Rapport in police interviews with victims: a linguistic comparison between UK and Spain
| Date | 16 December 2024 |
| Pages | 242-259 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-08-2024-0082 |
| Published date | 16 December 2024 |
| Author | Maria Gomez-Bedoya |
Rapport in police interviews with victims: a
linguistic comparison between UK and
Spain
Maria Gomez-Bedoya
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to explore how rapport is operationalisedin police interviews with victims
in the United Kingdom and Spain. Rapport is considered a key element in the su ccess of
investigative interviewing and therefore, pol ice interviewers are trained to use rapport-build ing
techniques throughout the interview. Previous r esearch has enabled us to understand what rapport
is and how it works in interviews with victims (Abbe and Brand on, 2012; Dando et al., 2016; Walsh
and Bull, 2010). However, it has been highlighted that the expression of r apport may vary between
cultures (Matsumoto and Hwang, 2021), as there are cu ltural and linguistic differences concerning
interactional factors.
Design/methodology/approach –To uncover this, British and Spanish police interviewing guidelines
are examined with regard to rapport techniques and how they are conceptualised. Then, a discourse-
pragmatic and ethnographic approach is applied to real interviews with victims in the United Kingdom
and Spain, to analyse what happens in real practice and how rapport with victims is expressed
linguisticallyin British English and EuropeanSpanish.
Findings –The study unfolds certainlinguistic subtleties in relation to ‘‘face-relatedissues’’ that need to
be considered for future research on rapport in investigative interviews with victims, particularly in
multiculturalinterviewing contexts.
Originality/value –The findings from this study contribute to a better understandingof how rapport is
operationalised in different contexts and how the expression of rapport is tied to cultural and linguistic
patternsthat influence how people communicate.
Keywords Police rapport, Interviews with victims, Investigative interviewing, Information-gathering
methods, Cross-linguistic analysis, Discourse-pragmatics
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction: rapport in interviews with victims
Gathering truthful, accurate and complete information efficiently i s imperative in investigative
interviewing (Milne and Bull, 1999;Oxburgh et al., 2016). Police interviews are essential to the
legal process, and particularly in the last two decades, research and training have been
developed and advanced to improve interviewing techniques with s uspects, witnesses and
victims. For instance, in the United Kingdom (hereafter UK), since the PEACE model [1] was
introduced in 1992, there has been an effort to introduce a fai r interviewing approach through
high ethical principles (Milne and Bull, 1999). This model advocates for an informat ion-
gathering approach to investigative interviewing (Williams on, 1993;Dando et al.,2016)and
has been followed and implemented in countries such as New Zealand and Austr alia. Most
European countries have also adopted methods based on the PEACE model. Following this,
traditionally inquisitorial systems, as is the case of Spain, have shif ted to information-gathering
approaches (Vanderhallen and Vervaeke, 2014: p. 68). In 2016, th e United Nations Special
Rapporteur, Juan E. M
endez recommended this approach to the United Nations and
Maria Gomez-Bedoya is
based at the School of
Media, Language and
Communication Studies,
University of East Anglia,
Norwich, UK.
Received 25 August 2024
Revised 13 October 2024
23 October 2024
11 November 2024
12 November 2024
Accepted 13 November 2024
This article is part of the
Research project PIUAH24/AH-
014 - Recoger el concepto de
empatı
´acomo amistad cı
´vica
para un mundo polarizado (The
concept of empathy as a civic
friendship in a polarised world).
Disclosure statement and
author’s positionality:No
potential conflict of interest was
reportedby the author.With
regard to the author’s
positionality (Sybing, 2022), She
is a Spanish/English researcher
in Applied Linguistics. She has
undertaken police training in
investigative interviewing, both in
the UK and in Spain. She is also
an independentp olicetrainer in
communication and investigati ve
verbal techniques for one of the
national police forces in Spain,
and She has worked with the
British police throughTACIT (see
Footnote 8).
Data availability statement:
Unfortunately, the complete data
of this study cannot be disclosed
because of police and
government security and
sensitivity reasons.
PAGE 242 jJOURNAL OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY jVOL. 15 NO. 2 2025, pp. 242-259, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2009-3829 DOI 10.1108/JCP-08-2024-0082
encouraged the PEACE model in investigative interviewing as a w ay of banning deception and
coercion [2]. As a result, in 2021, the Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and
Information-Gathering, also called the M
endez Principles, were adopted with the support of
the Association for the Prevention of Torture and the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights
[Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), 2021]. The M
endez Principles include robust
research that supports an information-gathering approach to inte rviewing based on rapport-
based techniques. They describe how rapport is achieved “by the interviewer establishing a
connection with the interviewee based on trust and respect for human d ignity. This requires
demonstrating genuine empathy as well as reassuring them that they will receive fai r
treatment” (Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investi gations and Information Gathering,
2021:p.9).
When defining rapport, the theoretical construct of rapport proposedby Tickle-Degnen and
Rosenthal (1990) is often relied upon in the forensic field (Gabbert et al., 2021). This
conceptualisation of rapport is constituted by three components: Mutual attentiveness,
Positivity and Coordination between participants (Tickle-Degnen and Rosenthal, 1990:
p. 286), and the aim is “to find a balance between what we desire and what the other
agrees to” (St Yves, 2006, p. 1). It must be highlighted, however, that this is a theoretical
framework aimed to understand the development of naturally emerging rapport in social
contexts (Gabbert et al.,2021), which differ from professional contexts, particularly
investigative interviewing contexts. Therefore, in the case of an adversarial police interview
(particularly with suspects) Coordination and Positivity may not be as relevant for the
interview, since some interviewees may talk freely but be deceptive in a kind and
coordinated encounter, whereas others may talk hesitantly or be reluctant to talk, but
provide valuable insights and information (Matsumoto and Hwang, 2021).
In the context of interviewing victims, we define rapport following Kelly et al. (2013: p. 169)
as “a working relationship between operator and source, based or a mutually shared
understanding of each other’s goals and needs, which can lead to useful, actionable
intelligence or information”. The notion of working relationship is italicised, as it does not
mean that the relation necessarily needs to be positive or the interviewee and interviewer
have to like each other (Kleinman, 2006), but it involves mutual respect. This “professional
rapport-building” is understood as “an intentional use of rapport behaviours to facilitate a
positive interaction that may, or may not, lead to establishing genuine mutual rapport”
(Gabbert et al.,2021: p. 330). In addition,although establishing rapport is critical during the
early stages of the interview, it is essential to maintain this rapport and consider it
throughout the whole interviewing process (Walsh and Bull, 2012). This is achieved by
establishing a connection with the interviewee based on trust and respect, reassuring them
to receive fair treatment (Brimbal et al.,2020). To facilitate this, it is advised to use
techniques such as establishing common ground in relation to mutual interests and using
active listening skills, amongothers (Alison et al.,2013).
Different approaches to the study of rapport in police interviews with victims show how
multifaceted rapport is (Dando et al.,2008;Stokoe et al.,2020;Kim et al., 2020). Therefore,
in the past 10 years, research has attempted to describe and identify specific behaviours
and techniques that facilitaterapport in investigative interviewing (Collins and Carthy, 2019;
Baker-Eck et al.,2021;Dando and Oxburgh, 2016;Pounds, 2019;G
omez-Bedoya, 2022).
For instance, Kim et al. (2020), examined rapport-based interpersonal techniques to code
investigative interviews with victims in South Korea. These techniques included active
listening, open questions and humanistic principles such as empathy and honesty. Results
showed that these techniques positively influence adaptive interactions between the
interviewer and the victim. Most importantly, in terms of interviewing training, it was found
that it would be more productive to minimise or eradicate interviewers’ maladaptive
behaviours rather than introducing positive new habits. Similarly, Webster and Oxburgh
(2022), conducted semi-structured interviews with victims of sexual offenses that had been
VOL. 15 NO. 2 2025 jJOURNAL OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY jPAGE 243
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting