The Conversation Management Approach to Investigative Interviewing

This chapter establishes the scene for the rest of this book. It begins with a brief definition of the conversation management (CM) approach to investigative interviewing, before explaining the psychology of investigation as a decision-making process. Having distinguished the two opposing ethical perspectives on investigation, the chapter then introduces the context for the creation and emergence of CM with a detailed description of the practice of expedient interrogation of suspects and expedient interviewing of witnesses up to 1993: the year that PEACE — the national investigative interviewing model framed upon CM — was introduced. It also investigates the evolution of PEACE, the subsequent emergence of the Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) approach to interviewing vulnerable and intimidated witnesses, and the Professionalising of Investigation Programme (PIP). Ultimately, the chapter concludes with a synopsis of research findings that underpin the effectiveness of CM and how we continue to develop our approach to CM.