Stamatis Elntib

Are reality monitoring differences between truthful and deceptive autobiographical accounts affected by standardisation for word-count and the presence of others?

ABSTRACT Although a number of methods have been proposed to control for word-count differences between truthful and deceptive accounts, there is no uniformity amongst researchers using the Reality Monitoring (RM) criteria as to when, why or how to standardise for word-count differences. Another factor that also has received little attention in the literature is whether the number of others present when a person is providing an account alters the lexical profile of accounts such that RM scores are affected. To investigate these issues, 62 autobiographical statements, 31 truthful and 31 deceptive, were generated under 3 conditions, no person present, 1 and 2 persons present, and were analysed before and after standardisation for word-count and duration. Results showed that the criteria successfully discriminated between truthful and deceptive accounts when no attempt to control for word-count was made and, to a lesser extent, when accounts were standardised for duration; however, they failed to discriminate after accounts had been standardised for length. The presence of others did not affect the ability to distinguish between truthful and deceptive accounts. The results highlight the difficulties involved in developing normative standardisation criteria which could be used in the field to classify individual or small numbers of cases.

Critical incidents' impact on frontline South African police personnel in light of the current briefing and debriefing strategies

Long-term exposure to critical incidents can have a negative impact on officers’ well-being while affecting their capacity to maintain public safety. Operational flaws can, similarly, lead to hasty and incorrect decision-making; therefore, adequate briefing and debriefing systems are needed to facilitate the management of critical incidents. This study aimed to investigate the types of critical incidents and their impact on front-line officers’ well-being in light of the existing briefing and debriefing systems in Metro South African Police. A qualitative exploratory method was used to understand the impact of critical incidents and the Police officers’ perceptions of briefing and debriefing structures in the South African Metro Policing context. A total of 25 Metro Police officers were invited to share their experiences regarding their handling of critical incidents. The findings indicated that incidents involving mutilated victims or the death of a fellow police officer induced strong feelings of guilt and anger. Incidents with faceless crowds involving poor operational planning and execution strategies induced confusion, helplessness, frustration, and often humiliation. Participants were clearly fearful of appearing soft or inadequate in asking for help from their supervisors. Consequently, they remained reluctant to disclose their fears and concerns so as to avoid subsequent stigmatization in the absence of a systematic debriefing procedure. The current system of briefing and debriefing procedures cannot address the psychological and operational needs of the members of the police force. Internationally recognized briefing and debriefing systems must be urgently adjusted to and implemented within the South African policing landscape.

When sex is more than just sex: evaluating police perspectives regarding the challenges in interviewing victims of sexual offences in Jamaica

ABSTRACT Rates of sexual assault remain high in Jamaica, although victims are often reluctant to report incidences to the police. Those cases which are reported by victims are investigated by the Jamaica Constabulary Forces Centre for Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA). Whilst improvements have been noted in recent years, human rights organisations have highlighted on-going limitations of such investigations and the effective interviewing of victims. Despite this, a paucity of relevant research has prevented the development of empirically driven training aimed at supporting practitioners to deal with everyday challenges while interviewing vulnerable victims in Jamaica. Consequently, the present study sought to assess the challenges involved in interviewing victims of sexual offences in Jamaica and the cultural factors that may underline them. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 41 police interviewers using thematic analysis to interpret the data. Analysis showed that organisational challenges such as training, expertise and capacity deficiencies, and early mishandlings with victims were detrimental to the quality of the interviews conducted. Psychological challenges included the need to be adaptive during interviews, spotting and dealing with deception, and separating work and personal life. Two key cultural factors were also revealed: the misconception that sex is just sex which reduced victim cooperation and a trend for attitude-shifting through policies which hinted that the Jamaican police culture towards victims changes gradually as new policies are introduced while victims are reportedly more willing to report the crimes against them.