Empathy in investigative interviews of victims:How to understand it, how to measure it, and how to do it?

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the literature and in modern training programmes, empathy is considered important for the process of building rapport. Yet there is no distinct definition of empathy in the context of the police interview, and how to display empathy is poorly operationalized. In addition, there have been different attempts to measure empathy. The aim of the current study is to explore how detectives display empathy through the observation of four video-recorded police interviews of traumatized young victims of the 2011 Utøya terror attack in Norway and research interviews with the detectives who conducted the police interviews. The detectives demonstrated understanding and interest, and empathy was displayed both verbally and non-verbally. Furthermore, the interviews were characterized by cooperation. Due to the lack of consensus on empathy in police interviews, the study raises the question of what kind of empathy should be displayed in police interviews and whether empathy should be replaced with more appropriate concepts in police training.