Open Collections

Rose, Katherine Barbara

University of British Columbia

Contemporary interview approaches favor psychological techniques, such as rapport building, to enhance suspect cooperation and yield useful information. In 2014, Canada introduced the Phased Interview Model, an approach that encourages humane techniques, such as rapport building, to collect voluntary information from suspects. Despite being widely adopted nationwide, it has not been evaluated empirically. The primary objective of the present study was to examine if real-world PIM interviews are being implemented as taught, and information gathered as intended. The secondary objective was to explore if techniques related to information gathered. To facilitate the primary and secondary objective, the third objective of the present study was to identify a research-supported methodological approach to evaluate the implementation of the PIM. First, a narrative review of research methods used to study rapport in suspect interviews showed support for the diversity, and often ambiguous nature, of how rapport is defined and measured. Subsequently, a coding scheme was developed and applied to a sample of 12 PIM interviews of homicide suspects to evaluate implementation of PIM. Results showed that PIM interviewers are using rapport-building techniques, adhering to procedural protections of suspect rights, and gathering information as intended by the model. Further, exploratory correlations showed that some specific rapport-building behaviours positively correlated, but no other techniques positively correlated with IRI. Findings support the use of non-coercive techniques in the PIM and the acquisition of useful information, but more research is needed to further enhance training and implementation of useful interview strategies. This study also highlights the importance of developing clear, rigorous research methodology for the exploration of novel interviewing approaches.

Text

2023-08-15

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85473

Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/