interviews to assess offenders

Question 1

ethical interview

Answer 1

used to question offenders
individual’s rights adhered to rather than interrogation
multiple interviewers - 1 takes notes, other asks questions, usually recorded (audio/visual)

Question 2

PEACE model

Answer 2

planning + preparation
engage + explain
account
closure
evaluation

Question 3

planning + preparation

Answer 3

• interviews objectives
• evidence already collected
• timeline of events
• interviewee profile
• legal requirements e.g. solicitor

Question 4

engage + explain

Answer 4

• interview begins
• establish rapport
• explain step by step exactly what to expect
• “you’re here because…” “during this interview I will ask you about…”
• inform suspect of rights and expectations

Question 5

account

Answer 5

open ended questions
suspect speaks freely
only prompted if necessary

Question 6

closure

Answer 6

• all questions/objectives met
• ask any further questions
• interviewer summarises what’s been said, checks for any misunderstanding
• next steps explained
• asks suspect if any “concerns/complaints about how interview was conducted”

Question 7

evaluation

Answer 7

performance of interviewer reviewed straight after, feedback
determines if any further action needed

Question 8

Walsh and Milne

Answer 8

• analysed 99 audio tapes of interviews and compared performances of PEACE-trained interviewers with untrained
• found that trained interviewers used open questioning more successfully, more detail
• found that even after training interviewers not good at building rapport, reduced effectiveness, also not much evidence of planning/prep affected structure and flexibility of interview

Question 9

Kebbell

Answer 9

ethical interviewing more likely to gain confession in 43 sex offenders than interviewer dominance which led to reduction

Question 10

Stephenson and Moston

Answer 10

examined 1067 solved police cases finding that interviewers were sure of guilt of suspect in 73% of these and 99% where evidence was strong
persuasive interviewing just as effective as ethical

Question 11

case formulation

Answer 11

aim to explain cause of offender’s behaviour
based on test and historical data of offender’s life and tries to make a theory about the cause of offender’s actions

Question 12

3 stages of case formulation

Answer 12

offender analysis
understanding the offender
application to treatment

Question 13

offender analysis

Answer 13

• insight into offender’s thinking, risk and the intervention that may facilitate a reduction in reoffending
• in-depth breakdown of how offence took place and the motivation
• usually interview or psychometric testing

Question 14

understanding the offender

Answer 14

• best and worst case scenarios are planned and future acts are predicted, although these
  are only scenarios of what might happen and not what will happen
• allows psychologists to understand what situations could be a trigger as well as
  predicting potential victims and levels of harm the offender may cause

Question 15

application to treatment

Answer 15

• psychologists should reflect on how the offender started,
  whether they have a mental health problem and the risk of reoffending in order to obtain
  the most effective treatment
• reassess the individual later to ensure that it is working, and intervene if not
• HCPC guidelines are used to create standardisation, including maintaining
  confidentiality, remaining based and maintaining quality of practise

Question 16

ao3 of offender analysis

Answer 16

• strength: objective, measuring test scores such as recidivism rates suggest how effective
  the procedure is, which generates quantitative data, this allows statistical tests to
  measure significance and eliminates the effect of bias when interpreting data
• weakness: lack of standardised instructions, especially in the offender analysis. Flow
  diagrams are different depending on the scenario, and psychologists carry the
  procedures out differently, offenders are unique so any case formulation will also be
  specific to their situation, making it impossible to exactly replicate

Question 17

ao3 of understanding the offender

Answer 17

• strength: Berry suggested that in order for CF to be effective, they must be unbiased.
  Therefore, it is important to increase meetings between the member of staff and offender
  in order to eliminate negative opinions and reduce the influence of bias which could
  skew findings on whether it is effective
• weakness: Capretta found that the effects of social desirability showed that batterers
  improved on self reports, but recidivism rates did not actually decline, this suggests that
  offenders may act in a favourable manner and pretend to improve in order to be
  released, reducing the validity of research findings

Question 18

ao3 of application to treatment

Answer 18

• weakness: looks at retrospective data, created at an earlier stage and used later on,
  memory is easily distorted and we simplify complex or ‘irrelevant’ information, meaning
  that when people are questioned during the offender analysis in order to gain data about
  early experiences, valuable information could be missed out
• weakness: Whitehead et al found that Mr C developed a new sense of identity and
  further relapse was prevented

Question 19

cognitive interviewing

Answer 19

used to gain eyewitness testimony
developed by Geiselman to maximise detail of information obtained during eye witness interviews without compromising accuracy, using techniques based on
cognitive & social principles. It intends to facilitate a witness’ memory. used because of poor traditional interviewing techniques; leading questions, interruptions, officer domination, risking
false information being called and leading to wrong conviction.

Question 20

4 stages of cognitive interview

Answer 20

context reinstatement
report everything
change the order
change the perspective

Question 21

cognitive interview has been developed due to our understanding of Tulving’s reconstructive memory and schemas that cause distortion to recall. the CI uses 4 stages, the most effective seen by Milne and Bull as the context reinstatement and report everything steps as they gain the most detailed and accurate recall
however, while Kohken found an 81% increase in correct information found from the CI, there was a 61% increase in incorrect info given compared to standard interviews and Geiselman found it to be ineffective in children under the age of 8, suggesting that while the CI can use cognitive theories of memory to find more info about a case, it is not always effective for different memory abilities, so standard interviewing may still be used to this day

Question 22

context reinstatement

Answer 22

mentally recreate context of the event to provide cues in recall e.g. thoughts they were having at the time

Question 23

report everything

Answer 23

recall everything possible
open ended questions
no interruptions
even trivial and fragmented details

Question 24

change the order

Answer 24

witness recalls events in reverse order or from most memorable point (recency effect)

Question 25

change the perspective

Answer 25

recall events from someone else's point of view e.g. the offender to reduce schemas/distortion

Question 26

Milne and Bull

Answer 26

the context reinstatement and report everything steps as they gain the most detailed and accurate recall

Question 27

Kohken

Answer 27

an 81% increase in correct information found from the CI, there was a 61% increase in incorrect info given compared to standard interviews

Question 28

Geiselman

Answer 28

found CI to be ineffective in children under the age of 8, suggesting that while the CI can use cognitive theories of memory to find more info about a case, it is not always effective for different memory abilities, so standard interviewing may still be used to this day