The findings of the study show the importance of relational processes in investigative interviewing of traumatized interviewees, particularly with regard to coping with emotions. The results suggest that if the police investigator who is conducting an investigative interview can offer a trusting, safe and compassionate relationship, or if he or she steers the relational dynamics toward safety in the present moment when distress arises, he or she may facilitate the regulation of distress. We propose that if the interviewee's emotions are managed in this way during the police interview, it may lead to increased rapport and promote psychological health. (PsycINFO Database Record
The study aim was to explore the factors considered important and useful in facilitating safety and building rapport in police investigative interviews with traumatized interviewees. We conducted 21 semi-structured interviews of police investigators involved in investigative interviewing of victims after the Utøya massacre on 22 July 2011 in Norway. Using a thematic analysis based on a reflexive hermeneutic-phenomenological epistemology, four themes emerged: (1) Preparation through planning, reflection, and openness: balancing knowing and being receptive; (2) Using first impressions, casual conversation and communicating expectations to make the interviewee comfortable; (3) Getting closer to the experience of the interviewee through engagement, adaptation, and understanding; and (4) Handling negative feelings and being receptive in the interview relationship. We discuss the findings in relation to current theory and research on investigative interviewing and highlight the importance of working on an emotional level to facilitate rapport when interviewing traumatized interviewees.3
In the investigation of a criminal event, the police may encounter witnesses or victims experiencing symptoms of being traumatized (e.g. anxiety, intrusive thoughts, or avoidance of trauma-related stimuli). This may pose a challenge in investigative interviews where police interviewers aim to obtain reliable and detailed accounts. Based on previous theory and research, this theoretical paper aims to outline recommendations for police interviewers for approaching traumatized adult witnesses to facilitate communication, attend to the well-being of the individual, and reach investigative aims. First, factors considered important for preparing for the interview and building rapport will be presented. Then, different aspects of how to facilitate the interviewee's account will be described with an emphasis on how police interviewers can approach emotional reactions to maintain rapport.
The present study investigated: (1) differences in personality traits and hardiness between police and psychology students; and (2) the relationship between personality traits and hardiness. To achieve these aims, we obtained scores using the Big Five Inventory-20 and the Dispositional Resilience Scale-15-R from n = 125 police students and n = 177 psychology students. Police students relative to psychology students, as expected, scored significantly higher on extraversion, conscientiousness, and emotional stability, and lower on openness. Further, the police students scored higher than psychology students on agreeableness, which was unexpected. For hardiness, police students also scored significantly higher than the psychology students. There was, however, no significant difference for the hardiness component of control. All Big Five traits (except agreeableness) predicted hardiness in a stepwise regression, where emotional stability was the strongest isolated predictor (b = 0.40). When treating hardiness as a dichotomized variable, for identifying those especially low or high on hardiness, openness was the strongest predictor for the high hardiness group: OR = 1.69 (95% CI 1.24-2.30). Margin plots revealed that increases in Big Five trait scores, except agreeableness, elevated the probability of belonging to the high hardiness group independent of field of study. We conclude that there is some support for a Norwegian 'police student personality'. Additionally, we discuss nuances in the personality-relatedness of the hardiness construct based on results from a linear and logistic regression, respectively.
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