Interrogations-and-Confessions-Handbook

56 A Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions
reliable information. This represents a more ethical approach to interviewing
and should result in fewer wrongful convictions in the future.
Underpinning the new approach of investigative interviewing is a firm commitment
to apply the lessons learnt from studies of interviewing (Williamson, 1993,
p. 98).
Studies on police interviewing carried out prior to the new approach to interviewing
indicate a general lack of skills among officers when interviewing suspects.
There is some indication from recent research that the National Training
Courses improve interviewing skills, although there remain serious problems
with transferring the new interviewing skills to police practice. In spite of the
new approach to interviewing, it should not be forgotten that obtaining a confession
is still an important part of the investigative process and will no doubt
continue to be so.
Prior to 1993 only three English studies had investigated the psychological
vulnerabilities of persons detained at police stations. The main weakness of
these studies is that the evaluation was based on observations only; no formal
interview or psychometric testing was conducted. This has now been compensated
for and the relevant research will be discussed in Chapter 3.