Informants and Undercover Investigations

Fitzgerald, Dennis

doi:10.1201/9780849304132

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…In brief, systematic research programs focusing on the relation between EFT and true/false intent might generate knowledge useful for outlining theoretically based interview protocols in order to increase lie catchers' ability to discriminate between true and false intentions. It is safe to argue that such knowledge could be highly important in many different domains; investigative, security and intelligence settings to mention a few (Andrew, Aldrich, & Wark, 2009; Fitzgerald, 2008). In fact, the practical value of such interview protocols and strategies can probably not be overstated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Episodic future thought: Illuminating the trademarks of forming true and false intentions

Granhag

Knieps

2011

Appl. Cognit. Psychol.

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In this paper we argue that the emerging concept of episodic future thought (EFT) is a good candidate for capturing the core mental processes at play when forming an intention. Furthermore, we argue that tapping essential EFT features can be helpful in understanding how statements on the forming of true and false intentions may differ. Specifically, we argue that the processes relevant for constructing a convincing cover-story (which a guilty suspect needs to mask his criminal intention) will be much less characterized by the typical EFT features. To test our assumption we devised a new experimental set-up accommodating the main characteristics of intent and allowing for episodic future thought. The combined empirical evidence strongly supports our assumption that EFT is a helpful concept for illuminating the differences that may occur when forming true and false intentions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Episodic future thought: Illuminating the trademarks of forming true and false intentions

Granhag

Knieps

2011

Appl. Cognit. Psychol.

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“…The extant literature on intelligence includes writings on the recruitment of informants (e.g., Fitzgerald, ); the classification of informants (e.g., Palmiotto, ); and the analysing of intelligence (e.g., George & Bruce, ). We have not, however, identified any literature that provides a systematic comparison of various techniques for eliciting intelligence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eliciting intelligence from sources: The first scientific test of the Scharff technique

Granhag

Montecinos

Oleszkiewicz

2013

Legal Criminol Psychol

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Purpose The gathering of human intelligence (HUMINT) is of utmost importance, yet the scientific literature is silent with respect to the effectiveness of different information elicitation techniques. Our aim was to remedy this by conducting the first scientific test of the so‐called Scharff technique (named after the successful German WWII interrogator). Method We developed a new experimental paradigm, mirroring some main features of a typical HUMINT situation. The participants (N = 93) were given information on a planned terrorist attack, and were instructed to strike a balance between not revealing too much or too little information in an upcoming interview. One third was interviewed with the Scharff technique (conceptualized to include four different tactics), one‐third was asked open questions only, and the final third was asked specific questions only. The effectiveness of the three techniques was assessed by a novel set of objective and subjective measures. Results Our main findings show that (1) the three techniques did not differ with respect to the objective amount of new information gathered; (2) the participants in the Scharff condition perceived (as predicted) that it was more difficult to read the interviewer's information objectives; and (3) the participants in the Scharff‐ and the Open‐question condition (incorrectly) perceived to have revealed significantly less information than the participants in the Specific question condition. Conclusions We presented a new experimental paradigm, and new dependent measures, for studying the effectiveness of different information elicitation techniques. We consider the outcome for the Scharff technique as rather promising, but future refinements are needed.

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“…There are too many classifications (the outside multiple-event informant, 'the snoopy'/the inside multiple-event informer, 'the supergrass' (Greer, 1995b: 510)), typologies (based on the informer's operation as a 'snitch,' a 'double-self' or a 'wholly false self', depending on the needs of the police (Levinson 1982: 30-31)), and labels (depending on the informers' intervention in different types of crimes): car theft (Parker, 1986); drugs (Lawler, 1986); corruption (Grabosky, 1991); conspiracy (Haglund, 1990); organised crime (Parker, 1986;Schuberg, 1992); vice and burglary (Skolnick, 1975); vice and liquor activities (Temby, 1991); and certain violent political crimes (Weyrauch, 1986). There are studies about the value of informants (Bennet & Hess, 1994;Hoffman & Riley, 1995); methods for developing informant systems/recruiting (Dunnighan & Norris, 1996;Fitzgerald, 2007); motivational considerations (Billingsley, 2001); compensations (Ferziger & Currell, 1999;Jackson & Fulk, 2005); protection (Boisvert, 2005;Lacko, 2004); abuse (Bloom, 2002); corruption (Clark, 2001); process deviance (Billingsley, 2004); and the management of the informer (Nugent et al, 1991). In fact, the literature has given much attention to the importance of the police informer management and control system (Maguire & John, 1995;Settle, 1995;Williamson & Bagshaw, 2001), from the legal aspects (Harney & Cross, 1968) to informal 'mechanisms' (Lee, 1993;Reuter, 1983) and the ethical dilemmas (Dunnighan & Norris, 1998).…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, the literature has given much attention to the importance of the police informer management and control system (Maguire & John, 1995;Settle, 1995;Williamson & Bagshaw, 2001), from the legal aspects (Harney & Cross, 1968) to informal 'mechanisms' (Lee, 1993;Reuter, 1983) and the ethical dilemmas (Dunnighan & Norris, 1998). The informal 'mechanisms' used by handlers in their dealings with informers is one of the dominant themes in the field, to the point that taxonomies from different perspectives have been proposed (Fitzgerald, 2007;Mallory, 2000).…”

Section: Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Controlling the Madrinas: The Police Informer Management and Control System in Mexico

Fondevila

2013

The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles

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One of the most relevant issues concerning snitching in the criminal information system of any police organisation is its control. This article analyses the different ways in which the Mexican Judicial Police exert control over their informants. Utilising a mixed qualitative methodology of research, in-depth interviews and ethnographic work, this article elaborates a taxonomy of police informant control constructed from a diverse array of particular tools, both informal (personal and impersonal) and formal (impersonal), that are determined by three variables: type of contact, personal characteristics of the informant and criminal environment.

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Informants and Undercover Investigations

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Episodic future thought: Illuminating the trademarks of forming true and false intentions

Episodic future thought: Illuminating the trademarks of forming true and false intentions

Eliciting intelligence from sources: The first scientific test of the Scharff technique

Controlling the Madrinas: The Police Informer Management and Control System in Mexico

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