Police interviewing is a critical part of the justice process, and more attention is now being paid to training in interview techniques. This new study from Australia uses tools drawn from interactional sociolinguistics and Conversation Analysis for a detailed investigation of some police questioning of adult suspects, and work undertaken in the training of police in interviewing children - in which quite different approaches seem to be adopted. The study powerfully illustrates the conflicts and contradictions that threaten to undermine the success of criminal proceedings and presents a fresh perspective on the balance between civil liberties and police power. Critical Discourse analytic techniques are used in interpreting the outcome. Both productive and counterproductive police interview strategies are exposed and the implications for interview training are explored.

List of Tables
Preface
Transcription Conventions
Abbreviations
Police Institutional Discourse
Tools for the Analysis of Police Interviews
An Analysis of the Interview Structure
The Institutional Embedding of Authority
Interviewing Children - the VATE Approach
Myths about Police Interviewing
Institutional Power
Conclusion
Appendix: Features of the Police-Suspect Interviews
References
Notes
References
Index

GEORGINA HEYDON is a Research Fellow in the Linguistics Program at Monash University, Australia. She has also lectured in Linguistics at Aarhus University, Denmark.