A Case Study of Witness Consistency and Memory Recovery Across Multiple Investigative Interviews

Fade In, Fade Out: Do Shifts in Visual Perspective Predict the Consistency of Real-World Memories?

Memories of our personal past are not exact accounts of what occurred. Instead, memory reconstructs the past in adaptive-though not always faithful-ways. Using a naturalistic design, we asked how the visual perspective adopted in the mind's eye when recalling the past-namely, an "own eyes" versus "observer" perspective-relates to the stability of autobiographical memories. We hypothesized that changes in visual perspective over time would predict poorer consistency of memories. Young adults (N = 178) rated the phenomenology of and freely recalled self-selected memories of everyday events at two time points (10 weeks apart). Multilevel linear modeling revealed, as expected, that greater shifts in visual perspective over time predicted lower memory consistency, particularly for emotional details. Our results offer insight into the factors that predict the fidelity of memories for everyday events. Moreover, our results may elucidate new metrics that are useful in interpreting eyewitness testimony or experiences relayed in clinical contexts.

Police–suspect interactions and confession rates are affected by suspects’ alcohol and drug use status in low-stakes crime interrogations

Background

Low-stakes crimes related to alcohol and/or drugs are common around the world, but research is lacking on police–suspect interactions of such crimes. A large proportion of these suspects are intoxicated during interrogations, and many may have substance use disorder, making them potentially vulnerable to interrogative pressure.

Methods

To address this lack of knowledge, the taxonomy of interrogation methods framework (i.e., 60+ interrogation techniques classified into five domains) and a common classification of question types (appropriate vs. inappropriate) were applied in the coding of written police interrogations. Two archival studies, one pilot (Study 1, N = 39) and one main study (Study 2, N = 97) analyzed police interrogations with suspects of alcohol- and drug-related crimes in Sweden.

Results

For both Study 1 and 2, suspects showed signs of alcohol and/or drug intoxication, hangover or withdrawal in more than 50% of all interrogations. In Study 2, additional coding indicated that suspects displayed signs of substance use disorder in 57% of the interrogations. The main results from both studies revealed a large number of direct questions asked by the police across all interrogations, and relatively little use of the strategic interrogation techniques from the taxonomy of interrogation methods framework. In fact, when it came to interrogation techniques, law enforcement used more confrontational techniques in their interactions with intoxicated suspects compared to sober suspects. Furthermore, suspects displaying signs of substance use disorder were significantly more cooperative and prone to confess than suspects without indicators of substance use disorder.

Conclusion

As the first novel study on low-stakes crime interrogations related to alcohol and/or drugs, the present study provides useful information about current Swedish interrogation practices and areas for improvement. The study results indicate that suspects displaying signs of intoxication or substance use disorder may be more vulnerable during police interrogations. This may in turn have the potential to inform the development of new interrogation policies. Due to the novelty of this research, more studies are needed, both on a national and international level, to examine interrogations in low-stakes crimes further.

Considerations for Pursuing Multiple Session Forensic Interviews in Child Sexual Abuse Investigations

Multiple session forensic interviews (MSFI) are a useful tool in the field of child sexual abuse forensic interviewing given the complexity of disclosures and the variety of child-centered needs observed in practice. This paper focuses on the Children's Advocacy Centers of Texas (CACTX) model for conducting MSFIs, illustrated by a description of the statewide training models offered to member centers and enumeration of the MSFI protocol guidelines implemented by one center. A brief history and review of the single session forensic interview (SSFI) is provided followed by considerations for MSFIs in order to establish the development of current and new practices. Clarification of terms are outlined with examples of cases to distinguish between multiple sessions and subsequent sessions. The MSFI guidelines presented demonstrate how an MSFI can fit with the SSFI model.

Incident-level analysis of 703 retrospective self-reports of ordinary violence recalled by 334 Swedes aged 6 to 45 years

There is wide variation in how exposure to violence is conceptualized. Perceptions of ordinary violence are linked to people's actual experiences, which may be direct, indirect, observed, or vicarious, and all through filters of gender, class, community, and culture. Event-recall interviews were conducted among a convenience sample of Swedish males (n = 132) and females (n = 202) aged 6 to 45 years. Respondents spontaneously recalled 703 events (averaging 2.3 events for males, 2.1 for females). For men, 93% of events were male(s)-on-male(s), 2% female-on-female, and 2% male(s)-on-female(s). For women, 42% of events were male(s)-on-male(s), 19% female(s)-on-female(s), 24% male(s)-on-females, and 10% female(s)-on-male(s). Interviewee's roles differed. Of males, 17% were aggressors, 40% victims, and 43% observers. Of females, 12% were aggressors, 30% victims, and 58% observers. For males, there was a significant increase in degree of seriousness of events from junior-, to high school, to college. For females, events became more serious as interviewees progressed from aggressor to victim to observer. For males, violent events between strangers were significantly more serious than all other combinations of acquaintanceship. Most recently recalled events were the most serious for males (no effect for females). Participation in sports was linked to seriousness of events recalled by females, events being described as more serious by females who participated in sports, this effect being stronger for those females who participated in contact/collision and self-defense sports. The significant correlation between trauma and seriousness is nearly twice as strong for females which might be taken as an indication of stronger moral pathos.

High accuracy but low consistency in children's long-term recall of a real-life stressful event

The accuracy and consistency of children's memories of their removals from their biological families by the Child Protective Services (CPS) was investigated. A researcher was present during the removals and documented what happened. A total of 37 maltreated children, aged 3 to 12 years, were interviewed 1 week and 3 months after the removals. The accuracy of the memory reports was high at both time points, but their consistency was fairly low; in all age groups (3-6, 7-10, and 11-12 years), a high percentage of new accurate information was reported during the second interview and a high percentage of the accurate information reported in the first interview was omitted in the second interview. Older children were significantly more consistent in their memory reports than younger children. The results show that low consistency in memory does not imply memory inaccuracy and has implications for the interpretation of successive interviews of children in forensic contexts.

Witness recall across repeated interviews in a case of repeated abuse

In this illustrative case study we examine the three forensic interviews of a girl who experienced repeated sexual abuse from ages 7 to 11. She disclosed the abuse after watching a serialized television show that contained a storyline similar to her own experience. This triggered an investigation that ended in successful prosecution of the offender. Because this case involved abuse that was repeated on a weekly basis for 4 years we thus investigated the degree to which the child's narrative reflected specific episodes or generic accounts, and both the interviewer's and child's attempts to elicit and provide, respectively, specific details across the 3 interviews collected in a 1 month period. Across the 3 interviews, the child's account was largely generic, yet on a number of occasions she provided details specific to individual incidents (episodic leads) that could have been probed further. As predicted: earlier interviews were characterized more by episodic than generic prompts and the reverse was true for the third interview; the child often responded using the same style of language (episodic or generic) as the interviewer; and open questions yielded narrative information. We discuss the importance of adopting children's words to specify occurrences, and the potential benefits of permitting generic recall in investigative interviews on children's ability to provide episodic leads. Despite the fact that the testimony was characterized by generic information about what usually happened, rather than specific episodic details about individual occurrences, this case resulted in successful prosecution.

Multiple Forensic Interviews During Investigations of Child Sexual Abuse: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

In cases of suspected child sexual abuse (CSA) some professionals routinely recommend multiple interviews by the same interviewer because any additional details provided might improve decision-making and increase perpetrator convictions. We analyzed alternative policies about child interviewing to estimate the probability that a policy of all children receiving multiple interviews will increase criminal convictions and better protect children. Using decision analysis, we prepared a decision tree reflecting the structure through which a case of possible CSA passes through the health care, welfare, and legal systems with an estimated probability of conviction of the offender. We reviewed the CSA disclosure, criminal justice, and child welfare literature to obtain estimates for the median and range of rates for the steps of disclosure, substantiation, criminal charges, and conviction. Using the R statistical package, our decision analysis model was populated using literature-based estimates. Once the model was populated, we simulated the experiences of 1,000 cases at 250 sets of plausible parameter values representing different hypothetical communities. Multiple interviews increase the likelihood that an offender will be convicted by 6.1% in the average community. Simulations indicate that a policy in which all children seen for a CSA medical evaluation receive multiple interviews would cost an additional $100,000 for each additional conviction. We estimate that approximately 17 additional children would need to be interviewed on more than one occasion to yield one additional conviction. A policy of multiple interviews has implications for the children, for the costs of care, for protecting other children, and for the risk of false prosecution.