The interpretation and exploitation of information in criminal investigations

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http://eprints.org/relation/isVersionOf http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/document/858 http://eprints.org/relation/isVolatileVersionOf http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/document/858 http://eprints.org/relation/isIndexCodesVersionOf http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/document/858 archive 4031 disk0/00/00/03/53 2009-11-19 12:58:09 2019-01-23 09:51:59 2011-07-19 16:16:16 thesis show 0 Barrett Emma Caroline Hamilton-Giachritsis Catherine University of Birmingham The interpretation and exploitation of information in criminal investigations unpub BF 10col_life 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. Qualitative 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the knowledge to identify the opportunities for action such data affords. 2009-12 2009-07 graduation eng author This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties.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. ubira@lists.bham.ac.uk public 382 University of Birmingham School of Psychology d_ph esrc 2009-12 graduation