Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and Investigative interviewing : a systematic review highlighting clinical and legal implications and recommendations

Gilbert, DJ; Allely, CS; Mukherjee, RAS; Cook, PA

Abstract

Individuals with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are estimated to be 19 times more likely to encounter the criminal justice system (CJS) in comparison to individuals without FASD. During encounters with the CJS, investigative interviews are employed to obtain accurate information from suspects, victims or witnesses of crime. A systematic search using PRISMA guidelines was performed to identify empirical studies published that have explored the questioning of the FASD population within the CJS and the vulnerabilities of FASD-impacted individuals during investigative interviewing. A total of 383 studies were identified from the databases searched and 7 further studies were identified from Google Scholar. After deduplication, abstract and title screening, the full text of 23 studies were assessed for inclusion and 5 were included in the narrative synthesis of results. Two papers were empirical studies focussed on the performance of FASD-impacted individuals during investigative interviewing. Whilst the first study found the FASD population susceptible to suggestions, the second (a case study), identified the ploys employed during investigative interviewing to obtain a confession. Three papers studied the wider vulnerabilities of FASD-impacted individuals and found diminished psycho-legal abilities, increased risk of recidivism and biological, psychological and social factors that render FASD-impacted individuals vulnerable to CJS encounters. Despite the greater likelihood of CJS encounters, the result of this review highlights the slim evidence base useful to establish the vulnerabilities of FASD-impacted individuals within the CJS.

Citation

Gilbert, D., Allely, C., Mukherjee, R., & Cook, P. (2022). Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and Investigative interviewing : a systematic review highlighting clinical and legal implications and recommendations. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 40(1), 170-185. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2552

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 21, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Dec 13, 2021
• Publication Date: Feb 3, 2022
• Deposit Date: Nov 22, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 13, 2022
• Journal: Behavioral Sciences & the Law
• Print ISSN: 0735-3936
• Electronic ISSN: 1099-0798
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 170-185
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2552
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2552
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0798
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Article originally titled "Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and Interviewing : a systematic review highlighting clinical and legal implications and recommendations" Published in the Special Issue "Emerging forensic mental health issues of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder"; Access Information : This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Gilbert, D. J., Allely, C. S., Mukherjee, R. A. S., & Cook, P. A. (2021). Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and Investigative interviewing: A systematic review highlighting clinical and legal implications and recommendations. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 1– 16, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2552. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.