Adegbite Matthew

Bio: Adegbite Matthew is an academic researcher from Adeyemi College of Education. The author has contributed to research in topics: Interrogation. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 3 citations.

Discourse Control Strategies in Police-Suspect Interrogation in Nigeria

Abstract: This study examined the discourse control strategies in the use of English in police-suspect interrogation in Nigeria with a view to identifying the themes in the interrogation discourse and discussing the pragmatic functions of the dominant discourse control strategies employed by the police interrogators. The data gathered were transcribed and analysed, using Thomas' metapragmatic model. The result indicated that assault, affray, house breaking, obtaining by false pretence (419), abduction, and robbery were the common themes in the discourse. Analysis revealed further that the investigating police officers (IPOs) employed illocutionary force indicating devices for intimidation and coercion of suspects while they used discoursal indicators, meta-discoursal comments, and upshots and reformulations as discourse control strategies. The study concluded that police-suspect interrogation is largely slanted in favour of the police interrogators and that police interrogation is a peculiar discourse genre where there is interplay of power asymmetry and dominance.

The influence of guilt presumptive language on investigative interview outcomes

Abstract: ion has been examined in interviewing settings, it has not been tested where potential interviewers could formulate their own guilt judgements and their own questions. The findings will provide some insight to how word abstraction relates to guilt-presumption under those conditions. Study 3: Chapter 5. This study expands on the findings of Study 2 by extending the investigation into the linguistics of the questions formulated by the interviewer. The design of the study mirrored that of Study 2; however, in this case there are interviewees who will be questioned by the interviewer. It is expected that interviewers who make an initial judgement of guilt will create more accusatory questions containing more negative abstract language. However, previous researchers have suggested that using more concrete words can influence who or what becomes the focus of the response (De Poot & Semin, 1995; Semin, Rubini, & Fiedler, 1995). It is predicted that interviewees will comply with this linguistic pattern, and ultimately focus on themselves, even if the question does not The Influence of Guilt Presumptive Language 33 focus on them. Understanding how language contained within a question can influence the response is pertinent to the investigative interview as an interviewee’s responses can be manipulated by the interviewer’s word choices. Although word choices are not a conscious decision when it comes to word abstraction (Semin, 2011), if an interviewer holds a presumption of guilt, the interviewee’s responses could be perceived as confirmation of that

Detecting Guilt Presumption in a Police-Suspect Interview: An Evaluation of the Questions in a Dutch Murder Case

Abstract: Controlled studies have demonstrated that guilt-presumptive questions usually accompany interviewer guilt bias and accusatory behaviours towards a suspect. When evaluating police-suspect interviews, however, conventional methods primarily focus on the appropriateness of questions, and guilt-presumption is not featured as a questioning strategy. Instead, guilt-presumptive utterances are aggregated with other types of inappropriate opinion statements. There is often more happening within an interview than is immediately identifiable by simply focusing on question types. Examining the interactivity and behaviours that lead to accusations can reveal subtleties that have a profound influence on the flow and outcome of the interview. To demonstrate this, we analysed six interviews from a single Dutch murder investigation for guilt-presumptive language (accusations and insinuations of guilt) and question appropriateness. We then analysed the police-suspect interactions within the interview that occurred prior to, and immediately after the guilt-presumptive language was used. The findings demonstrated that accusations prompted suspect denials, facilitated a drastic decline in suspect cooperation, and impeded the ability for interviewers to gain investigation relevant information (IRI). We argue that more applied research on guilt-presumptive language is needed in the investigative interviewing literature, particularly in the context of biased decision-making regarding questioning strategies.

Discourse Tactic(s) in Police-Suspect Interactions in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract: Abstract Existing studies on police interrogation have revealed that investigating police officers (IPOs) often resort to the use of physical force in extracting confessional statements from suspects. However, we maintain that IPOs do not usually subject suspects to torture in a bid to obtain a confession. We therefore examine how IPOs use tactics to achieve confessions in police-suspect interactions (PSIs). Data comprise nine interactions between IPOs and suspects tape-recorded at the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Ìyágankú, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Drawing on Bateson’s framing theory, the study reveals that participants in PSIs resort to accentuation of crime, blaming of a third party, minimisation of crime, deployment of objections, use of alternative questions, avoidance of questions, oblique references, deliberate false statements, and resistance to achieve their respective goals. The study demonstrates that PSIs in Nigeria do not always involve the use of physical force by IPOs.