In her youth psychologist Karlijn Beune devoured crime stories.
Now the world of crime is her field of expertise.
She studied how the behaviour of detectives during investigative
interviews influences suspects from different cultural
backgrounds.
For a detective, the art of investigative interviewing is to get
the tone right. His or her behaviour often directly determines the
suspect's willingness to give information. In her research Karlijn
Beune distinguishes ten behaviours such as 'intimidation',
'being nice' and 'rational persuasion' which were specially defined
for situations in which police interact with citizens. 'Being nice'
and 'rational persuasion' turn out to be the most important
behaviours used by detectives during investigative interviews.
Beune's research shows that 'rational persuasion' is effective when
interviewing non-ethnic suspects, while 'being nice' worked mainly
in interviews with ethnic suspects. These results emerge from three
studies carried out by Beune.
In the first study school pupils were asked to steal money from
a 'biologist' for whom they were completing a questionnaire.
Afterwards, they were interviewed by an experienced detective. The
behaviour of both the suspect and the detective was analysed. This
study showed that 'being nice' and 'rational persuasion' are
much-used strategies and that their effectiveness depends on the
suspect's cultural background.
The second study consisted of two experiments in which school
pupils were asked to chat live with a detective of the Police
Academy. What the pupils did not know was that the chat session was
being simulated and that they were actually chatting with a
computer. After several questions, the chat programme pretended to
get stuck, so that Beune was able to look at the effect of
different strategic combinations. In line with the first study,
Beune was able to conclude that a combination of 'being nice' or
'rational persuasion' with robust behaviour is most effective when
robust behaviour is followed by behaviour that resonates with the
suspect's cultural background. When 'being nice' and 'rational
persuasion' are combined, detectives can best start with being nice
to the suspects and then get to the heart of the matter by means of
rational persuasion.
The final study consisted of an analysis of video footage of
real-life investigative interviews. In this study Beune looked at
the direct relationships between 'being nice' and 'rational
persuasion' and the suspect's willingness or unwillingness to give
information in the interview. In addition, she studied two
different types of 'intimidation': intimidating behaviour aimed at
the individual and intimidating behaviour aimed at the suspect's
environment, such as friends or family. In line with the earlier
studies, Beune thinks that suspects respond more quickly with
information-related behaviour when the strategy resonates with
their cultural origin.
Insofar as known this is the first research to demonstrate that
cultural differences most definitely play a role in investigative
interviews. By adapting their behaviour to the suspect's cultural
background, detectives can get better results: more confessions,
more detailed information, a greater willingness to answer
questions and a better relationship between the suspect and the
detective.
Crime stories
Research in this field would appear to be right up Beune's
street. Before the subject came her way, Beune had always been
interested in the world of crime. As a little girl and growing up,
she devoured the books of the Famous Five, Baantjer and Agatha
Christie. "So doing research in this world is a dream come
true."
During her first year studying Psychology in Groningen, Beune
had already heard about projects at the Police Academy. "I thought
everybody would want to do that, so I never gave myself much
chance. But four years later, I was suddenly allowed to take part
in what struck me as the most brilliant assignment imaginable!"
This was the first study Beune carried out for her doctorate, where
school pupils were asked to steal money from a biologist (where
Beune herself acted as the biologist). "Seeing the pupils'
reactions was really amusing, some were sweating like mad, others
were trying to get me out of the way with all sorts of pretexts,"
says Beune. Working with the children added a dimension of fun to
her work.
Meanwhile Beune has started on a post-doc project, this time in
cooperation with the KLPD (National Police Services Agency). So she
hopes to continue doing research in the murky world of crime for
some time yet.
International attention
Beune's work has also attracted international attention. Her
doctoral committee consists of four international guests including
Ray Bull, Professor in Forensic Psychology at the University of
Leicester and winner of the 2009 iIIRG Senior Academic Award for
his significant contribution to research in the field of
investigative interviewing, and Geert Vervaeke, Professor in
Criminal Law and Criminology at the Catholic University of Leuven
and Chairman of the Belgian Supreme Court. Peter van Koppen, one of
the best-known experts/researchers in Psychology and Law, will also
pose a question during the doctorate ceremony by means of a video
link.
Karlijn Beune did her doctoral research within the Research
Group of Psychology & Communication of Health & Risk. She
was supervised by Prof. Karen van Oudenhoven-Van der Zee, Prof.
Hubert Coonen and Dr Ellen Giebels.
For more information you can contact one of the following persons:
Wetenschapsredacteur
Rianne Wanders
053 4892721
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