The Scharff technique: training military intelligence officers to elicit information from small cells of sources

ABSTRACT

Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of the Scharff technique for gathering human intelligence, but little is known about how this efficacy might vary among different samples of practitioners. In this training study we examined a sample of military officers (n?=?37). Half was trained in the Scharff technique and compared against officers receiving no Scharff training. All officers received the same case file describing two sources holding information about a terrorist attack. University students (n?=?74) took the role of the semi-cooperative sources. Scharff-trained officers adhered to the training as they (1) aimed to establish the ‘knowing-it-all’ illusion, (2) posed claims as a means of eliciting information, and (3) asked fewer explicit questions. The ‘untrained’ officers asked many explicit questions, questioned the reliability of the provided information, pressured the source, and displayed disappointment with the source's contribution. Scharff-trained officers were perceived as less eager to gather information and left their sources with the impression of having provided comparatively less new information, but collected a similar amount of new information as their untrained colleagues. The present paper both replicates and advances previous work in the field, and marks the Scharff technique as a promising technique for gathering human intelligence.     

人权观念的彰显和理性回归——对罪刑法定主义历史嬗变的归结

罪刑法定主义嬗变的历史就是一部人权保障的历史,从其间接保障人权的思想基础到直接保障人权的思想基础,从形式侧面的传统内容到实质侧面的现代内容,从纯个人本位到有利个人而向社会让步,罪刑法定主义随人权意识的增强而不断发展,从而实现了个人和社会统一的理性回归.     

小议侦查程序中的人权保障

侦查程序是刑事诉讼中非常重要的一个环节,然而,由于长期以来侦查机构权力过大,得不到有效制约,而屡屡发生侵犯公民权利的事件。为此,我们应当构建一种能够有效制约侦查权力的司法机制,以实现侦查程序中的人权保障。     

公民养老权涵义论析

养老权是一项基本人权.在我国,养老权的权利主体是60周岁以上的公民,养老权的义务主体是国家、社会、家庭和个人.养老权的内容包括生活保障权、医疗保障权和受赡养扶助权.养老权具有普遍性、资格性、基础性、社会性、综合性的特点.     

利用笔迹检验技术鉴定人形漫画

笔迹检验技术作为文件检验技术的重要组成部分,被列为传统的办案手段之一。广义上,笔迹也包括绘画,绘画是一种特殊类型的笔迹,人形漫画是绘画艺术的一个分支。3名文检员通过大量模拟实验训练,利用笔迹检验技术,成功鉴定两起涉及人形漫画的案件,并总结出鉴定此类案件的规律和应注意的相关问题。     

论"非羁押式强制措施"的刑期折抵——以权利保障为视角

我国的刑事法律仅规定"羁押"的日期应当在被告人被判处的自由刑中予以折抵,而将取保候审、监视居住这样的"非羁押式强制措施"限制人身自由的日期排除于折抵刑期之外.从刑事司法公正、被追诉人的权利保障及权利与义务的对等性三方面论述"非羁押式强制措施"应予折抵刑期的合理性和正当性,并提出具体的立法建议.     

On our terms! How domestic elites localised the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala

Abstract

In summer 2004, an UN-sponsored international rule of law commission based on an initiative of the Guatemalan human rights community was rejected by Guatemalan political elites. In 2007, a new version, the International Commission against Impunity (CICIG), was approved by the Guatemalan Congress and has since been active in the country, supporting the modernisation of the Guatemalan judicial system and the investigation and prosecution of criminal networks. The CICIG has been hailed as part of a new generation of rule of law promotion that addresses the problems of post-conflict states. How did this change in elite support come about? Neither increased pressure from the international community nor changes in the elite groups in power can fully explain this shift. Rather, Guatemalan elites actively reshaped the commission; in addition, the human rights community reframed it to better fit the risk perceptions of the general public.     

Victims of Terrorism and Political Violence: Identity,Needs, and Service Delivery in Northern Ireland and Great Britain

Terrorism and political violence exist fundamentally as communicative acts; inherently the acts themselves serve to inspire anxiety and fear. As the recipients of such a communicative act, victims of terrorism and political violence serve as the vehicle for the dissemination of these communications to both the intended and broader audiences. Their victimising experience is thus a complex interplay between a profound personal trauma and the political/communicative dimension of the attack. Given this complexity, this article addresses how victims’ needs are understood by victims of terrorism and political violence in both Northern Ireland (NI) and Great Britain (GB). Through engagement with practitioners, victims, survivors, and community activists, this article conceptualises the existing perceptions amongst these different groups regarding needs, the delivery of services to victims in NI and GB, and examines the origins of the different approaches. Results demonstrate that victims’ needs are highly context-dependent at a public level, but relate heavily to the experiences of other victims of terrorism and political violence at a private level.     

沉默权：一个无法沉默的话题——从我国刑诉法“应当如实回答”谈起

我国刑诉法规定了犯罪嫌疑人面对审讯人员的审讯：“应当如实回答”的义务,使其在刑事诉讼中处于不利的地位。是否赋予犯罪嫌疑人沉默权,由“口供本位”转向“物证本位”,彻底改变目前的侦查模式,是我国刑事诉讼法修改的一个不容忽视的重要问题。     

The Totalisation of Human Social Practice: Open Marxists and Capitalist Social Relations, Foucauldians and Power Relations

This article critiques Open Marxism for an ontology which totalises human social practice—for Open Marxists, capitalist social relations are the singular constitutive source of human activity. Such a stance is superficially attractive yet ultimately inadequate, and I reinforce my case by demonstrating how other critical approaches—in this article, Foucauldian perspectives on power—suffer from similar deficiencies. Thus there is a need to resist the temptation of claiming to know how human social practice can be understood with recourse to a singular aspect (no matter how important) of such practice. I conclude that an excellent example of how to avoid such pitfalls is provided by Antonio Gramsci's writings, for they acknowledge the multifaceted yet nevertheless anchored existence lived by humans in capitalist societies.