Page 18 - Oct Nov 2017
P. 18

Elite Investigative Journal
        Nonverbal Interviews,  pg 18-21
        ©2014-2017  SYT Global, Inc.
          Nonverbal                                                                                                     P


             Interviews



                    By Michelle Doscher
                                                                                                                        O

                                                                                                                        L
                                                                                                                        I

                                                                                                                        C
                                                                                                                        E
                                                                                              Photo Courtesy of google.com

        Gut feelings are real, as            witnesses, and sometimes  lates to a 50:50 chance                          B
        any interviewer or inves-            suspects, give verbal state- of interpreting the inter-                    R

        tigator will tell you, but           ments, while the investi-            viewee’s behavioral cues              U
        are they admissible in               gator takes notes; howev-            correctly.                            T
        court?  Physical evidence            er, handwritten statements                                                 A

        is the key.  Why not pro-            are sometimes provided               As an advocate for the                L
        vide triers of fact with             by the witnesses.  Hand-             wealth of information mi-             I

        measurable, time-stamped,  written statements, col-                       croexpressions and body               T
        context-driven behavioral  lected before interviews or  language can provide, I                                 Y
        cues?  Handwritten state-            interrogations, can provide  am also a researcher who

        ments are your answer.               virgin thought processes.   understands where the
        They are tangible, nonin-                                                 discrepancies lie and why.

        vasive, and economical.              Memories are created and  It is not that gut feelings
                                             re-created; a receiver’s             are not real; they are of-
        After all, handwriting is            reactions or feedback to             ten misinterpreted.  After

        brain writing. Cognitive             a sender’s statements or             years of experience inves-
        blips from the brain are             questions, can easily alter  tigating, it is not uncom-

        immortalized on paper,               short term memories and              mon to recognize certain
        providing an instanta-               in turn, behavioral cues.            behaviors and quickly
        neous view of a person’s             In other words, the inves-           associate them with be-

        behavioral processes.                tigator can unintentionally  havioral cues.
        Interviews and interroga-            change the interviewee’s

        tions are often preserved            thought processes, hence             Here lies the problem, we
        by video and an investi-             their nonverbal behavioral  are individual, thinking
        gator’s notes.  Typically,           cues.  This in turn, trans-          beings who may react in



    18
   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23