Evaluating interviews which search for the truth with suspects: but are investigators’ self-assessments of their own skills truthful ones?

Abstract

Self-evaluation of one's own performance has been found in prior research to be an enabler of professional development. The task of evaluation is also a core component of a model of the investigative interviewing of victims, witnesses and suspects, being increasingly used throughout the world. However, it remains the case that there has been little research as to how practitioners approach the task itself. The present study examined the topic through the lens of observing how effectively 30 real-life investigators in the UK undertook evaluation of their interviews, representing almost the entire investigative frontline workforce of a small law enforcement agency in this country. Using an established scale of measurement, both investigators' and an expert's ratings of the same sample of interviews were compared across a range of tasks and behaviours. It was found that in almost all the assessed behaviours, requiring of the investigators to provide a self-rating, their scores tended to significantly outstrip those applied to the sample by the expert. Reasons are explored for the investigators' overstated assessments. Implications for practice are then discussed. ARTICLE HISTORY

Planning Ahead? An Exploratory Study of South Korean Investigators’ Beliefs About Their Planning for Investigative Interviews of Suspects

“…Self-efficacy has also been found to be associated with employee motivation and effort when learning difficult tasks (Lunenberg 2011). Walsh et al (2017) found, in their study of investigators, a self-confidence about own interviewing ability, which, in turn, was found consistently inferior to that objectively assessed.…”

“…Griffiths (2008) found that planning is a complex task. However, investigators have been found to possess little self-awareness of how poor were their own planning skills (Walsh et al 2017). Griffiths and Walsh (submitted) found that more accurate self-awareness was only apparent when investigators exercised skilled reflection.…”

“…A recent study (Walsh et al 2017) found that investigators consistently over-estimate their interview skills, compared to an independent assessment of the same interviews (which found their skills generally to be at mediocre levels). It might be reasonably presumed that interviewers, lacking selfawareness as to their lack of competence in interviewing skills, might fail to connect such shortfalls to a lack of planning and preparation, particularly as it has been found they rarely evaluate their own interview performance (Walsh and Milne 2007).…”

Qualitative analysis of qualitative evaluation: an exploratory examination of investigative interviewers’ reflections on their performance

“…There is a dearth of literature concerning how (and how effectively) law enforcement officers reflect and evaluate their own performance. A recent study, undertaken by Walsh, King, and Griffiths (2017), found that investigators regularly over-rated their own interview performance when compared to that of an independent expert. In that study, the participants assessed their own interview performance across 30 behavioural dimensions, using a five-point Likert scale.…”

Where I was and how I will prove it

“…In practice, police detectives are the ones to create a first impression of the suspect's alibi's believability. The initial suspect interviews are a key investigative act in the criminal investigation (Baldwin, 1993;Norfolk & Stark, 2011;Walsh, King, & Griffiths, 2017). The gathered information in those interviews is crucial for the further development of the investigation in the light of the evidence being gathered; for example: when CCTV footage is available, those tapes should be collected as soon as possible to reduce the risk that the tapes will no longer be available.…”