UK Police Interviews: A Linguistic Analysis of Afro-Caribbean and White British Suspect Interviews
Given the tensions between the Afro-Caribbean community and the police in the UK, it is somewhat surprising that police interviews with suspects of different ethnicities, are underresearched in the field of sociolinguistics. Combining the analytical strengths of Conversation Analysis with the critical social stance of Critical Discourse Analysis, this study focuses on two linguistic features: overlapping. talk and so- prefaced questions, alongside repetition of questions and accusations. The results of the analysis indicate that there are important differences between the Afro-Caribbean and White British suspects regarding the responsivity to overlapping talk, this is because the Afro-Caribbean suspects display different overlapping styles to the White British suspects. The interactional consequences for suspects with a low take-up rate are considerable: suspects' accounts and denials are suppressed. However, when suspects' overlaps are taken up, their version of events gets 'heard'. The consequences for the AfroCaribbean suspects, whose overlaps got taken up less, reach beyond the level of the overlap. The police officers also suppress the Afro-Caribbean suspects' narratives through repeated questioning and
Jones, Claire E. L.
UK Police Interviews: A Linguistic Analysis of Afro-Caribbean and White British Suspect Interviews. Given the tensions between the Afro-Caribbean community and the police in the UK, it is somewhat surprising that police interviews with suspects of different ethnicities, are underresearched in the field of sociolinguistics. Combining the analytical strengths of Conversation Analysis with the critical social stance of Critical Discourse Analysis, this study focuses on two linguistic features: overlapping. talk and so- prefaced questions, alongside repetition of questions and accusations. The results of the analysis indicate that there are important differences between the Afro-Caribbean and White British suspects regarding the responsivity to overlapping talk, this is because the Afro-Caribbean suspects display different overlapping styles to the White British suspects. The interactional consequences for suspects with a low take-up rate are considerable: suspects' accounts and denials are suppressed. However, when suspects' overlaps are taken up, their version of events gets 'heard'. The consequences for the AfroCaribbean suspects, whose overlaps got taken up less, reach beyond the level of the overlap. The police officers also suppress the Afro-Caribbean suspects' narratives through repeated questioning and
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