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What do I do if someone becomes angry?"

There may be a variety of reasons for an individual to become angry. First might be legitimate anger because of what was being said, an intentional or unintentional slight by the interrogator. Sometimes anger might be aroused because of the individual's perception of the direction or focus of the investigation.
The guilty suspect uses anger to try and control the interrogator and his plan for the confrontation. Most often mock anger is missing appropriate anger behavioral clues or a logical point of origin. Many times, the guilty suspect will focus anger directly at the interrogator attempting to bring an end to the conversation. The suspect may use his anger to elicit negative emotions or statements from the interrogator to further inflame the situation. Some suspects will react with anger to move the interrogator further away from them. The interrogator's response to a guilty party's use of anger has several options.

1) The interrogator returns the aggression overwhelming the suspect's attempt to control the encounter. There are several problems with this tactic. This action burns the bridge of rapport the interrogator had initially sought to build with the suspect. Rapport is a one-way street and it is very difficult to go back and reestablish it after using aggression. Responding with aggression also reduces the interrogator to the suspect's level of nonprofessional behavior. Rarely will this type of response be appropriate in an interview or interrogation setting. Further, the use of this aggressive response by the interrogator encourages the suspect to try to move to the next level of aggression so there is a serious concern of the encounter getting out of control. Finally, this type of response could potentially coerce a confession from a suspect making it involuntary and unreliable.

2) The interrogator moves his chair closer to the suspect. This action is unwise because the suspect already feels confined and is looking for a way out of the situation. Moving the chair closer may drive the suspect to more aggressive behavior, potentially leading to a physical confrontation.

3) The interrogator moves his chair back and shifts from interrogation to an interview. This may momentarily defuse the situation, but tell the suspect that the interrogator is uncertain of his guilt, which will generally increase the suspect's level of resistance. Once the suspect sees that he can control the interrogator with anger, he will return to this strategy whenever necessary to achieve his goals.

4) The interrogator uses a chair shift, gestures, and verbal redirection to diffuse the suspect's anger. We recognize the suspect's anger attempting to control the encounter. The interrogator shifts his chair to the 9 o'clock position maintaining the same distance from the suspect. This chair movement causes the suspect to feel physically different because the interrogator's personal space is not directly invading the suspect's space any longer. The position change is different from the positions most people take to argue. The interrogator feels protected having turned away from the suspect, yet to the suspect, he appears to have taken the position of a mediator between the suspect and some unseen adversary. The interrogator then gestures away from him toward some distant place where the adversaries await while talking about others who might feel negatively toward the suspect. The position change allows the interrogator to remain as a neutral party not an opponent. These changes make it more difficult for the suspect to direct and sustain anger at an interrogator




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