Victims can provide details necessary to resolve criminal investigations but may be reluctant to come forward and fully disclose an incident to law enforcement. Although evidence‐based interviewing techniques such as rapport‐building have shown promise in increasing cooperation, the potential impact of interviewers' inherent characteristics (e.g., age and gender) on information disclosure has been

The purpose of this study is to develop an evidence‐based set of inductive profiles based on matched victim‐offender characteristics of homicide cases. To develop these homicide profiles, we used national data from the FBI's supplementary homicide reports that were reported by law enforcement agencies for a period of 42 years, from 1976 to 2017 in the United States. The findings that emerged from the

In this study, the displacement of 687 murderers in Spain (2010–2012) is analysed. The Euclidean distance between the offender's residence and the furthest scene related to the event has been calculated. The analyses showed that the murderers registered a displacement of 0.5 km, with 255 cases of non‐traveller homicide (37.1%). The bivariate analysis found that men, young and foreign, with a criminal

No abstract is available for this article.

In Ashton et al. (2020), the affiliation information for an author is incorrect. John Synnott's affiliation is currently listed as School of Social Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK. The correct affiliation should have been: International Research Centre for Investigative Psychology, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK. We apologize for this error.

Over 320,000 missing persons are estimated to go missing annually in United Kingdom due to a variety of intentional and unintentional factors. This article aims to investigate whether the criminal narrative experience framework can be applied to missing persons to acquire a deeper insight into the psychological differences between missing children. Sixty‐one previously missing persons completed a missing

Quite possibly, the first application of geographic analysis to identify and characterise the spatial behaviour of the offender concerning the crime scene was developed in 1980 by Milton Newton. Although previous studies have used Newton and Swoope's geoforensic process (Kent, 2009, Essays on the integration of anisotropic landscapes within contemporary geographic profiling models [LSU doctoral dissertations];

Investigators need to elicit detailed statements from interviewees to find potential leads, whilst simultaneously judging if a statement is genuine or fabricated. Researchers have proposed that the Model Statement (MS) can both (a) increase information elicitation from interviewees and (b) amplify the verbal differences between liars and truth tellers, thereby enhancing lie‐detection accuracy. Based

At present, serial theft case linkage remains at the stage of empiricism. In order to overcome this subjective arbitrariness, this study proposes using a ‘two‐step cumulative probability model’ for investigation. In the first step, based on expert grading method, the opinions of 99 policemen were combined to quantify the serial theft case characteristics. In the second step, when a new case occurred

The Verifiability Approach (VA), a lie detection method, postulates that genuine statements contain more verifiable information, whereas fabricated reports include more non‐verifiable details. We investigated whether participants low (n = 19), medium (n = 23) and high (n = 26) on fantasy proneness differ in the (non)verifiability of their genuine and fabricated accounts. The results showed that groups

In this study, we examined how different types of interviewing (eliciting more complete vs. less complete accounts) used in an interview conducted shortly after an event affected truth tellers' and liars' responses when they were interviewed again after a two‐week delay. Participants (n = 80) were shown a mock intelligence operation video and told either the truth or lied about its contents in two

The high number of missing person reports that occur globally each year highlights the need for research in this academically neglected field. This research focuses on establishing whether there are different scenarios or behavioural themes that consistently appear in missing person cases in Spain, which could assist the police investigation process. A representative sample of 341 missing person police

Given the inherent difficulties in validating the comparison question polygraph test (CQT) by using a wide range of the conventional two categories of studies—field and laboratory— (NRC ‐ The polygraph and lie detection, 2003), the innovative method presented by Ginton (Psychology, Crime & Law, 2013, 19, pp. 577–594), has been considered to be a breakthrough (Raskin & Kircher, 2014, Validity of polygraph

This study used cluster analysis in 126 homicide cases based on Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1999). PAI was implemented by 126 homicides and then dichotomously coded for the presence or absence of cut‐off PAI scale score in order to create criteria for analysis. These cases were input for the agglomerative hierarchical cluster using Ward's method as the clustering algorithm. The results

Interviews with asylum seekers are an important part of investigating the applicant's need of international protection. Few studies have examined if the questions used in interviews allow detailed and accurate narratives. In the current study, we analysed question style, question type, and question order from interviews of 80 official asylum cases realised by Finnish state authorities in 2017–2018

Previous studies of homicides in South Africa have examined serial murders and mass killings. While some scholars have examined parricides in African countries such as Ghana and Zimbabwe, few have examined the intersection of parricide and multiple victim homicides in the context of South Africa. This paper examines multiple victim parricides in a South African context using newspapers and court records

There is general absence of research about the relationship between trauma symptoms and immediate and delayed suggestibility in children who have been sexually abused. The participants were 134 children aged between 7 and 17 years with a history of reported sexual abuse. All children completed the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (2), a non‐verbal IQ test, and The University of California at Los Angeles

The efficacy of principles of persuasion and influence in aiding uncooperative individuals to become more cooperative has been well documented in the basic science literature. Less known is their effects in investigative interviews. This study examined the effects of liking (positivity) on informational elements produced in investigative interviews. Interviewees participated in a mock theft experiment

The aim of this study consisted in analysing the cases of drug‐facilitated sexual assault— chemical submission—from 2008 to 2017. A total of 240 cases registered during this period within the territorial area of the Spanish Civil Guard were analysed. Results show an increasing incidence of sexual assault cases that are drug‐facilitated in order to annul the will of the victim, or at least that there

Research has indicated that life‐course persistent offenders typically vary their offending style, following a criminal career progression from co‐ to solo‐offending. Few studies have investigated the offenders who contemporaneously mix their style of offending. A sample of 1,047 male adolescent offenders from the Pathways to Desistance study was investigated over a 7‐year period. Participants were

The literature on information elicitation in psycholegal settings has predominantly focused on the investigator–interviewee dynamic, with little attention to the environment in which the interview takes place. The present study compared the impact of two interview locations on the disclosure of crime‐related information and perceptions of rapport building. Participants experienced a virtual reality

Prisoners' affective education is a hot topic in criminal psychology. The lack of the social support for prisoners means that they are more prone to loneliness. The mental health status of the prisoners directly concerns their social adaptation when released. We therefore explored the relationship between loneliness, psychological affect, and control source in 201 prisoners. Prisoners completed the

To what extent stereotypical deceptive behaviours such as gaze aversion and fidgeting actually influence people's credibility judgements remain largely unknown. In this study, we directly manipulated the presence/absence of such behaviours to investigate this. Participants were shown four truthful videos in which we manipulated the presence of stereotypical cues and asked them to judge how credible

To analyse the existing relationships between motivation, self‐concept and family and social influence when choosing the profession of police officer.

The aim of this study was to understand if guilty suspects' perceptions regarding the prior information or evidence held by the interviewer against the suspect could be influenced through the content of the investigative questions. To test this idea, we explored three question‐phrasing factors that we labeled as topic discussion (if a specific crime‐related topic was discussed or not), specificity

The present study examines suicide notes, using a sample of suicide notes from published corpora (N = 50), combined with a sample of recent suicide notes from a suicide website (N = 50). The present study proposes a model of differentiation in completed suicides. The characteristics of the suicide notes were analysed using a content dictionary developed by Giles in 2007, and the data subjected to smallest

The Scharff technique aims to elicit information by affecting the source's perception of the interviewer's existing knowledge. Although the technique has been found to be effective for gathering new information, countermeasures to the technique have not been examined. In a 2 × 2 between‐subjects experiment, we informed half of the 120 sources about the counter‐interrogation strategy of carefully considering

Forensic interviewing involves gathering information from a suspect or eyewitness. Administering a model statement during an interview results in greater information elicitation, which can enhance lie detection. Typically, a model statement is a highly detailed statement, on an unrelated topic to that of the interview. This study examined the effect of manipulating the modality of the MS, either by

The subject of this research is the deprivation of freedom at two time points. A total of 490 convicts from open, semi‐open, and closed prisons participated in the research. Freedom deprivation intensity was determined by using the freedom deprivation scale (α = .93). The results of the research indicate that almost all the participants reported freedom deprivation. The prison type had an impact on

No abstract is available for this article.

Mentally disordered individuals are increasingly coming into contact with the police. The current study explored investigative interview practice with mentally disordered suspects to examine how they respond and the impact this has on the level of information obtained. Transcripts of interviews conducted with vulnerable and nonvulnerable suspects (N = 66) were analysed using a specially designed coding

Verbal lie detection tools are almost exclusively examined in Western Europe and North America, but practitioners worldwide show interest in such tools. Because cultural differences in the efficacy of such tools may occur, it is important to examine their efficacy in different cultures. In this article, we focus on proportion of complications, which in previous research was more diagnostic than “total

The present study aimed to examine the demographic information of sex offenders in South Korea and explore whether a U.K. thematic model of criminal behaviour could be replicated in the Korean context. The 27 variables of crime scene actions derived from 50 Korean sexual offences through a content analysis were analysed with smallest space analysis. Chi‐square was also administered to explore the differences

No abstract is available for this article.

The Cognitive Interview is a memory‐enhancing interview protocol designed to optimise the access and retrieval of eyewitness memories. Its Mental Reinstatement of Context (MRC) component requires interviewees to mentally reconstruct the crime event they witnessed. Individual differences in mental time travel (MTT) relate to the extent to which a person mentally re‐experiences personal events from his

Despite a large body of research investigating the effects of age and gender on eyewitness suggestibility, the majority of studies has focussed on the impressionability of participants when attempting to recall the presence of items from an event. Very little research has attempted to investigate the effects of age and gender on the suggestibility of eyewitnesses when attempting to attribute blame

The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of the micro‐expressions training tool (METT) in identifying and using micro‐expressions to improve lie detection. Participants (n = 90) were randomly assigned to receive training in micro‐expressions recognition, a bogus control training, or no training. All participants made veracity judgements of five randomly selected videos of targets providing

Innocent suspects interviewed by a guilt‐presumptive versus innocence‐presumptive or neutral interviewer may tend more to display non‐verbal behaviours which neutral judges consider indicative of guilt. We examined the effects of interviewer's presumption of guilt on innocent mock suspects' alibis. Participants (N = 90) provided an alibi to convince an interviewer of their innocence of a theft after

Although a great deal of research has focussed on and continues to focus on fraud prevention and detection, there is still no reliable way to predict who will become a white‐collar criminal/fraudster. Significant benefits would result if and when this can be done. This paper recognizes that there are many common characteristics that exist among fraudsters and investigates whether fraud can be predicted

Policymakers have a duty to base their decision making in the best available evidence relevant to the question at hand. This paper discusses why it is important for policymakers to recognize the valuable contributions to be made from within the fields of investigative and forensic psychology and particularly to inform the process of policymaking and legislative frameworks currently in place regarding

Crime linkage has been the subject of increasing attention in academic research. Research has found support for the principles of behavioural consistency and distinctiveness, which underpin crime linkage, but this does not provide direct evidence as to whether crime linkage is useful in practice. This literature review draws together documentation that refers to the practice of crime linkage, from

During forensic interviews, eyewitnesses are to retrieve correct information from memory. Cognitive load should be high, leading to risks of giving in to suggestive questions and difficulties in memory retrieval generally. Testifying in a non‐native vs. native language may require even more cognitive effort due to the need to inhibit the interference of the native language. Such witnesses may also

No abstract is available for this article.

Little is known about the mechanisms underlying how interviewers establish and monitor baselines of respondent behaviour. This study addresses this knowledge gap by characterising the practice of establishing baselines and measuring the accuracy of interviewer judgements based on assessments of baseline and departure behaviours. Eighteen professional interviewers viewed two videos of naturalistic interviews

This study compared the ability of seven statistical models to distinguish between linked and unlinked crimes. The seven models utilised geographical, temporal, and modus operandi information relating to residential burglaries (n = 180), commercial robberies, (n = 118), and car thefts (n = 376). Model performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic analysis and by examining the success

By using a video‐based narrative (unidirectional) eyewitness statement of an alleged victim, participants were asked to imagine they were police officers. We compared the quality of mock police officer written records in a between‐subjects design comprising three conditions: (a) a free recall (n = 27), (b) a free recall by using recall strategies of the cognitive interview (n = 27), or (c) note taking

No abstract is available for this article.

Existing inquiries purporting to study and describe offender behaviour in stranger child abduction (SCA) have utilised an overly narrow definition of modus operandi (MO), focusing only on very outset of the offence. The study aims to reflect changes that occur as the offence proceeds and to examine whether differentiating between attempted and completed cases can provide greater understanding of MO

Fraud examiners from global auditing firms and local law firms are in the business of private policing by conducting internal investigations in private and public organisations when there is suspicion of financial crime. The business is often characterised by secrecy, and reports of investigations are often difficult or impossible to disclose. Since 2012, we have successfully retrieved 63 fraud examination

Research has indicated that police may not receive enough training in interviewing cooperative witnesses, specifically in use of the cognitive interview (CI). Practically, for the CI to be effective in real‐world investigations, police investigators must be trained by law enforcement trainers. We conducted a three‐phase experiment to examine the feasibility of training experienced law enforcement trainers

The present study examined whether there are different processes operating in the crime location choices between body‐disposing and non‐body‐disposing serial killers and between sexual serial killers and acquisitive serial killers. A sample of 49 series of solved German serial killings is used to examine the differences in travelled distances between these groups of killers. Nonparametric tests revealed

This study compared the Stepwise Interview, Cognitive Interview, and Reality Interview in detecting deception with inmates. The dependent measures were the amount of unique details provided during the free narrative and mnemonics and the number of words provided during the free narrative and mnemonics of each interview. The Stepwise Interview generated 58.3% accuracy, the Cognitive Interview generated

There are few studies that have focused on systematically measuring indicators of rapport during police investigative interviews. Using Tickle‐Degnen and Rosenthal's model as the basis for a systematic measurement of rapport, this study examined police interviews to identify whether rapport with suspects influences investigation relevant information (IRI). Eighty‐two interview transcripts with male

No abstract is available for this article.

Previous research suggests different crime scene patterns reflect differences in the background characteristics of the offender. However, whether differences in crime scene patterns are related to offender psychopathology remains unclear. We hypothesise that schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depressive illness will each associate to a specific homicide crime scene pattern. Homicide data were obtained

Eliciting information from semicooperative sources presents a major challenge in investigative and intelligence settings. This research examines the role of the human need to belong in individuals' willingness to disclose critical information. We hypothesised that social exclusion would exert a threat to individuals' need to belong and self‐esteem, which would make them strive for social reconnection

Although it is known that interrogation tactics can elicit false confessions and interviewer manner may determine the outcome of an interview, the combined effects of questioning technique and interviewer manner on false confessions have not been examined empirically. Following a false accusation of theft, participants were interviewed in one of four questioning conditions (minimisation, repetitive

This study examined the joint influence of helpfulness priming and a helpfulness‐focused interpersonal approach on information disclosure in an intelligence interview. We based the research on the theoretical proposition that consistency between an interviewee's primed dispositions and an interviewer's interpersonal approach would facilitate disclosure. Participants (N = 116) took on the role of an

This novel research focuses on the relations amongst narcissistic features, self‐assessed communication abilities related to lies and truths, and reports about actual lying. One hundred twenty‐five participants rated their ability to succeed at telling lies, telling the truth convincingly, detecting lies, and believing others. The participants also completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and

The main aim of the study was to examine the emotional experiences of crime amongst women offenders. With a mean age of 36.40 years (SD = 11.12), 128 women offenders completed a questionnaire exploring emotions they had experienced whilst committing a crime. Participants included incarcerated individuals as well as those in community‐based projects. Smallest space analysis of the emotions highlighted