The resister, the talker and the confessor: A closer look at suspect responses in investigative interviews

Abstract

Research on investigative interviewing tends to focus on a limited number of interview methods employed during an interview in pursuit of a singular outcome. The present study took an expansive view of the techniques used, questions asked and interviewer disposition, and related them to three interview goals—overcoming resistance, gathering information and eliciting confessions. Drawing upon theory and prior research, we hypothesised that certain methods would be more relevant to certain outcomes than others, such as question types would have a greater effect on information gain than techniques or interviewer disposition. Using a sample of 43 suspect interviews provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), we found partial support for our hypotheses. Rapport-based approaches and a respectful disposition reduced resistance, open-ended questions elicited more information than closed-ended ones and in the final model, only open-ended questions increased confessions. Implications for research and practice are discussed.