Evaluating interviews which search for the truth with suspects: but are investigators’ self-assessments of their own skills truthful ones?

Journal article


Walsh, Dave, King, Mick and Griffiths, Andy 2017. Evaluating interviews which search for the truth with suspects: but are investigators’ self-assessments of their own skills truthful ones? Psychology, Crime & Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2017.1296149
AuthorsWalsh, Dave, King, Mick and Griffiths, Andy
Abstract

Self-evaluation of one’s own performance has been found in prior research to be an enabler of professional development. The task of evaluation is also a core component of a model of the investigative interviewing of victims, witnesses and suspects, being increasingly used throughout the world. However, it remains the case that there has been little research as to how practitioners approach the task itself. The present study examined the topic through the lens of observing how effectively 30 real-life investigators in the UK undertook evaluation of their interviews, representing almost the entire investigative frontline workforce of a small law enforcement agency in this country. Using an established scale of measurement, both investigators’ and an expert’s ratings of the same sample of interviews were compared across a range of tasks and behaviours. It was found that in almost all the assessed behaviours, requiring of the investigators to provide a self-rating, their scores tended to significantly outstrip those applied to the sample by the expert. Reasons are explored for the investigators’ overstated assessments. Implications for practice are then discussed.

KeywordsInvestigative interviewing; PEACE model; Skills evaluation; Self-evalution; Investigation skills
Year2017
JournalPsychology, Crime & Law
PublisherTaylor & Francis
ISSN1068316X
14772744
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2017.1296149
Web address (URL)http://hdl.handle.net/10545/621945
hdl:10545/621945
Publication dates09 Mar 2017
Publication process dates
Deposited10 Nov 2017, 09:52
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Archived with thanks to Psychology, Crime & Law

ContributorsUniversity of Derby, Department of Social Sciences, University of Derby, Derby, UK, Department of Social Sciences, University of Derby, Derby, UK and Department of Social Sciences, University of Derby, Derby, UK
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