In the year ending March 2022, 39% of all incidents recorded by Police in England and Wales, and 46% of female homicides, were related to Domestic Abuse (DA) (Office for National Statistics [ONS], 2022a; ONS, 2022b). Since 2015, reports of DA across England and Wales have steadily increased, whereas the number of cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service for charging decisions fell by nearly half in the same period (ONS, 2022a). Thus, despite more cases being reported, fewer are reaching the courtroom. Moreover, Valerie Wise, the national lead for DA at Victim Support UK notes:
Lack of trust in the police is a very real issue for the women we support. …The issue is twofold – time and again, women are told that things are going to change, but they are just confronted with more stories of abuse. For those who do report, too often they are let down, not taken seriously and not listened to. (Oppenheim, 2023, para. 16)
These concerns were echoed in a landmark review of the Metropolitan Police Service’s internal culture by Baroness Casey, who found evidence of institutional misogyny, homophobia, and racism (Casey, 2023.
The College of Policing (CoP, 2022) Approved Professional Practice (for police forces in England and Wales) for response officers attending a DA call, highlights the need for victims to be safeguarded and listened to. Officers should:
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Ensure the safety of everyone at the scene.
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Separate those involved.
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Build rapport, listen to the victim, and reassure them.
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Understand the dynamics of DA and take all incidents seriously.
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Carry out an initial investigation.
Rapport can be defined as the establishment of an emotional connection or bond between two people, which is evident when conversation flows smoothly and there is mutual respect (Hogan, 2011). Advice about rapport from the College of Policing emphasises its importance in building trust with victims, however, the guidance focuses on barriers to engagement, such as distrust of the police, rather than practical techniques such as Active Listening Skills (CoP, 2022).
1.1 Active Listening
Rogers and Farson (1957) coined the term active listening. The idea of listening as an active, rather than passive, activity emerged from Rogers' original research exploring effective counselling techniques (Rogers, 1940). Active listening skills (ALS) include listening for deeper meaning, responding to feelings, and detecting non-verbal cues such as hesitation or inflection (Rogers, 1951). Rogers and Farson (1957) emphasized the need for genuine respect for the individual, space for them to express their thoughts and feelings, and belief in the capacity of the individual to solve their own problems. Otherwise, behavioural gestures of acknowledgement alone, are likely to be received as cynical.
The principles of active listening have been used in many fields including social work (Fischer, 1978; Nugent & Halvorson, 1995; Rogers et al., 2020), teaching (Bovill, 2020; Jalongo, 1995) and business (Flynn et al., 2008; Itani et al., 2019; Jonsdottir & Fridriksdottir, 2020; Mineyama et al., 2007), to build rapport, develop deeper partnerships or gather accurate and reliable information. Significantly its use has been highlighted in general healthcare (Haley et al., 2017; Lang et al., 2000; Robertson, 2005) and specifically in DA. Heron and Eisma (2021) found in a meta-analysis of 34 studies of barriers to DA reporting, that those who thought the professional was not listening were less likely to disclose. Similarly, Lindhorst et al. (2008) suggested eight guidelines for maximising the opportunity to obtain a DA disclosure, with the use of ALS to build rapport being the most important. Thus, there is extensive empirical research concerning ALS and a strong argument can be made for its importance in enhancing effective interpersonal interactions and disclosures.
1.2 Active Listening in Policing
In the UK, crisis negotiators use ALS to safely resolve high-risk situations such as hostage-taking, armed sieges and suicidal individuals (National Police Improvement Agency, 2011). Grub (2010) conducted a literature review examining the evolution of crisis negotiation theories and techniques, finding all rely on ALS. The most used technique is the Behavioural Influence Stairway Model (BISM) which positions active listening as the underlying principle by which to achieve rapport, trust, and influence (Noesner & Webster, 1997; Van Hasselt et al., 2008; Vecchi et al, 2005; Vecchi et al., 2019). The BISM was developed internally by the Federal Bureau of Investigation although its efficacy has only recently been empirically tested. Van der Kolk (2023) found persons in crisis were twice as likely to comply with instruction after rapport building using the BISM. Taylor (2002) analysed real hostage negotiations and communication and found cooperation can be increased if the negotiator orientates their own communication theme to that of the hostage taker. This finding is consistent with the nature of rapport as described by Hogan (2011), and can be applied to ALS by ensuring that, for example, if the subject is talking about emotions, the officer responds by talking about emotions and not something else, like logistics or procedure.
Moreover, ALS is also used effectively by detectives during interviews, to elicit more accurate and reliable information from interviewees (Miller & Rollnick, 2012; Milne & Bull, 1999). For example, the cognitive interview for use with compliant witnesses (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992) uses ALS to build rapport and increase the interviewee's motivation to disclose, emphasising the active process of memory recall in obtaining reliable information. All police officers in England and Wales receive interview training in a simplified version via the PEACE (Planning and Preparation, Engage and Explain, Account, Clarification, Challenge) model (see Milne & Bull, 1999), which emphasises the use of open questions to guard against leading the subject. However, Clarke and Milne (2001) conducted a national evaluation of its effectiveness and concluded that despite training, most questions asked were closed or leading, with only one in three questions being open. Closed questions are contrary to the principles of active listening because elicit a binary yes or no answer, whereas open questions encourage the subject to give more information (Vecci, 2020). More recently, Dando et al. (2010) asked inexperienced officers their perceptions of their own interviewing skills and many reported pressures to complete interviews quickly and insufficient training. Whilst this research is now somewhat dated, it would be interesting to see if such pressures, in particular with an increase in less experienced officers and cuts in resources, remain. If so, time constraints and a lack of training are likely to be detrimental to the requirements of active listening.
Thus, whilst there is an evidence base indicating the importance of active listening in gleaning accurate and reliable information, this knowledge is only used by a small number of officers trained in negotiation. There is potential for applying these skills to improve police response to DA to enhance cooperation and disclosure, potentially leading to a greater chance of conviction.
1.3 The Present Study
This research explores the use of ALS by police officers at DA incidents and its potential effect on the outcome of the case. The use of ALS will be observed in body-worn video (BWV) footage from Surrey Police officers, recorded whilst responding to DA incidents in the course of their duties.
This study has two aims to consider:
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What is the general level of ALS employed by uniform officers responding to DA callouts in Surrey Police?
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Does the use of ALS by police when speaking to a DA victim at a callout improve the outcome of that investigation?
These overall aims will be tested using the following hypotheses:
Due to the small number of officers receiving ALS training, it is hypothesised:
H 1: The mean ALS score of response officers in Surrey Police will be low (below 0.5).
Due to the positive impact of ALS in other domains in enhancing engagement, it is hypothesised:
H 2: Higher ALS scores are correlated with a victim giving a statement.
H 3: Higher ALS scores are correlated with solved outcomes.