Prejudicial stereotyping and police interviewing practices in England: an exploration of legal representatives’ perceptions

ABSTRACT

Research studies suggest that at the initial stage of an investigation, negative stereotypes are triggered when officers make decisions concerning a suspect with their pre-existing racial/religious images for the group to which the suspect belongs. Such stereotyping is generally argued to be one of the major sources of partiality in criminal investigations. The present study examines the legal representatives’ perceptions of police interviewing practices when investigating suspects under caution. The present study conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with fifteen defence lawyers who had represented suspects from various ethnicities within England and Wales. The thematic analysis of interview transcripts revealed that (as perceived by the legal representatives) prejudicial stereotyping can influence police officers’ attitudes towards suspects from stigmatised communities. Additionally, prejudicial stereotyping was perceived to produce guilt presumption, self-fulfilling prophecies, and confirmation bias. These findings suggest that further training of police officers seems necessary to make them more aware of the implications of such prejudicial stereotyping to improve their investigation skills, and in turn, case outcomes, and community cohesion.

KEYWORDS:

• Prejudicial stereotyping
• investigative interviewing
• unconscious bias
• legal representatives
• police interviewing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 A suspect is a person who is represented by a legal advisor at a police interview under caution.