Interviewing and Interrogation

This page gives information on interviewing in fact-finding, not limited to criminal justice. It is centred on the anthology Interviewing and Interrogation: A Review of Research and Practice Since World War II, edited by Gavin E. Oxburgh, Trond Myklebust, Mark Fallon and Maria Hartwig (Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, 2023, ISBNs: 978-82-8348-200-3 (print) and 978-82-8348-201-0 (e-book)).

The science of interviewing and interrogation has continuously developed worldwide since World War II. However, the broader impact of unscientific, ineffective and counter-productive interviewing and interrogation remains profound. Indeed, coercive techniques are still used in many countries today despite such methods being banned under international law. The anthology outlines the advancement in an ever-evolving arena that is often restricted to academic researchers, to assist international policing, law enforcement, military, security and intelligence practitioners to keep themselves up to date on methods of non-coercive information elicitation.

The authors bring exceptional combined expertise on interview and interrogation methods or techniques used around the world since World War II. They explain the models, methods, frameworks and techniques used, when and why they were introduced, as well as their effectiveness in practice across different jurisdictions and socio-political contexts. You can freely access the contents of the book below.

The anthology is edited by Gavin E. Oxburgh (Ph.D., Professor of Police Science, Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University; registered Forensic Psychologist and an Expert Witness; 22-year veteran detective of the Royal Air Force Police), Trond Myklebust (Assistant Chief of Police, Research Department, Norwegian Police University College; Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Oslo; co-founder of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group), Mark Fallon (formerly US Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent and counter-terrorism expert, and Director of the Criminal Investigative Task Force at Guantanamo detention camp for 2.5 years (independent from Joint Task Force Guantanamo, the CIA and the FBI); since a vocal critic of US intelligence’s counter-terrorism efforts; published Unjustifiable Means: The Inside Story of How the CIA, Pentagon, and US Government Conspired to Torture), and Maria Hartwig (Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY) is a renowned scholar on the hybrid domains of deception detection and interviewing/interrogation, with a research portfolio spanning over two decades. Her doctoral work (2005) introducing the Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE) technique has received widespread attention as a model for non-coercive, effective interrogation, and she has since published systematic and impactful research on strategic questioning as well as science and meta-science on deception and interrogation broadly. She is co-Founder and co-Director of Project Aletheia at John Jay College.

The book builds in part on TOAEP’s comprehensive anthology Quality Control in Criminal Investigation (see the closely related Quality Control Symposium).

Table of Contents

Preface by the Co-Editors
Foreword by Winton L. Keenen
Foreword by Kristin Ottesen Kvigne
Prologue by Juan Méndez and Mark Thomson

Part 1: General

• The Science of Interviewing: How Do We Know What We Know?
  By Christopher E. Kelly and Melissa B. Russano

• Do Jurors Understand the Causes of False Confession, and Do They Adjust Their Perceptions of Suspects’ Confessions Appropriately?
  By Deborah Davis and Richard A. Leo

• Background to Interviewing Vulnerable Persons
  By Gisli H. Gudjonsson

• Rapport, Empathy and Relationship-Building During Interviews
  By Gavin E. Oxburgh, Fiona Gabbert, Lee Moffett, Libby Ashurst and Lauren Grundy

• Forget the ‘Fever Dreams’ of Interrogational Torture: Science, Ethics and Policy Serve Effective and Humane Interviewing
  By Shane O’Mara

• The Méndez Principles
  By Rebecca Shaeffer, Veronica Hinestroza and Sean Tait

• Forensic Linguistics and Interviewing
  By Nicci MacLeod and Annina Heini

• Cultural Aspects of Interviewing
  By Nkansah Anakwah, Nael Sumampouw and Henry Otgaar

• Does Interviewing Affect Suggestibility and False Memory Formation?
  By Henry Otgaar, Sanne T.L. Houben, Peter Muris and Mark L. Howe

Part 2: Suspects

• The Scharff Technique
  By Pär Anders Granhag

• The Evolution of Suspect Interview Training in United States Federal Law Enforcement
  By Patricia Donovan and Laura Zimmerman

• Structured Models of Interviewing
  By John Halley, David Walsh, Trond Myklebust and Ole Thomas Bjerknes

• The Cylinder Model
  By Matthias Sjöberg, Paul J. Taylor and Stacey M. Conchie

• Strategic Use of Evidence: A Review of the Technique and Its Principles
  By Maria Hartwig and Pär-Anders Granhag

• Observing Rapport Based Interpersonal Techniques for Research and Training in Suspect Interviewing
  By Frances Surmon-Böhr, Laurence J. Alison and Emily Alison

Part 3: Victims and Witnesses

• The Cognitive Interview in Laboratory and Field Tests of Crime and Terrorism
  By Ronald P. Fisher and Tzachi Ashkenazi

• The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Protocol
  By Trond Myklebust, David LaRooy and Carlos E. Peixoto

• Achieving Best Evidence from Victims and Witnesses
  By Laura Farrugia and Katie Maras

• The Self-Administered Interview
  By Fiona Gabbert and Lorraine Hope

• The Timeline Technique
  By Lorraine Hope, Wayne Thomas and Feni Kontogianni

Part 4: Relevant Organizations

• The International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iIIRG)
  By Trond Myklebust and Gavin E. Oxburgh

• From Research to Practice: The High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group
  By Susan E. Brandon and Christian A. Meissner

• The Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats
  By Paul J. Taylor and Stacey M. Conchie
• Concluding Remarks on the Future of Interviewing and Interrogation: Advancing Science and Practice
  By Maria Hartwig, Mark Fallon, Trond Myklebust and Gavin E. Oxburgh