Eliciting Cues to False Intent: A New Application of Strategic Interviewing

This article examined how to elicit cues to deception when a suspect is asked both about his/her intentions and his/her corresponding past planning, and when the investigator holds evidence on the suspect’s planning activities. In a new experimental set-up accommodating the main characteristics of intent, participants (N = 120) either planned a criminal or a non-criminal act. They were intercepted before completing the planned act. Each participant was interviewed in accordance with one of three interview techniques: Early Evidence disclosure or one of two versions of the Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE) technique. All the interviews were transcribed and scored for consistency. As predicted, the liars were perceived as having a higher degree of inconsistency for two of the three relevant comparisons (Statement on Planning–Evidence on Planning; Statement on Intent–Evidence on Planning). Furthermore, using the evidence strategically resulted in differences between liars and truth tellers being magnified, as predicted. This article advances previous findings in showing that by interviewing strategically with respect to the evidence, it is possible to elicit reliable cues to deception when a suspect is asked about intentions and corresponding planning activities.     

Gathering human intelligence via repeated interviewing: further empirical tests of the Scharff technique

Research on investigative interviewing has only recently started to compare the efficacy of different techniques for gathering intelligence from human sources. So far the research has focused exclusively on sources interviewed once, thus overlooking that most sources are interviewed multiple times. The present study attempts to remedy this gap in the literature. Students (N?=?66) took on the role of semi-cooperative sources, holding incomplete information about an upcoming terrorist attack. The sources were informed that they would be interviewed at least once, and that additional interviews might follow. Half of the sources were interviewed on three occasions with the Scharff technique (consisting of five tactics), and the other half was interviewed on three occasions using the so-called direct approach (i.e. open-ended and specific questions). Collapsing the outcome over the three interviews, the Scharff technique resulted in significantly more new information compared to the direct approach. Furthermore, sources interviewed by the direct approach overestimated how much new information they had revealed, whereas the sources interviewed by the Scharff technique underestimated their contribution (although not significantly so). The current study advances previous research by further contextualizing the tests of the efficacy of human intelligence gathering techniques.     

Taking the stand: defendant statements in court cases of alleged sexual abuse against infants,toddlers and preschoolers

Investigating and adjudicating allegations of child sexual abuse are challenging tasks. In the present study, we examined defendant statements concerning charges of sexual abuse against young children in Swedish district court cases (87 defendants, 140 child complainants, tried between January 2010 to December 2015). A main objective was to test predictive factors for admissions of guilt using inferential statistical analyses. Furthermore, using qualitative thematical analysis, we sought to identify common patterns in the defendants’ explanations to the allegation. Approximately one-third of the defendants (31%) pleaded guilty during trial. Admissions of guilt were more likely if the defendant was young, if the child was young at the onset of abuse, if the child and perpetrator had an extrafamilial relationship, and if the defendant possessed child pornography. A conflict with the person who made the report (e.g. a custody dispute), a testimony from the child, a direct eyewitness, or an informal disclosure recipient were significantly more common in cases of denials. In the qualitative analysis, a range of alternative explanations behind the abuse allegations were identified. Legal professionals and investigators may benefit from considering these alternative hypotheses during their investigative and judicial work.     

Injuries inflicted on homicide victims. A longitudinal victiminologic study of lethal violence

For the purpose of studying homicidal violence from a victiminologic point of view, we have examined the number and nature of injuries inflicted on homicide victims examined at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Stockholm during the periods 1976-1978, 1986-1988 and 1996-1998. Evaluation of the total number of injuries (both lethal and non-lethal) revealed a break in the earlier trend during the last of these periods, which demonstrated a clear increase in the number of injuries probably caused by intense and prolonged violence. Thus, there were 14 victims with 40 or more injuries (the maximum being 101 injuries) in the 1996-1998 period, whereas there was only one such victim in each of the two earlier periods. Furthermore, the proportion of victims exhibiting multiple lethal injuries was greater during the last period than during the two preceding periods. These findings indicate a general enhancement in the level of aggression exerted by violent offenders, as well as an increase in the number homicide victims with injuries apparently inflicted by acts of aggression characterized by outrage.     

Mallory-Weiss syndrome as the cause of sudden, unexpected death

The Mallory-Weiss-syndrome is an upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage due to longitudinal mucosal lacerations in the oesophagogastric junction. The mucosal lacerations occur as a sequel of vomiting or any other increase in intraabdominal pressure and account for up to 15% of all upper gastrointestinal bleedings. If death is due to a bleeding Mallory-Weiss-tear, however, massive blood stains on the corpse and around it frequently give rise to the suspicion of an unnatural cause of death. For this reason, autopsy is usually indispensable to elucidate the circumstances in which death occurred. The authors carried out a retrospective analysis of 5958 autopsies performed between 1997 and 2001 at the Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Hamburg, in order to identify all cases of Mallory-Weiss-syndrome as cause of sudden, unexpected death. The results (9 cases, amounting to 0.15% of all autopsies) suggest that Mallory-Weiss-syndrome is probably much more common as a cause of sudden death than previously described. Regarding epidemiological aspects, men clearly predominate; the average age was 48 years. It should also be stressed that in 8 of the 9 cases there was a previous history of chronic alcohol abuse.     

Votes for Sale: The Logic of Power in Joint-Stock Companies

The joint-stock company as an institution rests on two major principles. On the one hand, it embodies the logic of collective choice. The ultimate rights to power are vested in a constituency composed of the stockholders. The constituency elects a board which in turn appoints an executive. Decisions are usually taken by majority rule. In these respects, the joint-stock company resembles the democratic polity. On the other hand, it also includes important elements of market exchange. Unlike many other instances in which the logic of collective choice applies, the rights to power can be freely exchanged on a stock market. This paper examines the power implications of this combination of principles using illustrations drawn from the corporate world of Sweden. It argues that although there are similarities between the situation of stockholders and that of voters, the incentives to participate in the exercise of control are rather different. Whereas a model based solely on instrumental rationality is insufficient to explain the participation of voters, it does well in accounting for that of stockholders. Further, the prerequisites of the emergence and maintenance of participatory norms are favorable with respect to voters but unfavorable with regard to stockholders. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the results for the alleged autonomy of managers vis-à-vis the owners and by examining the importance of the exit mechanism as a means of power for minor stockholders.     

The management quest for authentic relationships in voluntary social care

Little research has been devoted to exploring the perspective of volunteer managers and the values guiding them in their effort to manage voluntary social care. The purpose of this article is to begin to provide insight into the content of these values and their impact on the day-to-day practices of managers. The article will proceed through three stages. The first provides a short review of the literature regarding the nature of research in the field of volunteer management. This is followed by a presentation of results from an exploratory study of how managers’ call for authentic relationships has specific consequences for how voluntary social care becomes an object of their management. These questions will be investigated among managers in four different organizational settings in Denmark, which organize voluntary social care in relation to children, the elderly, young people with mental health problems and hospital patients respectively. The article concludes by discussing the kinds of challenges and dilemmas that these values and expectations bring about.