Interrogation & Interviewing
Full course description
Interrogation and interviewing are at the core of many police investigations. In this course, students will learn about the different strategies that can be used when interrogating or interviewing a suspect. The course will deal with the difference between the accusatory interrogation style (i.e., an interrogation aimed at eliciting a confession), and the information gathering approach (i.e., an interview aimed at gathering relevant information), and their effects on eliciting false confessions. The information gathering approach has gained traction in recent years as a result of greater attention to inhumane and unethical police interrogation methods. In addition, the course will deal with the best way to detect deception in such interrogation/interviews. Students will discuss the use of non-verbal and verbal cues, but also the use of the polygraph to detect deception. Finally, the course will deal with mediation in criminal and civil law.
The final assessment for this course is a numerical grade between 0,0 and 10,0.
Course objectives
- At the end of this course students:are familiar with the best practices in investigative interviewing;
- are familiar with the etiology of false confessions, and practices to prevent them;
- are familiar with the theories of deception and deception detection;
- are familiar with the ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct as they relate to investigative interviewing
- are familiar with article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Méndez Principles
- are familiar with the role mediation in penal and civil law.