Hypnosis and Witness Recall: Discussion Paper

Abstract

Much interest has been expressed recently in the possible use of hypnosis to aid the memory of witnesses in police investigations. It is said that the police forces in the USA and Israel are already using hypnosis, and it has also been employed on a few occasions in the UK. However, as yet the techniques are limited to a great extent by the hypnotic susceptibility of the witnesses concerned (Haward 1980). In view of this consideration, it seems important to look closely at the claims made for forensic hypnosis, not only in order to maximize the efficacy of existing procedures, but also to extract techniques which could be used outside the context of hypnosis on witnesses who are not hypnotically susceptible. The evidence for the claims made for forensic hypnosis comes from two main sources anecdotal reports, and laboratory experiments of hypnotic memory facilitation and age regression. Whilst it could be argued that the anecdotal reports speak for themselves, proponents of forensic hypnosis, nevertheless, base much of the a priori appeal of hypnosis on the results of certain laboratory experiments.