Principles | Module objectives:

  • Outline key issues relating to an investigator’s mental approach
  • Describe core processes affecting the quality of interviews conducted by investigators
  • Explain the categorisation of different question types

Effective interviewing is nothing like it is portrayed in television dramas where interrogators catch out criminals with bluffs about evidence and manipulate witnesses to gather evidence that confirms their hunches. Effective interviewing as part of an investigation is about obtaining reliable information through skilled communication.

Many decades of research have shown that interviews are complex dynamic encounters influenced by numerous factors, including the status of the interviewee, the purpose of the interview, and the interviewee’s perception of the situation, to name just three. Therefore, to be effective interviewers need to follow key principles based on an understanding of relevant aspects of human behaviour and fundamental aspects of investigation. These are the fundamentals that allow interviewers to build awareness of their own behaviour and develop steadfast interview skills, around their own communication style, strengths and weaknesses.

This section of the course contains a number of individual sessions devoted to those key principles. We recommend that that you complete these sessions first – before looking at the techniques and other information sections. The techniques that we put forward are all based on the principles.

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