RT Article
T1 How guilty and innocent suspects perceive the police and themselves: suspect interviews in Germany
JF Legal and criminological psychology
VO 26
IS 1
SP 42
OP 61
A1 May, Lennart
A2 Gewehr, Elsa
A2 Zimmermann, Johannes
A2 Raible, Yonna
A2 Volbert, Renate 1957-
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1750715384
AB Purpose Suspects are central participants of a police interview and can provide crucial information on the interview interactions with the interviewers. This study examined how the way suspects perceive interviews relates to (a) their reported status of being guilty or innocent and (b) their decision to confess or deny. Methods A total of 250 convicted offenders completed a two-part questionnaire on their perceptions during the most recent suspect interview in which they had confessed to or denied a crime they had committed (Part 1) or not committed (Part 2). Results Participants reported a total of 334 police interviews – 223 for which they reported being guilty and 111 for which they reported being innocent. An exploratory factor analysis showed that three latent factors described how they viewed the interviewers and themselves: Respectful-Open Behaviors (non-accusatorial interviewer behaviour, and no pressure in suspects), Confession-Oriented Tactics by the interviewer (minimization and maximization tactics), and Suspects’ Psychological Distress (insecurity, fear, and lack of self-confidence). Suspects perceived less Psychological Distress and less Respectful-Open Behaviors in reported innocent (vs. guilty) interview situations. In reported guilty interview situations, confessions were associated positively with Respectful-Open Behaviors and Suspects’ Psychological Distress, whereas denials were associated positively with Confession-Oriented Tactics. Innocent interview situations showed a positive correlation between confessions and Suspects’ Psychological Distress. Conclusions In this study, suspects deliver an important message to the police and the legal system: The findings substantiate the benefits of an open-minded interviewing approach, and fail to support a confession-oriented interrogation approach.
K1 Denial
K1 Confession
K1 Suspect
K1 Interrogation
K1 Investigative interviewing
DO https://doi.org/10.1111/lcrp.12184