Abstract
One of the critical moments that highlights vulnerability in the policing process is the police interview. Although offenders may have already traversed a few formal policing processes by that time—detention and police warning—and their vulnerability may have been identified, it is during the interview that vulnerabilities are most apparent. Conversely, the police interview may be the first formal policing process that victims and witnesses may encounter. The police interview is therefore an important step in recognising and addressing vulnerability. It is also a step in the policing process where the skills and capacities of individual officers to manage vulnerability are in stark relief. Done badly, the police interview can exacerbate the situated ontological vulnerabilities of offenders, victims and witnesses and may even create iatrogenic (system generated) harms. In this chapter, we explore how vulnerability can be recognised and accounted for at this stage of the policing process and consider what strategies each of the three groups (offenders, victims and witnesses, and police officers) require to ameliorate the harms presented and caused by police interviews.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Readings and Resources
Grisham, J. (2006). The innocent man: Murder and injustice in a small town. Doubleday.
Gudjonsson, G. H. (2010). Psychological vulnerabilities during police interviews. Why are they important? Legal and Criminological Psychology, 15, 161–175.
Leitch, L. (2017). Action steps using ACEs and trauma-informed care: A resilience model. Health & Justice, 5, 5–15.
US Office for Victims of Crime. (2020). Using a trauma-informed approach. Retrieved March 13, 2020, from https://www.ovcttac.gov/taskforceguide/eguide/4-supporting-victims/41-using-a-trauma-informed-approach/.
Video Resources
Demos, M., & Ricciardi, L. (2015–2018). Making a murderer. Manitowoc, Wisconsin: Synthesis Films.
DuVernay, A. (2019). When they see us. Los Gatos, California: Netflix, Inc..
Bibliography
Bateson, K., McManus, M., & Johnson, G. (2020). Understanding the use, and misuse, of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in trauma-informed policing. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles, 93(2), 131–145.
Bloom, S. L. (2015). Why should Philadelphia become a trauma-informed city? Briefing paper prepared for the Philadelphia Mayoral Forum, sponsored by the Scattergood Foundation. Retrieved March 12, 2020, from https://tinyurl.com/yc9397h7.
Burton, M., Evans, R., & Sanders, A. (2006). Are special measures for vulnerable and intimidated witnesses working? Evidence from the criminal justice agencies. On-line Report 01/06. London: UK Home Office.
Criminal Justice System Northern Ireland. (2012). Achieving best evidence in criminal proceedings: Guidance on interviewing victims and witnesses, the use of special measures and the provision for pre-trial therapy. Belfast: Northern Ireland Department of Justice.
Demos, M., & Ricciardi, L. (2015–2018). Making a murderer. Manitowoc, Wisconsin: Synthesis Films.
DuVernay, A. (2019). When they see us. Los Gatos, California: Netflix, Inc..
Epperson, M. W., Wolff, N., Morgan, R. D., Fisher, W. H., Frueh, B. C., & Huening, J. (2014). Envisioning the next generation of behavioral health and criminal justice interventions. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 37(5), 427–438.
Felitti, V., Anda, R., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D., Spitz, A., Edwards, V., Koss, M., & Marks, J. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258.
Griffiths, A., & Milne, B. (2006). Will it all end in tiers? Police interviews with suspects in Britain. In T. Williamson (Ed.), Investigative interviewing (pp. 167–189). London & New York: Routledge.
Gudjonsson, G. H. (2003). The psychology of interrogations and confessions: A handbook. Chichester: Wiley.
Gudjonsson, G. H. (2010). Psychological vulnerabilities during police interviews. Why are they important? Legal and Criminological Psychology, 15, 161–175.
Gudjonsson, G. H. (2013). Interrogative suggestibility and compliance. In A. M. Ridley, F. Gabbert, & D. J. La Rooy (Eds.), Suggestibility in legal contexts: Psychological research and forensic implications (pp. 45–61). Wiley-Blackwell.
Gudjonsson, G. H., Clare, I., Rutter, S., & Pearse, J. (1993). Persons at risk during interviews in police custody: The identification of vulnerabilities. The Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, HMSO, London.
Huntley, J. M. (2012). Acquired brain injury and vulnerability to the criminal justice system. In I. Bartkowiak-Théron & N. L. Asquith (Eds.), Policing vulnerability (pp. 165–180). Annandale, NSW: Federation Press.
Jones, D. J., Bucerius, S. M., & Haggerty, K. D. (2019). Voices of remanded women in Western Canada: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Community Safety and Well-being, 4(3), 44–53.
Katz, S., & Haldar, D. (2015–2016). The pedagogy of trauma-informed lawyering. Clinical Law Review, 22, 359–393.
Kerig, P. K., & Becker, S. P. (2010). From internalizing to externalizing: Theoretical models of the processes linking PTSD to juvenile delinquency. In S. J. Egan (Ed.), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Causes, symptoms and treatment (pp. 33–78). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Laughland, O. (2016, February 18). Donald Trump and the Central Park Five: The racially charged rise of a demagogue. The Guardian.
Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Regulation. (2016). (NSW).
Legal Aid NSW. (2015). Police powers: Your rights and responsibilities. Retrieved April 22, 2020, from https://www.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/publications/factsheets-and-resources/police-powers.
Leitch, L. (2017). Action steps using ACEs and trauma-informed care: A resilience model. Health & Justice, 5, 5–15.
Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436. (1966).
National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2008). Judges and child trauma: Findings from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network/National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Focus Groups. Service Systems Brief, 2(2), 1–4.
NSW Department of Communities and Justice. (2019). Charter of victims rights. Sydney: Parliament of NSW.
Perry, B. D. (2009). Examining child maltreatment through a neurodevelopmental lens: Clinical applications of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics. Journal of Trauma and Loss, 14, 240–255.
Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE). (1984). (UK).
Police Scotland. (2020c). Trauma informed policing. Retrieved March 13, 2020, from https://www.scotland.police.uk/whats-happening/trauma-informed-policing/.
Quinn, K., & Jackson, J. (2007). Of rights and roles: Police interviews with young suspects in Northern Ireland. The British Journal of Criminology, 47(2), 234–255.
Rich, K. (2019). Trauma-informed police responses to rape victims. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 28(4), 463–480.
Roberts, K., & Herrington, V. (2012). Detention and investigation of vulnerable suspects. In I. Bartkowiak-Théron & N. L. Asquith (Eds.), Policing vulnerability (pp. 198–213). Annandale, NSW: Federation Press.
Scallon, C. J., & Peckerman, T. (2017). Trauma-informed policing: Addressing the prevalence of trauma in law enforcement encounters. Training program developed by the US Council of States Governments Justice Centre. Retrieved March 13, 2020, from http://www.citinternational.org/resources/Documents/Trauma%20Informed%20Policing.pdf.
Stevens, J. (2017). Got your ACE, resilience scores? ACEs Connection Blog. Retrieved March 13, 2020, from https://www.acesconnection.com/blog/got-your-ace-resilience-scores.
Tello, M. (2018). Trauma-informed care: What it is, and why it’s important. Harvard Health Blog. Retrieved March 11, 2020, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/trauma-informed-care-what-it-is-and-why-its-important-2018101613562.
Teplin, L. A., & Pruett, N. S. (1992). Police as streetcorner psychiatrist: Managing the mentally ill. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 15(2), 139–156.
The Bradley Report. (2009). Lord Bradley’s review of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system. London: Department of Health.
Trump, D. (2014, 21 June). Donald Trump: Central Park Five settlement is a ‘disgrace’. Daily News.
UK College of Policing. (2020). Investigation: Investigative interviewing. Retrieved March 11, 2020, from https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/investigations/investigative-interviewing/#peace-framework.
US National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2019). Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Leveraging the best available evidence. Atlanta, Georgia: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
US Office for Victims of Crime. (2020). Using a trauma-informed approach. Retrieved March 13, 2020, from https://www.ovcttac.gov/taskforceguide/eguide/4-supporting-victims/41-using-a-trauma-informed-approach/.
Victims Rights and Support Act. (2013). (NSW).
Victorian Office of the Public Advocate. (2011). Submission to the inquiry into access to and interaction with the justice system by people with an intellectual disability and their families and carers (IDAJ29). Melbourne: Law Reform Committee, Parliament of Victoria.
Wexler, E. (2020). Trauma-informed policing: A special set of tools for law enforcement. Training programs developed for the Philadelphia Police Department. Retrieved March 13, 2020, from https://bha.health.maryland.gov/Documents/Trauma-Informed%20Policing%20-%20Betsy%20Wexler.pdf.
Williamson, T. (2007). Psychology and criminal investigation. In T. Newburn, T. Williamson, & A. Wright (Eds.), Handbook of criminal investigation (pp. 68–91). Cullompton: Willan Publishing.
Wood, J. D., & Beierschmitt, L. (2014). Beyond police crisis intervention: Moving ‘upstream’ to manage cases and places of behavioral health vulnerability. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 37(5), 439–447.
Wood, J. D., Taylor, C. J., Groff, E. R., & Ratcliffe, J. H. (2015). Aligning policing and public health promotion: Insights from the world of foot patrol. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, 16(3), 211–223.
Young, S., Goodwin, E. J., Sedgwick, O., & Gudjonsson, G. H. (2013). The effectiveness of police custody assessments in identifying suspects with intellectual disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. BMC Medicine, 11, 248–259.
Young, S. J. (2008). A new role in support of the vulnerable. Psychologist, 21(11), 962–963.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Asquith, N.L., Bartkowiak-Théron, I. (2021). Interviewing Vulnerable People. In: Policing Practices and Vulnerable People. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62870-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62870-3_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-62869-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-62870-3
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)