Psychological vulnerabilities during police interviews. Why are they important?

Abstract

Over the past three decades much has been learned about the role and importance of psychological vulnerabilities in the context of unreliability of information obtained during police interviews. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge and explains why vulnerabilities are important. Psychological vulnerabilities are best construed as potential ‘risk factors’ rather than definitive markers of unreliability. They are important, because they may place witnesses, victims, and suspects at a disadvantage in terms of coping with the demand characteristics of the interview (and subsequent Court process) and being able to provide the police with salient, detailed, accurate, and coherent answers to questions. Early identification of relevant and pertinent vulnerabilities in the interview process helps to ensure fairness and justice. Currently, the identification of vulnerabilities is poor, and even when identified, they are not always acted upon. Nevertheless, England has taken the lead in improving the police interview process and the protection of vulnerable interviewees. More work needs to be done, but the Bradley Report recommendations represent an excellent opportunity for police and health care professionals to work together to improve justice for all. This is the key initial interface that will be vital for reducing future miscarriages of justice.

Memory distrust syndrome, confabulation and false confession

“…The participants at the Conference were sceptical about false confessions in the absence of severe mental disorder. This scepticism about false confessions remained among the English legal establishment until the release of the Guildford Four in 1989 and attitudes have improved from then till the present day through a series of legal judgements focusing on police interviewing and psychological vulnerabilities (Gudjonsson, 2003a(Gudjonsson, , 2003b(Gudjonsson, , 2006(Gudjonsson, , 2010(Gudjonsson, , 2012(Gudjonsson, , 2014.…”

Policing, Crime and Mental Illness in England and Wales: Insights from the Literature

“…The psychologically vulnerable or those suffering from mental illness can give unreliable testimony including false confessions (Gudjonsson, 2010). Mentally vulnerable people in custody often report they did not understand what was happening to them or why, they felt alone, did not know who to turn to for support and were uncertain about what to say or do (Hyun et al, 2014).…”

Legal professionals and witness statements from people with a suspected mental health diagnosis

“…A mental health diagnosis is one type of psychological vulnerability to be considered by legal professionals when interviewing for witness statements, especially if the individual is distressed at the time of interview (Gudjonsson, 2010), and during court proceedings, as outlined by the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act [YJCEA], 1999, which covers both vulnerable individuals and children. Yet despite an awareness of mental health difficulties in academic and official literature, special measures for vulnerable witnesses as suggested by the YJCEA 1999 are not always implemented in practice, and if they are, they are often applied late and recording of disabilities are often not detailed sufficiently (Charles, 2012).…”