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  pave the way for the move from interrogating suspects to seek confessions, to

  interviewing them to gather information.

  I was honoured to be a member of that committee which prepared the

  ground for a working party of police offi cers to recommend in 1992

  the PEACE approach to interviewing, which in 1992 was adopted by the

  Association of Chief Police Offi cers in England and Wales.

  Some years later Tom was invited to a meeting in London to receive a

  national policing prize in recognition of what he had achieved in interviewing,

  and he generously asked me to accompany him (so typical of him).

  In the early 1990s Tom took up the position of Commander of the London

  police training college at Hendon, where in the 1980s I had run a training

  evaluation and research project for several years. In the mid - 1990s Tom came

  to see me when I was Head of the Department of Psychology at the University

  of Portsmouth to ask my advice on how he might go about arranging for the

  intensive two - year training and assessments that recruits to the London Police

  receive in law, social science, and the like might form part of undergraduate

  study towards a degree.

  I advised him of some questions to ask the London universities (my own

  university being over 100 kilometres from London). A couple of months later

  Tom contacted me to say that the London Police wished to set up such an

  arrangement with my university.

  In order to develop this I urged my university to set up a new Institute,

  which rapidly grew under the able directorship of Steve Savage. When Tom

  reached retirement age in 2001, having been Deputy Chief of the

  Nottinghamshire Police Force since 1995, he became a part - time member of

  the Portsmouth University Institute, which subsequently became the largest

  academic department in the university.

  Tom ’ s emphasis on what he called ethical policing derived in part from his

  years of being in charge of Britain ’ s largest group of murder investigators. His

  obituary in the The Guardian stated that Tom was ‘ an operational detective

  par excellence ’ . His beliefs came from direct policing experience, but he used

  research and academia to support those beliefs.

  Tom ’ s 1993 research journal article, entitled ‘ From interrogation to inves-

  tigative interviewing ’ , is an example of how his vision set the scene for what

  is now referred to as Investigative Interviewing, which involves trying to fi nd

  out what happened as opposed to trying to obtain a confession.

  Preface

  xix

  My last long conversation with Tom took place during a fl ight from Paris

  to East Midlands Airport on our way back from a fi ve - day conference orga-

  nized by the Gendarmerie Nationale under the auspices of the AGIS initiative

  of the European Commission, which provides funding to police organizations

  to hold international, research - oriented meetings on important policing topics.

  At this meeting Tom and I (plus the other few representatives from the UK)

  were pleased to learn that some other European police organizations were

  actively considering adopting the PEACE approach (the ‘ English approach ’ ,

  as some called it), as had Norway fairly recently. However, we were saddened

  that some eastern European countries (now free from communism) seemed

  to be adopting a coercive approach, which can result, for example, in reactance

  from guilty suspects. During this conversation Tom brought up the topic of

  who fi rst used the term Investigative Interviewing. I said that I thought he

  had. He replied that he thought I had. Then we thought that it might have

  been Eric Shepherd – the late 1980s – early 1990s seemed so long ago, and so

  much had happened since then in England and Wales regarding police inter-

  viewing that it was hard to recall what precisely had taken place in those early,

  diffi cult days.

  Around the time that Tom died, New Zealand decided to adopt the PEACE

  approach and in the last couple of years that country has invested much in

  training and retraining its police offi cers. Some police organizations in Germany

  are also very interested in the PEACE approach.

  I decided that I would write this preface while actively continuing with what

  Tom had started. I am at a desk in an apartment at a residential police training

  academy in Germany, having been invited to present a lecture at the annual

  conference of the

  Deutsche Gesselschaft f

  ü r Kriminalistik on the topic of

  ‘ Investigative Interviewing: The PEACE Model ’ , during which I have been

  asked to explain why this massive change in police training occurred in England

  and Wales, describe how research, concepts and theory from psychology

  underpin the PEACE approach/philosophy, and give an account of our recent

  research fi ndings from the analysis of recorded interviews with suspects of

  whether police offi cers are able to adopt this approach. This is the very kind

  of presentation that Tom should have been giving.

  It is comforting to know that although Tom is no longer with us, his pio-

  neering work continues to spread its crucial effect around the world.

  Ray Bull

  14 October 2008

  Chapter One

  The Psychology of Suspects ’

  Decision - Making during Interrogation

  Michel St - Yves

  Behavioral Analysis Service

  S û ret é du Qu é bec (Quebec Police Force)

  É cole nationale de police du Qu é bec (Quebec National Police Academy)

  School of Criminology

  University of Montreal, Quebec

  and

  Nadine Deslauriers - Varin

  School of Criminology

  Simon Fraser University, British Columbia

  Introduction

  A number of studies carried out in the social sciences show that human behav-

  iour can be signifi cantly infl uenced by a multitude of factors. Publicity is a

  good example. To infl uence people ’ s consumer practices, advertisement agen-

  cies will study the name of a product, a slogan, etc. to make sure that the

  consumer will choose this product rather than another one. This works very

  well and is infl uential, as shown in numerous research studies on the subject

  (see Gouldner, 1960 ; Cialdini, Vincent, Lewis, Catalan, Wheeler & Darby,

  1975 ; Ury, 1991 ).

  The parallel with police interrogation is fairly easy to make. With different

  strategies, the investigator tries to infl uence the suspect ’ s decision, fi rst to get

  the suspect to collaborate and then to confess, in spite of the stakes involved

  and the consequences related to a confession.

  Handbook of Psychology of Investigative Interviewing: Current Developments and Future Directions

  Edited by Ray Bull, Tim Valentine and Tom Williamson

  © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  2

  Handbook of Psychology of Investigative Interviewing

  In this chapter, we shall describe the major factors – individual, criminal,

  contextual – that can infl uence a suspect ’ s decision whether or not to confess

  to his or her crime. We shall examine more closely the infl uence of contextual

  factors, since recent research s
uggests that these are the most infl uential regard-

  ing the decision - making process. Amongst those contextual factors are the

  caution (the right to remain silent and to have an attorney), the perception of

  the strength of the available evidence and the interrogation/interview tech-

  niques. We shall conclude with a refl ection on some of the interrogation

  methods currently used in North America, particularly on their effectiveness

  and on the controversy related to the use of such techniques.

  The d ecision - m aking p rocess

  Every person interrogated by the police for a crime they have committed

  will fi nd themselves in a very complex decision - making process: Should I talk

  or remain silent? Tell the truth or lie? Will a confession help or harm my

  defence? This decision - making process, which begins even before the interroga-

  tion, will be infl uenced by a variety of factors. Some authors have contended

  that the decision to confess or not is taken as soon as or before the interroga-

  tion begins and that persuasive methods have little infl uence on the decision,

  with some even concluding that such methods are pretty much useless, or at

  least not essential to obtain a confession (Irving & McKenzie, 1989 ; Moston,

  Stephenson

  & Williamson,

  1992 ; Baldwin,

  1993 ; Evans,

  1993 ; Pearse

  &

  Gudjonsson, 1996 ; Pearse, Gudjonsson, Clare & Rutter, 1998 ; Bull, 2006 ).

  Inbau, Reid, Buckley & Jayne (2001) contend that the vast majority of sus-

  pects initially intend to deny their involvement in the crime but, during the

  interrogation, thanks to the techniques used by the investigators, a high per-

  centage of them change their mind and confess. In a recent study, we found

  that 25% of convicted people admitted that they changed their initial position

  during the interrogation. However, among these, almost half (46%) said they

  initially intended to confess but later changed their mind (Deslauriers - Varin &

  St - Yves, 2006 ). This shows that the decision - making process can be infl uenced

  either way. Deslauriers - Varin (2006) also noted that 43.5% of people who con-

  fessed their crime to the police said that they were ready to do so at the begin-

  ning of the interrogation. As for the others who confessed, 31.5% clearly stated

  that they were not ready to do so at the beginning of the interrogation. Why

  did they change their mind? Was it the infl u ence of their attorney? The

  quality of the evidence? The attitude of the investigator?

  Infl uencing f actors on the d ecision - m aking p rocess

  In the following section, we describe the major factors that are likely to infl u-

  ence the decision to confess or not to the police. The few studies that have

  The Psychology of Suspects’ Decision-Making during Interrogation

  3

  been carried out regarding factors associated with confessions can be classifi ed

  in three categories: (i) individual factors; (ii) criminal factors; (iii) contextual

  factors (Gudjonsson, 2003 ; Kassin & Gudjonsson, 2004 ; St - Yves & Landry,

  2004 ). First, we briefl y describe individual and criminal factors, and then focus

  on contextual factors, given that these are the only factors on which police

  offi cers can have an infl uence during the interrogation.

  Individual f actors

  A number of individual factors have been examined in relation to confessing

  during police interrogations. Although most studies carried out on the factors

  infl uencing the decision - making process of a confession obtain contradictory

  results, it is possible to establish general trends.

  Age. Suspects under the age of 21 confess more often than do older suspects

  (Baldwin & McConville, 1980 ; Softley, 1980 ; Pearse et al ., 1998 ; Phillips &

  Brown, 1998 ). This may be explained by the fact that the younger ones do

  not understand their rights as well as older suspects and thus are less likely to

  invoke them (Baldwin & McConville, 1980 ). Other studies emphasize the

  signifi cant infl uence that the pressure associated with the interrogation can

  have on young suspects. Being less mature, they probably have more diffi cul-

  ties facing such a situation and understanding all its implications (Singh &

  Gudjonsson, 1992 ). However, when included in a logistic regression model,

  age of suspect does not seem to have a signifi cant impact on their decision -

  making process (Pearse

  et al .,

  1998 ; Deslauriers

  - Varin,

  2006 ). Also, some

  studies have not found a signifi cant relationship between age of suspect and

  tendency to confess (Neubauer, 1974 ; Mitchell, 1983 ; Leo, 1996 ; St - Yves,

  2002 ).

  Ethnic

  o rigin. Caucasian suspects are, according to some studies, more

  inclined to confess than are other ethnic groups living in the same country

  (Leo, 1996 ; Phillips & Brown, 1998 ).The difference between Caucasians and

  other ethnic groups seems even more signifi cant for sexual crimes (St - Yves,

  2002; 2006b ). Two factors could explain such differences: (i) cultural and

  religious differences; and (ii) in most studies the police interviewers were pre-

  dominately white. However, other studies have not shown a signifi cant rela-

  tionship between ethnic origin and confession rates (Wald et al ., 1967 ; Pearse

  et al ., 1998 ). Phillips & Brown (1998) have suggested that the relationship

  between ethnic group and confession may be modulated by other factors such

  as age, criminal background and strength of evidence.

  Feeling g uilty. According to Berggren (1975) , confessing can provide sus-

  pects with sense of liberation which has a cathartic effect. Indeed, studies have

  found that feeling guilty leads to confessing during police interrogation

  (Gudjonsson & Petursson, 1991 ; Gudjonsson, 1992 ; Sigurdsson & Gudjonsson,

  4

  Handbook of Psychology of Investigative Interviewing

  1994 ; Gudjonsson & Sigurdsson, 1999 ; St - Yves, 2002 ; Gudjonsson et al .,

  2004a; 2004b ). According to the fi nal prediction model of a recent study,

  from all the individual factors included, only feelings of guilt signifi cantly

  predicted confession during a police interrogation (Deslauriers - Varin, 2006 ).

  According to the same study, suspects reporting feelings of guilt regarding the

  crime were 50% more likely to confess than those not reporting such feelings.

  The fi rst explanatory models of confession have in fact emphasized the role

  of the feelings of guilt in the decision - making process of confession, arguing

  that the internal pressures often pushed the suspect to confess to ease their

  guilt (Horowitz, 1956 ; Reik, 1973 ; Gudjonsson, 1992 ). This signifi cant rela-

  tionship between feelings of guilt and confession probably explains why some

  police offi cers use tactics such as appealing to the suspect ’ s conscience and

  offering him or her moral justifi cations and excuses (Leo,

  1996 ). Indeed,

  shouldn ’ t we consider the feeling of guilt as a contextual rather than an indi-

  vidual factor?

  Personality p rofi le. Extroverts, such as the antisocial and narcissistic, are less

  likely to collaborate and tend to
resist more during police interrogation than

  do introverts (Gudjonsson & Petursson, 1991 ; Gudjonsson & Sigurdsson,

  1999 ; Bernard & Proulx, 2002 ; St - Yves, 2002; 2004c ). This could be explained

  by the notion that introvert personality profi les are more likely to experience

  remorse and feelings of guilt with regard to their crime (St - Yves, 2004d ). In

  addition, people with an extrovert personality profi le do not seem to confess

  their crime for the same reasons that introverts do. The former group, having

  none or little remorse, have a greater tendency to give way to external pressure

  – interrogation techniques and strength of the evidence – while the latter are

  more likely to give way to internal pressure, especially guilt and remorse

  (Eysenck & Gudjonsson, 1989 ; Gudjonsson & Sigurdsson, 1999 ; St - Yves,

  2002; 2004b ).

  Criminal b ackground. Some authors have suggested that people without

  a prior criminal background are more inclined to confess their crime than those

  who have been arrested in the past (Neubauer, 1974 ; Pearse et al ., 1998 ). Leo

  (1996) explains this relationship by suggesting that people more familiar with

  the police environment and interrogation techniques are more inclined to

  invoke their legal rights and, therefore, not to collaborate with the police. On

  the other hand, some researchers found a positive relationship between having

  a criminal background and the rate of confession (Baldwin & McConville,

  1980 ; Mitchell, 1983 ), while yet others did not fi nd any signifi cant relationship

  (Moston et al ., 1992 ; Phillips & Brown, 1998 ; St - Yves, 2002 ; Deslauriers -

  Varin, 2006 ; Deslauriers - Varin et al ., 2009 ). A study by Moston and col-

  leagues (1992) demonstrated that the connection between criminal background

  and confession might be modulated by the quality of evidence possessed by

  the police at interrogation. When evidence was strong, suspects without a

  The Psychology of Suspects’ Decision-Making during Interrogation

  5

  criminal background were more likely to confess their crime (78% vs. 59%)

  than were those with criminal backgrounds.

  Criminal f actors

  Two criminal factors especially have attracted researchers ’ attention: the nature

  and the seriousness of the crime.