Principles of Kinesic Interview and Interrogation

By Stan B. Walters

Focusing on determining behavior from body language, speech, and written statements, this practical text explores the complex challenges of basic and advanced interview and interrogation techniques. A renowned bestseller, the book includes photographs demonstrating various nonverbal symptoms, a discussion of the phenomenon of false confessions, and a chapter addressing the basic concepts of interview and interrogation. The author also covers the advancement and developments in kinesic statement analysis and provides helpful background information and representative samples. An extensive list of references facilitates further study.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0849310717
• ISBN13: 9780849310713
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: CRC Press
• Length: 382 Pages
• Weight: 1.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

Good effort, but you should cross-reference studies

I'm up to page 200 and while I usually wait for the end of any book to write a review, I felt compelled to write one now.----------- I want to open this review by clearly stating that no person should ever agree to be interviewed by law enforcement, guilty or innocent. No lawyer worth his hourly should ever suggest that his client be interview by law enforcement unless he is granted full immunity. The Unites States unlike our European brother countries can legally use deception to get a confession. Police investigators are powerless within the court systems. There is no reason to speak with them directly. If something needs to be confessed, it should be between your attorney and the district attorney.------------ I have law enforcement experience with the NYPD and have read most of the "lie detection" literature available. I've read the Eckman books, the Wiley Series books, and references to studies included and referred to in the Walters book which I found shortly after reading "Detecting Lies and Deceit : The Psychology of Lying and the Implications for Professional Practice" by Vrij. The Vrij book is a good read and you'll be flipping pages to get a good understanding of tests results.------------- Let me first state from experience, that unfortunately, the NYPD uses the Lieberman approach of pop science, which the Walters book (Kinesic) accurately states, is not an effective tool. The Lieberman book titled "Never Be Lied to Again" is what appears to be on law enforcements guide on "how to" interview and interrogate. I've also witnessed interviewing where arrested persons were denied council for nearly 10 hours as multiple detectives hammered away at them while being cuffed to wooden chairs in a forced slumped position. Bathroom breaks are a privilege and only in trade if you gave them something incriminating. Under these circumstances, people will eventually break even if they did not commit the crime. When the documents were passed to the ADA, I was astonished to read that the perp had never requested a lawyer although I witnessed some of them near crying to speak to a lawyer. Interviewing tactics seem to vary and no formal rules exist. Direct accusation of suspects and a poorly played hand of poker is the method of questioning. Exactly what the above literature states NOT to do, is what appears to be commonplace. --------- This book is not a bad book, but is misleading. The author calls quotes of research papers and studies to support his claims. The part that really annoyed me is that I read these papers prior to reading this book and his claims of support are not in context with the results of research. Research has show that law enforcement at its best was only able to detect deceit at most 50% of the time. Actually, law enforcement scored lower because overall, the national average IQ of law enforcement was 106 while the standard college test subjects IQ was higher. Law enforcement was unable to fully utilize the information provide

Recognize Deceptive Signals in Speech & Body Language

This thoroughly researched and practical book was written by Stan Walters, a retired police interrogation specialist with over 25 years' experience. The purpose of his book is to help interrogators rely on highly successful and proven techniques in recognizing deceptive behaviors in speech quality, speech content, and especially body language. Too often, Walters observed other questioning officers depend on 'gut instinct', racial bias, intimidation, or pre-conceived notions of the interviewee's guilt. Walters admits that police are surprisingly able to solicit false confessions, especially from mentally deficient or emotionally weak interviewees. So, his ultimate goal is to help police identify the real perpetrators of crimes via the perpetrator's own truthful confession of guilt. In the first theoretical half of the book, Walters introduces kinesic theory (i.e. recognizing non-verbal signals) and the five stages of stress response (anger, depression, denial, bargaining, acceptance). Then he goes on to explain how these stress response stages can be identified in interviewee subjects and provides 90 photographs of subjects' body language movements. In the second practical half of the book, Walters gives specific instructions on how to conduct interrogations, especially by customizing each interview according to the interviewee's personality type. He also explains the pitfalls of what many 'traditional' interrogators do wrong and how to avoid them. In addition, the interviewer and interviewee must speak the same native language and come from the same culture - often a problem for military interrogators. This is an excellent practical textbook on how to conduct and secure a (truthful) confession, given a patient, practiced, and conscientious interviewer. Walters admits, however, it still takes practice and involves a lot of hard work - always reading interviewees' behaviors.

Principles Of Kinesic Interview and Interrogation

Being a Stan Walters devotee I was pleased to find yet another rivetting publication by the guru of kinesics. Stans writing is refreshing and makes for interesting reading. The content itself is on the button. Excellent reference material for those in the business of detecting deception. I integrated the techniques described by Stan Walters with Statement Analysis techniques and find that I am now far more successful at what I do.

A must for any Criminal Investigator

Principals of Kinesic Interview and Interrogation is a well written and well researched look into the physical and physcological traits of a deceptive person. As a criminal investigator with a large Department I have found it to be an invaluable resource. Stan Walters insights and experiences are related in understandable easy to read terms. An excellent book.

Kinesics is the Key

I have been a police officer for ten years, the last five as an Investigator. I came across this Stan Walters masterpiece in 1996 durring a search for Forensic Psychiatry books. The ability to recognize deception is extremely important in my field, and there are many manuals of instructions on the subject. Mr. Walter's, however, gives the reader/researcher the keys to EXTRACTING the verbal (speech) and non-verbal (Body) reactions the body has when stressed. It also covers what happens to the body and speech when a person is ready to confess. Everything is covered from how to approach a suspect initially to the personality types you may run across. Since my introduction to Mr. Walter's book (and subsequent Law Enforcement classes offered on this subject), my confession rate has sky rocketed! I obtain solid witness statements and when conducting Internal Investigations, officers come right out and "fess up" rather than be Interrogated. All my awards over the last three years including the 1998 Officer of the Year for my agency, I owe to this book. The only warning I can give is if you are a close minded cop who makes pre-judgements about people, you will waste your time with this book. Otherwise, for the benefit of your community, study hard!