Reducing the stress of police interviews for autistic people

Our Department of Psychology is a constant hub of activity, and no more so than in our .

Opened in 2016, the centre allows our psychologists to work with and help autistic people through excellent educational facilities, and by translating theory into practice. Our world-class research team is dedicated to addressing the social and cognitive challenges associated with autism and making positive changes that facilitate the autistic community鈥檚 full involvement in society.

Police interviews are a challenge for autistic people

鈥楾here鈥檚 so much going on in this field at the moment,鈥� says . 鈥榃e鈥檙e all doing different but overlapping pockets of work, and I鈥檓 concentrating on supporting people with autism in the criminal justice system, with a main focus on interviewing.

鈥楢utistic people have specific memory difficulties when it comes to recalling specific past episodes in their lives. So while their memory for facts about themselves, or general knowledge, can be amazing, going back in time can be hard and they may struggle.

鈥楾he condition is also associated with problems with social interaction, and a police interview combines both challenges: historical recollection and interaction. Research suggests that these difficulties can be reduced if autistic people receive support in this situation, and that鈥檚 what interests me.

鈥極ne of the problems is that we believe autistic people are statistically more likely to be seen as victims or suspects, yet they may not be able to give the forensic detail that鈥檚 expected of witnesses in their responses to questions. It鈥檚 something that鈥檚 relevant to an investigation.鈥�

In the 1980s, psychologists devised a method of asking very open questions together with various cognitive mnemonics in interviews, to elicit really detailed reports on complex crimes like murder. This so-called 鈥楥ognitive Interview鈥� is a technique that robustly enhances the amount of detail most witnesses recall, but it has a detrimental effect on those who are autistic.

Open questions aren鈥檛 appropriate; leading questions aren鈥檛 acceptable

Current 鈥榞old standard鈥� police interviews depend on open questioning; if officers are seen to have led people in any way, the resulting 鈥榚vidence鈥� could be thrown out of court. This means they can鈥檛 ask questions about a bag, for example, unless the witness mentions one first.

鈥楾he problem,鈥� says Katie, 鈥榠s that autistic people have huge problems with broad questions. They don鈥檛 understand exactly what the other person wants to know, or what鈥檚 required of them, and there can also be issues in how they process their memories - this poses a technique issue.

鈥榃e know from lab work that cues can provide more information for autistic people 鈥� to the extent that their recall is on a par with non-autistic people 鈥� but practically, it鈥檚 hard to provide them. When you鈥檙e conducting an investigative interview you can鈥檛 ask something specific like, 鈥淭ell me about the fight鈥� unless the witness has already mentioned it, even if you know there was one.

鈥業n fact, I did my PhD on this topic, because I wanted to examine the suitability of current interview techniques and protocols and see how theory translated into real-life contexts. An experiment in a lab, with static stimuli, is one thing, but it also has to work outside.

鈥榃e set up a simulated event and then interviewed our witnesses independently. There were equal numbers of autistic and non-autistic people, with the latter forming a control group. They were matched, person for person by age, gender and IQ, so except for one group being autistic they had exactly the same variables.

鈥楾he witnesses started off with "mental context reinstatement", followed by a free recall attempt. This involved asking all the witnesses to close their eyes, then requesting that they travel back in time to re-experience the incident for 10 minutes or so. After that, we asked them to tell us everything they knew. Of course, interviewing is usually a dynamic process but 鈥� while it was witness-compatible and based on what each person said 鈥� structurally we made it as similar as possible for each person.

鈥楢t that stage, I didn鈥檛 come up with any solutions or novel methods of interviewing. However, as a result, I鈥檝e spent the last six years letting the police know what doesn鈥檛 work! And now, after my work at Bath, I鈥檓 about to submit a paper on what does.鈥�

Segmenting the crime

鈥楤efore my research, various experimental empirical studies, with basic stimuli like words and pictures, showed that providing more support allows autistic people to recall more accurately,鈥� explains Katie. 鈥楾he memories are there; it鈥檚 just that they struggle to retrieve them. That said, sometimes they can be great witnesses because they鈥檝e remembered a vehicle鈥檚 number plate or similar, so obsessions or a detail-focused processing style can be a really good thing.

鈥榃e've recently developed a new technique. We know it鈥檚 difficult for autistic individuals to produce an unbound, free flow verbalisation of an entire event, so they inevitably under-perform. So instead, the interviewer will ask an autistic witness to self-segment their recollection at the outset.

鈥楩or example, you might say, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the most 鈥榠mportant鈥� thing that happened?鈥�, and then, 鈥渢ell me something else that happened鈥�, writing each answer on a Post-it Note and sticking it on the wall. You can then revisit each of these parameter-bound topics in turn, asking the witness to freely recall everything they can remember within each segment. After that, they can respond to interviewer prompts with more specific questions in each segment, based on what they鈥檝e already said.

鈥楤y breaking down the event, you allow the witness to focus their search and retrieval strategies in individual segments, reducing the "cognitive load". Displaying the topic boxes on Post-it Notes also serves as a reminder of the structure of the event, reducing the amount of information they have to hold onto at any one point.

'Towards the end, the wall is covered with useful notes that witness can refer to, making it far less daunting for them to describe the event as a whole. We鈥檝e called this interview technique the Witness-Aimed First Account (WAFA)鈥�.

Perceptions and implications

鈥極ne strand of psychology I鈥檓 really interested in is perceptions of autistic people. This includes the implications of how other people judge them in the criminal justice system, as well as other contexts such as employment and healthcare.

鈥楢 big problem, for many autistic people, is disclosure of their condition. It鈥檚 a major barrier because it makes some of them uncomfortable; they鈥檙e not sure when and where to announce it. Why shouldn鈥檛 they tell interviewers, I asked, since there are benefits? Was it because of the fear of stigmatisation or an expectation of poor or unfair treatment?

鈥業f so, I can offer reassurance. Our research suggests that, if anything, there鈥檚 actually a positive bias towards them over and beyond a non-autistic person in some cases. Whether as witnesses or in the general community, autistic people are perceived as exceptionally honest 鈥� after all, lying requires taking into account what鈥檚 going on in another person鈥檚 mind 鈥� and capable of remembering tiny details that most of us can鈥檛 recall.'

Moreover, there are massive implications in court for witnesses, victims or defendants who decide not to declare their autism, because their behaviour might be mistakenly perceived by jurors as shifty or pedantic. Knowing they鈥檙e autistic can shed a different and non-judgemental light on it, and that鈥榮 likely to be beneficial.

This work isn鈥檛 just going to help autistic people

鈥楾he point of Future Research Leaders scheme is to develop early career researchers, and this is how I鈥檓 using my award.

鈥楽o we鈥檝e established that autistic people will struggle to recall things in their entirety, which may be partly related to their inability to work out or read an interviewer鈥檚 intentions. But what鈥檚 exciting is that, in our initial trial, this new way of questioning increased recall in everyone we tested, autistic or not. In other words, the WAFA interviewing technique seems to work more effectively than standard interview procedures for all types of witnesses.

鈥�My ESRC project is now broadening this work out into other areas where similar principles apply, such as job interviews and consultations with healthcare professionals. In fact, the latter is particularly relevant because statistically, autistic people are more likely to have medical issues, from gastric problems to epilepsy.

鈥業t鈥檚 a big project to take on, and we鈥檙e testing various techniques in the lab. Soon, in the last stages of our work on police interviewing techniques and strategies, Greater Manchester Police will help us by conducting around 240 hours of test interviews. The interviews will be trialled in the lab (with mock witnesses to start with), at around the same time as we test our job interview techniques. We鈥檙e currently finalising the details and hope that they鈥檒l both, eventually, become standard practice.

鈥楾he academics and practitioners I鈥檝e spoken to are all keen to implement this new way of interviewing witnesses. If you can question autistic people appropriately, clearly you鈥檙e going to get better results, and perhaps, in criminal cases, more prosecutions. Also, a carefully structured, productive interview makes investigations more efficient and the process less expensive. Ultimately it requires fewer questions or repeat sessions, which is beneficial for the interviewer as well as the interviewee.

'There are so many benefits because the autistic community possesses a range of valuable but often under-appreciated skills. Better job interviewing will result in more autistic people entering the workforce, where they have a raft of abilities to offer. If businesses can access these skills during that critical recruitment phase, lots of talented people will end up employed, rather than claiming benefits or Jobseeker鈥檚 Allowance. It鈥檚 obviously better 鈥� for the individual, the economy and society more broadly 鈥� to have good people in work.

鈥楾o sum up, our research shows that more effective interviews will improve just about any situation that combines requirements for drawing on memories and communicating them. There鈥檚 more testing to be done, but I really hope we see it rolled out.鈥�