The Shift-of-Strategy Approach: Verbal Counter-Interrogation Strategies of Guilty Mock Suspects and Disclosure of Critical Information

Abstract

The Shift-of-Strategy (SoS) approach is employed by interviewers with the aim of influencing suspects’ counter-interrogation strategies (CIS) by encouraging suspects to become more forthcoming with information. This is achieved through challenging inconsistencies between their statements and the available evidence. The present study had two aims: to build on existing research regarding self-reported CISs employed by the mock suspects (N=10) using Thematic Analysis and to examine two new variations of the SoS approach (SoS-Cooling Off and SoS-Diversion) and their ability to elicit critical information by the mock suspects (N=159) during a particular stage using quantitative data analysis. The two research questions were: 1. What verbal counter-interrogation strategies did the participants state that they used? 2. Which interview condition resulted in statements disclosing the most critical details during the lay low stage? Concerning the first question, results from the interviews indicated that frequently used CISs were: adapting statements to evidence; providing majority truthful statements incorporated with lies; employing escape strategies. Results concerning the second question show that the SoS-Cooling Off condition led to participants providing the longest statements disclosing the most critical details. Using the SoS approach, future research should compare the influence on guilty and innocent mock suspects’ CISs.