Investigation and investigative interviewing: a practical perspective

Citation

Milne, B. and Roberts, K.A. (2011), "Investigation and investigative interviewing: a practical perspective", The British Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. 13 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/bjfp.2011.54313baa.002

Investigation and investigative interviewing: a practical perspective

Article Type: Guest editorial From: The British Journal of Forensic Practice, Volume 13, Issue 2

Over the last two decades Forensic Psychology has had a considerable impact upon the practice of investigative interviewing. From the initial work of Baldwin (1992, 1993) that identified considerable problems in police interview practices, forensic psychology has helped shape and develop the field, transforming the way in which investigators carry out interviews. This special issue of the British Journal of Forensic Practice will explore the role of forensic psychology in the development of investigative interviewing. The aim of this collection of articles will be to examine the application of theory and research on investigative interviewing to real life practice.

In this special edition, we have gathered together a distinguished list of authors for these articles. All of the authors are experienced researchers and practitioners within the field of investigative interviewing and some of them are also serving police officers who are facing up to the issues raised by these articles in their day to day practice. We have divided the articles into three sections, practice issues, research papers and discussion papers. The first paper by Sam Poyser and Becky Milne outlines how miscarriages of justice have helped to shape investigative interviewing practice over the past 20 years or so. It concludes with a call for continued research on police interviewing as a way of reducing the risks of miscarriages of justice across the globe. In the first section of the special issue the papers report empirical research that is advancing the practice of investigative interviewing. Jade A. Hill and Stephen Moston discuss the views of Australian police officers about investigative interviewing and identify relevant training needs. Nicci J. MacLeod, using discourse analysis of interview transcripts of sexual assault victims, considers the various risks inherent in how interviewers quote to an interviewee details from the interviewee’s initial account of events during an interview, identifying risks to the veracity of the accounts obtained. Steven Sellers and Mark R. Kebbell explore how Australian police officers use evidence during interviews from an examination of interview transcripts. In the second section we present two papers exploring issue in the practice of investigative interviewing. The paper by Brendan M. O’Mahony, Kevin Smith and Becky Milne explores the important issue of vulnerable witnesses, the methods used to identify and the impact that interviewing has upon them and implications for criminal justice. Nina J. Westera, Mark R. Kebbell and Becky Milne consider whether the evidential requirements of the court are in accord with the suggested best practice for interviewing witnesses and explore how these often competing needs could be reconciled. The final section includes two papers that discuss various more general issues in investigative interviewing. Karl A Roberts explores interviews with terrorist suspects, the risks inherent in particular approaches and attempts to identify best practice. Finally, the special issue concludes with Gavin E. Oxburgh and Coral J. Dando who consider how the field of investigative interviewing can develop in the future and the types of research that are needed.

Taken together, these papers provide a flavour of the state of current knowledge about investigative interviewing. They explore current notions of best practice; identify risks to the interview process, examine gaps in our knowledge and future directions for research. We hope that readers find these papers stimulating and that they contribute further to the development of investigative interviewing theory and practice.

Becky Milne, Karl A. Roberts

Becky Milne is a Reader in Forensic Psychology at the Centre of Forensic Interviewing, Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.Karl A. Roberts is an Associate Professor of Policing at the Australian Graduate School of Policing, Charles Sturt University, Manly, Australia.