Survey of Investigative Psychology Alumni, June 2001
Oliver Eastman, University of Kent at Canterbury
introduction
| the survey |
1:prior qualifications
2:job(s) after the course
3:the course
4:investigative psychology
Section 4: Investigative Psychology
Q11:
Please let us have your views on what you consider Investigative Psychology
to be
The majority of respondents considered
Investigative Psychology to be the application of psychological principles
to criminal investigations. Typical responses included, "scientific
and systematic research to all aspects of the detection and investigation
of crime"; "exploring how psychology can be theoretically and
practically used in criminal investigations"; and "the investigation
and prevention of crime using a variety of psychological theories".
Q12: How do you
see the future of Investigative Psychology?
Responses to this question were particularly wide-ranging but they were similar in the sense of seeing the future as a promising one. Many respondents believed that Investigative Psychology should move towards becoming a more established discipline within psychology. Common responses included; "becoming much more rooted in traditional areas of psychology", "it needs to be fully recognised as a fully functioning area of psychology", and "expanding, making more in-roads into the academic arena - contributing significantly to the development of psychology in general". Conversely, many other respondents believed that Investigative Psychology should move towards getting more involved in criminal investigations and becoming more applied. For example, "need to establish clear mechanisms for turning research into action", "the work achieved so far should be implemented in a more pro-active level in criminal investigations", and "they need to make better steps at working with the law enforcement community to gain acceptance, otherwise it will be stuck in academia.
Q13: Do you think
any of the following would be of value? Please also indicate if you would
participate in them if they existed.
a) International Investigative
Psychology Conference.
Value? 24 (96%)
Participate? 20 (80%)
b) Invited workshops for those
actively employed in the field.
Value? 23 (92%)
Participate? 17 (68%)
c) Newsletter / web site for
graduates.
Value? 24 (96%)
Participate? 20 (80%)
d) A journal of Investigative
Psychology.
Value? 20 (80%)
Participate? 18 (72%)
Q14: Respondents were presented with a list that detailed various aspects of investigative psychology. They were asked to rate how much they use each of these aspects within their organisation (on a scale of 1-5) and how much they believed these aspects could be beneficial to their organisation (on a scale of 1-5)
Not all of these respondents answered this question
and some only answered parts of it.
Detailed below are each of the aspects and the mean rating value attributed
to each. Next to the rating value is the number of respondents who rated
that particular aspect.
|
Collection of investigative intelligence |
3.3 |
14 |
4.2 |
11 |
|
Management of investigative intelligence |
2.9 |
14 |
3.9 |
11 |
|
Effective use of computerised decision support system |
2.9 |
15 |
3.8 |
12 |
|
Recognition of stress involved in criminal investigations |
2.8 |
12 |
3.7 |
12 |
|
Strategies to reduce stress involved in criminal investigations |
2.4 |
12 |
3.7 |
12 |
|
Consideration of eyewitness testimony |
3.4 |
14 |
3.2 |
10 |
|
Cognitive interviewing techniques |
3.4 |
13 |
4.0 |
14 |
|
Problems of working with vulnerable witnesses |
2.8 |
12 |
4.1 |
15 |
|
Suspect elicitation and prioritisation – including profiling |
3.2 |
16 |
3.3 |
13 |
|
Suspect interview strategies |
3.4 |
13 |
3.9 |
14 |
|
Recognition and avoidance of false confessions |
3.0 |
13 |
3.5 |
14 |
|
Behavioural linking of offences |
3.4 |
16 |
3.8 |
13 |
|
Analysis of similar fact evidence |
2.7 |
11 |
3.7 |
11 |
|
Psycholinguistic approaches to the analysis of threat letters and other “written” crimes |
2.2 |
14 |
2.8 |
11 |
|
Psychological autopsies especially in case of suspicious suicides |
2.1 |
13 |
2.7 |
12 |
|
Linking a number of offences to one offender |
2.9 |
16 |
3.7 |
11 |
|
Inference of offender characteristics from crime scene actions |
3.1 |
16 |
3.1 |
12 |
|
Assist in crime prevention strategies |
2.4 |
13 |
4.3 |
12 |
|
Contribution to the improvement of criminal and other investigations |
3.2 |
16 |
3.9 |
13 |
introduction
| the survey |
1:prior qualifications
2:job(s) after the course
3:the course
4:investigative psychology
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Confer- ences |
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News |
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Reading IP |
| Reading Material for the field of Investigative Psychology |
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Courses |
| Details of courses available within the Centre for Investigative Psychology |
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Journal |
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