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THE INTERPRETATION and EXPLOITATION of INFORMATION in CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS By THE INTERPRETATION AND EXPLOITATION OF INFORMATION IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS by EMMA CAROLINE BARRETT A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Psychology The University of Birmingham July 2009 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis explores psychological mechanisms underlying the acquisition, interpretation and exploitation of information in complex criminal enquiries. Detective work is conceptualised as problem-solving and the importance of sense-making is highlighted. A model of investigative sense-making is presented, grounded in social-cognitive psychological and criminological research and bringing together several theoretical concepts within one coherent framework. Two studies explored aspects of this framework. First, 42 UK police officers gave written responses to four crime-related vignettes. Content analysis of the answers showed how sense-making about what had occurred varied according to the vignettes and between participants. Building on this pilot, a simulated investigation method was developed and tested with 22 UK detectives. Content analysis of ‘think aloud’ transcripts (using the qualitative analysis package N-Vivo) focused on how participants made sense of the victim’s story, the characteristics of the offender and the plausibility of potential suspects. Participants spontaneously generated and tested multiple hypotheses about investigative information using mental simulation, tolerating high levels of uncertainty throughout the ‘investigation’ and paying particular attention to investigative opportunities. This research suggests that successful detectives need the ability to imagine multiple potential explanations for investigative data and the knowledge to identify the opportunities for action such data affords. PUBLICATIONS The following book chapters were written and published during the period of study and cover issues relevant to the thesis topic: 1) Alison, L., & Barrett, E. C. (2004). The Interpretation and Utilization of Offender Profiles: A critical review of "traditional" approaches to profiling. In J. Adler (Ed.), Forensic Psychology: Concepts, Debates and practice (pp. 58-77). Cullompton, England: Willan Publishing. Note: Pages 58-66 were written by Laurence Alison. Pages 66-69 were written by Emma Barrett. Pages 70-72 were written jointly by Laurence Alison and Emma Barrett. 2) Barrett, E. C. (2005). Psychological research and police investigations: does the research meet the needs? In L. Alison (Ed.), The Forensic Psychologist’s casebook: Psychological profiling and criminal investigation (pp. 47-67). Cullompton: Willan Publishing. 3) Alison, L., Barrett, E. C., & Crego, J. (2007). Criminal investigative decision making: Context and Process. In R. R. Hoffman (Ed.), Expertise Out of Context (Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Naturalistic Decision Making) (pp. 79-95). New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Note: Pages 79-88 were written by Laurence Alison and Jonathan Crego. Pages 88- 91 were written by Emma Barrett. Page 92 was written jointly by Laurence Alison and Emma Barrett. 4) Ormerod, T. C., Barrett, E. C., & Taylor, P. J. (2008). Investigative sense-making in criminal contexts. In J.M.C. Schraagen, L. Militello, T. Ormerod, and R. Lipshitz (Eds.). Naturalistic Decision Making and Macrocognition. Aldershot : Ashgate Publishing Note: Pages 81-84 were written jointly by Emma Barrett and Tom Ormerod. Pages 84-87 were written by Emma Barrett. Pages 88-92 were written by Tom Ormerod. Pages 93-96 were written by Paul Taylor. Pages 97-98 were written largely by Tom Ormerod with input from Emma Barrett. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I am grateful to the Economic and Social Research Council who provided financial support for my research under grant PTA-030-2002-00482. But completion of a PhD relies on so much more than financial support. This research would not have happened were it not for the co- operation of two police forces and I am indebted to the many detectives who allowed me to conduct research in their forces, participated in the studies and were the source of much wise and helpful guidance. They remain anonymous to protect the identities of the forces that supported this research, but they know who they are and they know how grateful I am. My supervisor, Dr Catherine Hamilton-Giachritsis, having taken over my supervision midway through, has been an important and patient source of encouragement and guidance, keeping me focused, helping me maintain momentum and always offering thoughtful and constructive comments on what must have at times seemed like endless drafts. The support of my original supervisor, Professor Laurence Alison was valuable in helping me secure ESRC funding, helping me develop ideas during the first part of my research, offering guidance throughout the pilot study and at the early stages of the main study. More recently I am grateful to Professor Tom Ormerod for his comments and advice, and in particular to Dr Paul Taylor, who has provided intellectual and practical support and much valued friendship over the last few years. Colleagues at work, in particular Ali, Simon and Susie, have been consistently supportive and tolerant of my absences on study leave, even when it made life more difficult for them. I am particularly fortunate to have, in Mark, an exceptionally supportive and understanding line manager. Many friends provided much-needed support and encouragement, tolerated my neglect of our relationships and helped me through tough times. Particular thanks to Jenny, Caroline, Jill, Mary, Andy and Gurjit (who knows only too well how tough it can get). And finally, it is hard to know how to repay the enormous debt of gratitude I owe to my family, in particular Rowena, Graham, Jonathan and Hazel, who have never wavered in their support for me and have been patient beyond belief. TABLE OF CONTENTS THESIS OVERVIEW...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1. DETECTIVE COGNITION: A SENSE-MAKING PERSPECTIVE .......................6 Why study detective work?..............................................................................................................7 Psychological perspectives on the nature of detective work........................................................10 How cognitively complex is criminal investigation? ...............................................................10 Detective work as decision-making...........................................................................................16 Detective work as problem-solving...........................................................................................19 A model of investigative sense-making.........................................................................................22 1. Investigative sense-making is goal-directed .........................................................................25 2. Investigative sense-making involves recognition of new information and recall of existing knowledge. ..................................................................................................................................26 3. Investigative sense-making involves generating, elaborating and testing multiple story- like hypotheses about the crime and the offender.....................................................................32 4. Investigative sense-making drives investigative actions......................................................37 Summary and conclusions..............................................................................................................40 CHAPTER 2. DETECTIVES’ HYPOTHESES IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY.................................................................................................................43 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................43 Story construction to achieve investigative understanding ..........................................................43 Content and structure of investigative situation models ..........................................................43 Approach and aims of the current study....................................................................................46 Method.................................................................................................................................................46 Participants..................................................................................................................................46 Design and materials...................................................................................................................47 Procedure.....................................................................................................................................47
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