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SURVEY OF POLICE INTERVIEWING

The questionnaire is designed to gather information on your thoughts, attitudes, and practices regarding a variety of issues concerning interviewing procedures. Please try to make each judgment to the best of your ability, based on your current opinions, thoughts, and beliefs.
  • All of the information that you give will be completely confidential. You will not be asked to provide any identifying information.
  • In this questionnaire, the term "YOUTH" refers to minors between 14 AND 17 YEARS. The "YOUTH" are suspected of committing a felony crime and are brought into the police station for criminal interviewing procedures.

*We realize there are many different techniques that officers use to elicit a confession from someone whom they believe might be guilty.

Have you been involved in the interviewing of a YOUTH (between 14 and 17 years) during the past year?
If YES, which of the following techniques have you used in the past year when interviewing YOUTH (between 14 and 17 years)?

If NO, please answer the following as if you had interviewed a youth.
Select all techniques that apply in the left check box.
Building rapport with the youth
Advising the youth of his/her Miranda rights
Asking the parents of the youth for permission to interview the youth
Presenting evidence
Presenting false evidence
Using deceit
Asking non-accusatory questions before asking accusatory questions
Videotaping interviews
Heightening the youth's anxiety level
Emphasizing the seriousness of the crime
Minimizing the seriousness of the crime
Using only one interviewer
Asking questions repeatedly
Discouraging the youth from making denials
Suggesting what may have happened
Observing body language to determine if the youth is being truthful or deceitful
Having the verbal confession witnessed
Asking two incriminating questions, such that a positive response to either one would indicate that the youth is guilty
Tricking the youth
Please return to the above section and rank order the 3 most effective techniques (by placing a 1 (most important), 2, or 3 in the drop down box next to the check.

* Please remember, the term "YOUTH" refers to minors between 14 AND 17 YEARS who are involved in criminal interviewing procedures.

The following statements ask you to indicate the extent to which you currently agree or disagree with the statements.


1) Police should make a youth (between 14-17 years) comfortable during interviewing.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

2) Youth understand their right to remain silent.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

3) Only innocent youth produce direct responses to questions.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

4) Youth understand their right to an attorney.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

5) uring police interviewing, consideration should be given to the number of times a youth denies committing a crime before he/she confesses.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

6) Police should maintain rapport with youth throughout the interview.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

7) Youths' recall of events may be influenced by the suggestions of interrogators.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

8) Miranda rights are well understood by youth.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

9) Questions during interviewing with youth should be asked in a compassionate and understanding tone of voice.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

10) Youth incorporate elements of stories told by police into their own reports when they are interviewed for more than a couple of hours.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

11) If a youth denies committing a crime many times before confessing, it is likely that the confession is still accurate.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

12) Police should explain to youth why they are being interviewed.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

13) Police should take precautions to ensure that youth fully understand their Miranda rights.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

14) Innocent youth do not confess to crimes they did not commit.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

15) Youth understand the intent of a police interview.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

16) Trickery may elicit true, valid confessions from youth.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

17) Youth should be given food and drinks during interviewing to make them more comfortable.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

18) Only guilty youth react defensively to questions.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

19) Only guilty youth react with discomfort to questions.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

20) Only innocent youth are cooperative during interviewing.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

21) Most confessions by youth represent accurate and complete descriptions of the crimes.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

22) Police should try to comfort youth who appear to be distressed during interviewing.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

23) The length of a police interview should be shorter for youth than it is for adults.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

24) Youth commit more crimes than adults.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

25) In general, the same interviewing techniques that police use with adults are used with youth.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

26) In general, the same interviewing techniques that police use with adults should be used with youth.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

27) The reports of events given by youth are more susceptible to suggestion by interviewers than are the reports of events given by adults.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

28) It is more difficult to get a youth to confess than an adult.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

29) Compared to adults, youth are more easily influenced by trickery during interviewing.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

30) Youth do not have the maturity or life experience to understand their Miranda rights.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

31) Youth are more likely to confess to crimes they did not commit than adults.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

32) Youth usually commit crimes with their peers.
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

33) It is important for the investigator to conduct the interview at the youth's level of understanding rather than his or her chronological age.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

34) Having a parent/guardian present during interviewing decreases the likelihood that a guilty youth will confess.

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Slightly Disagree
Slightly Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree