The Domains of PEACE: Examining Interviews with Suspected Sex Offenders

Interviews with suspects are vital to criminal investigations. Globally, they are generally separated into either information gathering or accusatorial models. In England and Wales, while laboratory-based research has been increasingly undertaken, fewer studies examining actual police interviews have been conducted (despite interviews with suspects being mandatorily tape recorded there for 30 years). Research has tended to examine only certain aspects of such interviews (such as rapport, questioning strategies, and evidence disclosure). Despite the importance of each, interviews are the sum of these individual aspects. An analysis that examines the totality (and dynamic nature) of interviews is therefore required. Such a framework exists, being used to examine police interrogations in the USA, from the perspective of six domains, rooted in the relevant literature, that is, Rapport and Relationship Building, Context Manipulation, Emotion Provocation, Collaboration, Confrontation/Competition, and Presentation of Evidence. However, this taxonomy has not yet been used to assess overall interviewer performance in England and Wales. The present study examined 184 five-minute segments throughout 14 interviews with suspected sex offenders in this country, breaking new ground, by incorporating this taxonomy with interviewers trained in information gathering approaches. Our exploratory findings are that when suspects (whether innocent or guilty) offer resistance, interviewers abandon their initial efforts to build/maintain rapport, and become increasingly confrontational. Concerns also emerged regarding the frequency of those questions asked that do not yield much information. Nevertheless, the study affirms that the taxonomy of domain methodology can be used to provide in-depth and revealing analyses of overall interviewer performance.

Automated summary

Interviews with suspects are crucial in criminal investigations, categorized into information gathering or accusatorial models. Trained in information gathering approaches, interviewers tend to become confrontational when suspects resist, raising concerns about the frequency of questions asked. However, the taxonomy of domain methodology can provide in-depth analyses of overall interviewer performance.