UC researchers develop tool for psychological assessment in forensic context

Given an interrogation at the police station or in court, the extent to which an individual is suggestible? And to what extent vulnerability to pressure can affect the deposition? What is the relationship between suggestibility in the context of judicial inquiry and age, memory, intelligence, anxiety, assertiveness and other variables?

A team of researchers from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra (UC), coordinated by Salome Pine, is developing a set of partial studies aimed at the future, a tool for designing a more reasoned of testimony in forensic settings.

Contrary to what is already occurring in other European countries, the Portuguese judicial system lacks an instrument capable of measuring the level of interrogative suggestibility, an important tool to support the police and the courts.

It is precisely this gap that researchers plan to improve Coimbra: "the goal is to prevent the occurrence of distortions due to report on the event suggestive questions and interrogative pressure. Knowledge of vulnerability to interrogative suggestibility should take additional precautions to be taken when it comes to gathering depositions and obtaining confessions. For this knowledge is important to have assessment tools appropriate to the Portuguese population and know how this type of suggestibility is influenced by several factors, "explains the coordinator of studies, Salome Pine.

An instrument 'validated to assess the level of suggestibility in the forensic context of the Portuguese population,' says a researcher at UC, "is very relevant to decision making. When values ​​are at stake such as freedom, or the deprivation of it, or, p. ex., the removal of a child to its parents, it is important to know the characteristics of suggestibility of witnesses or victims. If a witness is vulnerable to interrogative pressure and were not seized certain conditions, their testimony may be questionable. "

Groups already studied - children, young adults, older adults institutionalized delinquent adolescents, women victims of domestic violence - it is concluded that, in general, individuals (convicted) offenders were found to be less suggestible than individuals first condemnation.

With regard to women victims of domestic violence found that are less suggestible than women not victims. In adults, no differences were found between older adults and young adults and children in the group, the study confirmed that older children were less influenced than younger children. The next study will focus on community recluse.