Witnesses to violent crimes are often alcohol intoxicated, but few studies have investigated the impact of alcohol on witness reports. This study investigated how alcohol intoxication and time of interview affected reports of intimate partner violence (IPV). One hundred thirty six healthy men (N = 66) and women (N = 70) were randomized to an alcohol group (0.8g/kg for men, 0.75g/kg for women) (N = 70) or control group (N = 66), given juice. Participants consumed drinks in a laboratory setting before they witnessed an IPV scenario. Fifty percent of the intoxicated and sober participants were interviewed ten minutes after viewing the film and all participants were interviewed one week later. For the analyses, participants in the alcohol group were divided into two groups (moderately/highly intoxicated) based on their BAC-level. Ten minutes after viewing the event, highly (BAC = 0.08-0.15) intoxicated witnesses gave shorter, but as accurate, reports as moderately intoxicated/sober witnesses. All witnesses gave shorter and less accurate reports one week later compared to immediately after. However, an immediate interview increased completeness one week later. In general, time and high intoxication made witnesses give less detailed accounts of actions and verbal information, but not of objects. Highly intoxicated witnesses reported less actions and verbal information in all interviews, while information regarding objects was reported to a similar extent. At the present BAC-level, it is beneficial to conduct an immediate free recall interview with intoxicated witnesses to obtain a maximum amount of correct information and minimize the negative effect of time.

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Many witnesses to violent crimes are alcohol intoxicated, but research is lacking regarding how alcohol affects their perception of aggression and guilt. This study investigated to what extent alcohol intoxicated eyewitnesses differed from sober witnesses regarding how aggressive and guilty they perceived the involved parts in an intimate partner violence (IPV) situation. Eighty-seven healthy men ( n = 44) and women ( n = 43) were randomized to an alcohol group (0.7 g/kg) or a non-alcohol group. In a laboratory setting, alcoholic/non-alcoholic drinks were consumed before viewing a film depicting IPV between a man and a woman. Ten min after viewing, in an interview, the participants rated how aggressive and guilty they perceived the involved parts to be. Alcohol intoxicated participants perceived both parts' physically aggressive behavior as comparatively less severe, but their neutral behavior as more hostile. Sober witnesses perceived the man to be the most guilty part, whereas intoxicated witnesses distributed guilt more evenly. Alcohol had a strong but complex impact on the perception of aggression in IPV (i.e., heightened during the neutral interaction and lowered during physical aggression). These results may be explained by the cognitive consequences of alcohol's anxiety-dampening effects. Regarding the asymmetric difference in perceived guilt, stereotypical expectations of gender-appropriate behavior in an IPV situation may need to be considered.

Memory encoding and recall involving complex, effortful cognitive processes are impaired by alcohol primarily due to impairment of a select few, but crucial, cortical areas. This review shows how alcohol affects some, but not all, aspects of eyewitnesses' oral free recall performance. The principal results, so far, are that: a) free recall reports by intoxicated witnesses (at the investigated BAC-levels) may contain less, but as accurate, information as reports by sober witnesses; b) immediate reports given by intoxicated witnesses may yield more information compared to reports by sober witnesses given after a one week delay; c) an immediate interview may enhance both intoxicated and sober witnesses' ability to report information in a later interview; and d) reminiscence seems to occur over repeated interviews and the new information seems to be as accurate as the previously reported information. Based on this, recommendations are given for future research to enhance understanding of the multifaceted impact of alcohol on witnesses' oral free recall of violent crimes.

The empirical base relating to alcohol's effects on underlying memory mechanisms among witnesses is sparse. Therefore, the effect of alcohol intoxication on memory mechanisms was investigated, as well as how degree of intoxication and interview delay affected gist and detail elaboration in these witnesses' reports. Participants (n = 136) were randomized to an alcohol group (men: 0.8 g/kg, women: 0.75 g/kg) (n = 70) or a control group (n = 66), given juice. After consumption, they witnessed an intimate partner violence-scenario, and performed tasks assessing memory mechanisms. Half of the intoxicated and sober groups were interviewed immediately. The remaining participants were interviewed one week later. Inter alia, intoxication decreased total gist recall and elaboration capacity. In general, high intoxication (BAC = 0.08-0.15) made witnesses report fewer gist categories, and also to elaborate them less, but there were differences in gist/ detail elaboration between levels of intoxication due to emotional context. Less reported information among intoxicated witnesses was caused both by omitting parts of the scenario and to less detailed elaboration. Emotional context influenced reporting among intoxicated witnesses on a gist and detail level. However, intoxication had less impact on gist/detail-elaboration than did a one week delay before interview, suggesting that witnesses should be interviewed immediately, despite intoxication. ARTICLE HISTORYThe devil is not only in the details: gist and detail in intoxicated witnesses' direct and delayed reports of intimate partner violenceThe effect of alcohol on the reliability and scope of witnesses' reports is a relatively new area of research. Therefore, many issues are still unclear, among them the underlying mechanisms of alcohol's impact on witnesses' memory for violence. Some previous