Psychology Discussion/Assignment

WEEK 2: AT A GLANCE INTERVIEWING AND EVALUATING ADULTS

INTRODUCTION Imagine your first meeting with a witness to aggravated assault or the person suspected of aggravated assault. You are the only one in the room with the interviewee. A witness may have difficulty remembering the timeline or facts of the crime. A suspect may try to misrepresent the facts or their own psychological functioning. As a forensic interviewer, your job is to elicit information from interviewees while introducing the least amount of bias possible.

Forensic interactions have a variety of purposes. As a forensic interviewer, you are charged with observing and documenting the mental state of an interviewee, whereas the goal of a law enforcement officer is to obtain a confession or exculpatory evidence.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of adult interviewees is their instinct to protect their own self-interest when it is threatened. Differences between what interviewees say and what they do (body language) can provide powerful clues to their truthfulness. Your analysis of the consistency between interviewees’ words and their body language can be critical to the success of a legal investigation.

Another factor that is critical to the success of a legal investigation is your compliance with ethical guidelines for forensic psychologists. Guidelines are designed to protect everyone involved from abuse of various kinds. A failure to observe the guidelines can compromise the outcome of the court case and the value of all your hard work!

Week 2 of this course focuses on the different strategies used to obtain information with adults. You learn about the strengths and weaknesses of strategies, such as hypnosis and cognitive interviews, as well as their application in various situations.

DISCUSSION ASSIGNMENT RESOURCES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Students will:

Apply interviewing techniques to adults in forensic settings Evaluate reliability of information from forensic evaluations Analyze strengths and limitations of cognitive interview strategies and hypnosis in gathering information within forensic contexts