The quality of question types in Swedish police interviews with young suspects of serious crimes

Abstract

This study explores how juvenile offenders in Sweden between the age of 15 and 17 are interviewed by police officers when suspected of homicide crimes. The quality of question types was assessed in 47 authentic interviews. The findings show that the police officers used option-posing and suggestive questions most frequently and social pressure was used in three predominating ways: to confront, to challenge and to appeal for a confession. The conclusion is that the police officers’ question style to a large extent contradicts recommendations for how to interview children. There is therefore a need to develop an evidence-based interview practice for interviewing young suspects.

White Paper on Forensic Child Interviewing: Research-based recommendations by the European Association of Psychology and Law

“…While the focus of this paper is on interviews with child victims and witnesses, the same general principles for interviewing children correctly apply for other instances in which children are heard in legal processes, including where children are suspects and in cases of custody disputes. Child suspects have received comparatively much less attention than child victims and witnesses (but see Laver, 2019;Winerdal et al, 2019), and according to a recent report by the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA, 2022), they are met in ways that are highly problematic. The European Association of Psychology and Law strongly encourages more focus on child suspects and the way they are met in the criminal justice system, in line with the EU Directive on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings.…”

Police–suspect interactions and confession rates are affected by suspects’ alcohol and drug use status in low-stakes crime interrogations

“…Other research has found that police investigators sometimes summarize their own questions, just to be able to write down what the interviewee is saying (e.g., Cauchi et al, 2010). With respect to this matter, it is important to note that a Swedish study with juvenile suspects of serious crimes found that most questions asked by the police were 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.983362 inappropriate (Winerdal et al, 2018). Clearly more research is needed on this topic.…”

“…For instance, in a survey of suspects convicted of murder and sexual offenses, suspects were more likely to admit guilt when met with a humane approach ( Holmberg and Christianson, 2002 ). Furthermore, a mixed method study with juvenile suspects of serious crimes found the majority of questions asked by the police to be inappropriate ( Winerdal et al, 2018 ). The interrogating officers also used unwarranted social pressure to gather information and attempted to elicit confessions from the young suspects.…”

The interrogator‐suspect dynamic in custodial interrogations for high‐stakes crimes in Sweden: An application of the interrogation taxonomy framework

“…In line with these qualitative findings, a more recent experimental study found that Swedish legal practitioners (including police) were at risk of confirmation bias throughout the investigation and interrogation process (Lidén, 2018). Furthermore, a mixed method study of interrogations of juvenile offenders suspected of homicide (i.e., murder or manslaughter) in Sweden found that Swedish police failed to adhere to science‐based interrogation methods, as interrogators mostly used accusatorial approaches and appeals to confess (Winerdal, Cederborg & Lindholm, 2018). In the context of Swedish research, it is important to mention a recent published archival study (Hagsand, Zajac, et al ., 2022) on Swedish police interrogations concerning low‐stakes alcohol‐ and drug‐related offenses (e.g., drinking and driving, narcotics offenses) that applied the taxonomy of interrogation methods framework.…”