Deception in autism: Implications for police suspect interviewing

: (Alternative Format Thesis)

Abstract

Whilst investigative interviewing with autistic witnesses has received increasing attention over recent years, there has been very little research on interviewing autistic suspects. Such research is crucial as autistic people may be more likely than non-autistic people to be questioned as a police suspect. Further, there are several key factors which distinguish witness from suspect interviews. For example, suspects are interviewed due to having potentially committed (rather than only witnessed) a criminal offence, making it a high-stakes, stressful situation, with motivation for suspects to provide misleading or incomplete interview accounts. Moreover, a suspect interview will take place during (or under risk of) detainment in police custody. Therefore, a suspect interview is a socio-legal context quite distinct from a witness interview, with profoundly different potential outcomes. Across five studies, using mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, this PhD thesis aims to contribute to understanding of deception in autism and the vulnerabilities faced by autistic individuals during police suspect interviews. Overall, the PhD thesis findings challenge stereotypical conceptualisations of autistic people being incapable of telling verbal lies.

However, of greater concern is the potential for autistic people to have difficulty reporting truthful, innocence-supporting information during a suspect interview and how their verbal, paraverbal, and nonverbal behaviour may be perceived as deceptive. Further, the emotional, sensory, and socio-cognitive stresses of an interview in police custody may exacerbate such behaviours and overall difficulty providing accurate and reliable information. Implications for theory and best practice interviewing with autistic police suspects are discussed.

Date of Award	28 Jun 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Sponsors	Economic and Social Research Council
Supervisor	Katie Maras (Supervisor), Mark Brosnan (Supervisor) & Ailsa Russell (Supervisor)