Intoxicated Witnesses and Suspects: Procedures and Prevalence According to Law Enforcement
Intoxicated Witnesses and Suspects: Procedures and Prevalence According to Law Enforcement
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DOI：
10.1037/a0016837
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发表时间：
2009-08-01
影响因子：
2
通讯作者：
Russano, Melissa B.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Evans, Jacqueline R.;Compo, Nadja Schreiber;Russano, Melissa B.
法律的心理学家在他们的研究中通常忽略了醉酒的证人和嫌疑人。一个可能的原因是缺乏关于这一证人和嫌疑人群体的普遍性和特点的客观资料。同样不清楚的是，是否存在处理醉酒者的标准警察程序，以及这些程序可能是什么。本次调查就是为了填补这一空白而进行的。执法人员完成了一项关于他们与醉酒证人和嫌疑人的经历的调查。他们的答复提供了明确的证据，证明处理醉酒证人和嫌疑人是常见的，而且处理这类人的标准程序很少。由于我们的数据强烈表明，这一群体在执法环境中有着重要的存在，一些研究和政策问题是显而易见的。例如，如果醉酒者不同于清醒的证人和嫌疑人，这是否应该保证有专门针对性的程序建议？这项调查的结果旨在促进和指导研究，旨在为执法部门提供如何与这一潜在的弱势群体和研究不足的群体互动的有用指导。
Legal psychologists have generally neglected intoxicated witnesses and suspects in their research. One possible reason is the lack of objective information about the prevalence and characteristics of this witness and suspect group. Also unclear is whether standard police procedures for dealing with intoxicated individuals exist and what these may be. The present survey was conducted to help fill this void. Law enforcement officers completed a survey about their experiences with intoxicated witnesses and suspects. Their responses provide clear evidence that dealing with intoxicated witnesses and suspects is common and that there are few standard procedures for handling such individuals. As our data strongly suggest that this group has a significant presence in law enforcement contexts, several research and policy questions are apparent. For example, if the intoxicated differ from sober witnesses and suspects, should this warrant uniquely tailored procedural recommendations? Findings from this survey are intended to spur and guide research aiming to provide useful guidelines to law enforcement on how to interact with this potentially vulnerable and underresearched group.