The Role of your Body in Eliciting Truth
In part one of this article, in the previous issue of Australian Security Magazine, we looked at three nonverbal behavioural cues that can alert us to potential issues when observed in a suspect during interrogation. We looked at the meaning of the one sided shoulder shrug, the eyelid flutter and the tongue jut. You will have observed these nonverbal cues throughout life as they are relatively common, especially the one sided shoulder shrug. However, they probably didn’t register consciously, unless you were already aware of their meaning and significance. In context they can be very telling of a person’s true feelings or intentions. They are reliable indicators that can be instrumental in leading to the truth. If you read part one of this article, Identifying Nonverbal Cues, Clues to Dig Deeper, did you manage to observe any of these nonverbal cues, once you understood their meaning? Did this lead you to discover anything significant?
Let me reiterate that these cues act only as red flags, indicating areas in which we may need to dig deeper and not as indicators of deception, since there is no ‘Pinocchio’s nose’ of deception; no single cue indicative of deception. How these red flags are addressed through questioning techniques and behaviour (of the investigator), is key to seeking the truth. Let’s explore the second component crucial to uncovering the truth; the role of your body in eliciting the truth.
Fostering Feelings of Comfort
Our own nonverbal signals have an impact on how successful we are in seeking the truth. Before looking at what we should convey with our body, let’s first consider this:
“Astonishingly, more than 1 out of 4 people wrongfully convicted but later exonerated by DNA evidence made a false confession or incriminating statement.”…Click HERE to read full article.
