In the recent times, psychology plays a key role in the justice system, specifically the application of psychological concepts to enhance policing performance. Under law enforcement role, the responsibilities of police such as investigation, interviewing and interrogation, detection, and negotiation are critical in policing responses. Cognitive and social psychology have been applied to enhance policing techniques especially for interviewing processes. The purpose of this essay is to critically explore how cognitive and social psychological methods can be applied in suspect interviewing. Firstly, the eminence of suspect interviewing will be demonstrated followed by the definition of cognitive psychology and social psychology. Theoretical implications of police interviewing will then be reviewed in terms of suspect interviewing. Finally, the justification of cognitive and social psychology will be highlighted in relation to their potential to be a promising approach for suspect interviewing.
What a crime occurs, police have to answer the following questions: what happened; where did it happen; when did it happen; how did it happen; and who has done it? The key focus for the police should be how to obtain sufficient information to answer these questions? And where would they collect the data from? The evidences from a crime scene are the best answer for police in order to reconstruct the incident and find out the suspect. In spite of that the evidences might be destroyed
Many of today’s interrogation models being utilized in police investigations have an impact on false confessions. The model that has been in the public eye recently is the social psychological process model of interrogation known as the “The Reid Technique.” There are two alternatives used by the police today to replace the Reid Technique, one is the PEACE Model and the other is Cognitive Interviewing. These methods are not interrogation techniques like Reid but interview processes.
In order to comprehend the contribution of psychology to areas of criminal investigation it is important to evaluate research into two of the following areas of criminal investigation: eye witness testimony and offender profiling as well as assess the implications of the findings in the area of criminal investigation. In addition, this essay, with reference to relevant psychological research, discuss how the characteristics of the defendant may influence jury behaviour as well as analyse two psychological influences on the decision making process of juries. In order to improve the efficiency of detection and successful prosecution of crime it is important to underline that in a previous administration, detection of serious crime was poor and eyewitness testimony appeared very unreliable, partly due to standard interview techniques yielding confusing results. It is therefore this essays primary focus is to provide the chief constable with a report explaining how psychologists might be able to improve this situation with a full evaluation of process and evidence.
In a criminal investigation, there is the need to break down two things. Firstly, the investigation itself and secondly the investigator involved. It is of utmost importance that the criminal investigation is done accurately, failure to do so will have negative consequences on the society. Investigation involves the collection of facts, scenarios and situations which are directly or indirectly related with the case. Whereas investigator is the person who should observe, question, analyze and scrutinize the available details. Careful evaluation then helps to achieve the much needed evidence. Criminal investigation is one of the most essential functions of the Law Enforcement agencies, as it is their prime responsibility to maintain a secure environment and
Information is the lifeblood of a criminal investigation. The ability of investigators to obtain useful and accurate information from eyewitnesses of crimes is crucial to effective law enforcement, yet full and accurate recall is difficult to achieve (Stewart, 1985). Such elicitation of complete and accurate recall from people is important in many aspects of life; specifically, eyewitness recall may determine whether a case is solved. Principle advocates of the cognitive interview (Fisher, Geiselman, Holland & MacKinnon,
This particular study is captivating because it narrows down the causes of wrongful convictions of innocent people, whether it’s the interrogators applying inappropriate methods of the Reid Technique, such as misclassification, coercion, psychological manipulation, and contamination. (Orlando) “The Reid Technique of interrogation consists of essentially three steps. Custody and isolation (i.e., the suspect is detained and isolated, anxiety and uncertainty are generated in order to weaken resistance). Confrontation (i.e., the suspect 's guilt is assumed and he or she is confronted with alleged incriminating evidence that may or may not be genuine; denials are rejected, even if they happen to be true, and the consequence of continued denial is emphasized), and minimization (i.e., the interrogator tries to gain the suspect 's trust and provides face-saving excuses for the crime, including suggesting that it was an accident or that the victim deserved it) (…) During the interrogation the investigators use tactics of imbedding trust to lure detainees to comply and achieve a legal outcome which could lead to reducing longer sentencing if the detainee confesses. Also if there are multiple co-perpetrators investigators look to probe the detainee that someone has cast blame on the individual, so therefore they must engage with the police and own up to their part in the crime (Douglas & Rita). The Reid Technique not only is it used illegitimately but it placing innocent individuals
The Reid technique, developed by John E. Reid, has been a widely used technique in acquiring confessions from suspected criminals. While many users of the Reid technique have praised it, calling it "the best interrogation procedure" (Rodgers, 2015), the Reid technique has come under fire from several critics, claiming that it risks "obtaining inherently unreliable confessions" (Gallini 2009). The purpose of this essay will be to critically discuss the impact of the Reid technique, and its use by police officers to obtain confessions. It is important to discuss the Reid technique as it has recently received criticism for its use in obtaining false confessions from suspects, especially children or those with a lower IQ. Firstly, this essay will focus on the positive impacts of the Reid technique, and how it can be used as an effective method of interrogation in order to get a confession from a suspect. Furthermore, this essay will then state the negative impacts of using the Reid technique, and how it use has been involved in several false confessions. Finally, this essay will then state a possible alternative to the Reid technique in the PEACE interrogation technique, which has been used with great success in many countries. Overall, this essay will argue that while the Reid technique does have positive impacts, there are more suitable alternatives to interrogating suspects.
A confession is one of the strongest forms of evidence that can be brought into a court of law. In the United States criminal justice system, prosecutors quickly and swiftly seek confessions as they are the most persuasive evidence to win cases. Interrogations are conducted by law enforcement officials in an effort to seek confessions and develop details about crimes.Communication is key to the art of interrogation. Detectives sometimes end up with false confessions from innocent suspects by using their expertise in psychological manipulation. One major technique of interrogation is known as the Reid Technique. The Reid method is a system of interviewing and interrogation that is widely used by police departments in the United States. The Reid Technique involves three components which include factual analysis, interviewing, and interrogation. Whether this verbal technique is effective or ineffective is a subjective and controversial matter. However, many people who oppose the Reid Technique would agree that this method can cause an innocent person to confess to wrong counts made against them. Is the Reid Technique the best solution? With concrete evidence, one can explore and come to an overall result of whether or not this questioning method has a major impact on the outcome of the confession, as well as searching for weaknesses in human nature and if these have any effect on the results of the interrogation and courtroom process.
Crime Investigation is an important aspect of the law enforcement in any country. It is considered as the most vital aspect of legal system as both the law and order as well as justice system is dependent over the quality of crime investigation in the country. Not only that. There are several aspects related directly or indirectly with the phenomenon of crime investigation. An example of that may include the fact that a strong criminal investigation system helps prevail a sense of justice in the country which in turn reduce the rate of crime owing to fear of getting caught.
The Reid Model of Interrogation has been criticised because it allows police officers to coerce false confessions from suspects. The coerced interrogation can lead to false confessions because the suspect wants to escape the stress inducing interrogation and they want to avoid the threatened punishment. The Reid Model also exploits suspects who are “psychologically vulnerable, intellectually disabled or have a history of substance abuse”. (Murie). Officers try to manipulate the suspect by falsely claiming to know the suspect is guilty, allege the crime is already solved and threaten harsh punishments. The Reid Technique therefore encourages dishonesty on the part of interrogators. The officers assume that the suspect is guilty until proven
“The methods, strategies, and consciousness of American police interrogators have been transformed: psychological persuasion and manipulation have replaced physical coercion as the most salient and defining features
Early Investigation Psychology focused on the offenders’ action and has emerged since then to the focus on interviewing, problem-solving, decision making, as well as the psychological significance of offender’s operations. Some of the contributions of a criminal investigation in psychology include offenders social and psychological characteristics, patterns and styles of criminal actions, decisions of lawyers, crime analysts and detectives as well as the assessment of the validity of legal testimony and investigative material (Canter & Young, 2009).
As long as there are people who engage in suspected criminal activity, there will always be the police with whom they will have an encounter. Good, bad or indifferent there will always be these questions that will need to be answered; were the police legally justified in the way they approached and carried out their encounter with the suspect? And, were there any exigent circumstances involved during the encounter? The following answers these questions.
2. There are many ways that improvement can be made in questioning of victims and eyewitnesses. The line of questioning should be slowed down so that the memory can accurately recall the stored information. The police can help set the stage to recreate original information to help the victims and eyewitnesses remember the environment. Questions should fit the witness or victim. The victim or witness should be the center of the interview not the other way around. Police should respect when an answer is incorrect and have some sensitivity. The final improvement that can be made is not to judge prematurely the victim or eyewitness.
The book gives a general overview of the field of forensic science. The sections of the book include “The Scene of the Crime; Working the Scene--The Evidence; Working the Scene of the Body Human;
Educational Psychology fosters an understanding for student development and helps teachers be effective, design lessons and make a difference for their students. First we must define what education psychology is, and how it applies student development and to the education community. The textbook, “Educational Psychology” written by Anita Woolfolk, (2012), defines educational psychology as, “A distinct discipline with its own theories, research methods, problems, and techniques. Educational psychologists do research on learning and teaching and, at the same time, work to improve educational practice.” (p. 12). Essentially, educational psychology is the study and research behind creative and effective learning strategies and the principles for development and learning. It enables teachers to reach and engage their students at the highest level of learning with effective learning strategies. Learning educational psychology through the study of cognitive development and the influences on children and adolescents as they grow, the implication of moral and identity development, as well as obligations teachers have professionally to create safe learning environments that promote high expectations and inclusion of all learners, helps teachers to nurture and understand their students. For example, learning about student diversity and culture, characteristics, learning levels, how to design and present content, enhance classroom management creating a safe effective learning