray Bull

Well-informed and skilled interviewing is a key factor in dealingwith suspects, victims and witnesses. Experienced police andinvestigators know this from their own practice, and there is now asubstantial body of research and theory in psychology whichsupports this practice and can guide both training and thedevelopment of investigative work. The purpose of this book is toprovide a concise and clearly written guide to the psychologicalconcepts and research-based knowledge that can support and guideinvestigative interviewing. It deals in particular
* good basic practice and methods for investigativeinterviewing
* how to deal with false confessions and unreliable or incompletewitness information
* the special problems of interviewing children and othervulnerable people
* the process of interviewing suspects, victims, witnesses,complainants and colleagues
This book will be of interest and value to a wide range ofprofessionals involved in training and practice in the police orother agencies, as well as social workers,lawyers, psychologistsand psychiatrists involved in forensic work. "The strength of thisbook lies in its relevance for both practice and research ininvestigative interviewing, not only in Britain butinternationally. Based on psychological theory and research, itprovides practitioners with a wealth of information and specificguidelines to help improve their interviewing skills. Researchersare challenged to address some of the, as yet, unansweredquestions." Janet Jackson, Netherlands Institute for the Study ofCriminality and Law Enforcement, Leiden, The Netherlands This bookis published in the Wiley Series in the Psychology of Crime,Policing and Law Series professor Professor Graham DaviesUniversity of Leicester, UK, and Professor Ray Bull University ofPortsmouth, UK

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 27, 1999

Reviews

[Darren Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides a solid overview of investigative interviewing practices in the UK, particularly post 1992 and the introduction of PEACE. Chapter 9 on training methods is particularly insightful with a lot of useful info for anyone researching this area.

[Zefyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I'd done a writeup after I read it but apparently not? Too bad, I wanted to remember more from this. Interesting writeup of where police interviewing usually goes wrong (and is trained wrong) and how it can go correctly, based on British law enforcement studies. There was a big focus on the ways in which responses to interviews can fail to match up even with further responses from the same person, and it goes into how to manage that.