Abstract
Interviewing is the essence of law enforcement. The goal of an effective interview, be it with a victim, witness, informant, or suspect, is to elicit complete and accurate information. Of course, the gathering of complete and accurate information is not unique to law enforcement. Psychologists and psychiatrists rely on fact-finding interviews to—among other activities—diagnose and treat mental illness, assess malingering, and determine risk of violence. The retail loss prevention and other industries use investigative interviews to gather data to identify, neutralize, assess, and prevent thefts and frauds (see Walsh & Bull, this volume). Leaders of countries and politicians rely on accurate information to make geopolitical and economic decisions and to navigate diplomatic relationships. The gathering of intelligence has always been critical to the military in times of both peace and war. In other words, many important decisions are made on a daily basis that depends on information gathered by people through interviews.
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Notes
- 1.
This is not to say that the other types of memories do not surface during an investigation. For example, a serial sex offender may spontaneously show how he tied up his victims, thereby displaying procedural memory.
- 2.
Although these are called “sins of memory,” Schacter (2001) points to the fact that these processes have both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to memory formation and retention.
- 3.
Schacter (2001) provides further insight into the various causes and consequences of these sins, as well as ways to minimize their influence.
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The authors are grateful to Susan Kim, Barry Cooper, Dorothee Griesel, and Marguerite Ternes for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this chapter.
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Yarbrough, J., Hervé, H.F., Harms, R. (2013). The Sins of Interviewing: Errors Made by Investigative Interviewers and Suggestions for Redress. In: Cooper, B., Griesel, D., Ternes, M. (eds) Applied Issues in Investigative Interviewing, Eyewitness Memory, and Credibility Assessment. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5547-9_4
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