‘Basically, I’m gonna ask you a load of questions’ Cautioning exchanges in police interviews with adolescent suspects

Abstract

The police caution in England and Wales is a compulsory elementof every police interview that informs suspects of their right to silence andoutlines the concept of adverse inference. This research draws on authenticdata from interviews with 17- and 18-year-old suspects from two English policeforces, analysing how the cautioning exchanges are negotiated while consideringsuspects’ ages and legal statuses as children and adults, respectively. Taking aninductive approach rooted in conversation analysis, the findings reveal an overalltendency for interviewers to explain the caution directly after reciting it, therebyacting on a presumption of suspects’ non-comprehension. It is also consideredhow the (discursive) presence of appropriate adults in interviews with juvenilescan complicate the interactions. The study sheds light on the experiences of anunder-researched group of interviewees and discusses the implications of thesefindings on police practice and vulnerable persons’ access to justice.