Atlantica - 01.11.2000, Page 46

44 A T L A N T I C A
A spiralling series of press errors has
named Gísli Gudjónsson as an eminent
Norwegian psychologist. As a man not clam-
ouring for fame, this fact probably troubles him
more so for its persistent inaccuracy. To set the record
straight however, Gísli Gudjónsson is indeed an eminent psychologist, but he
is an Icelander.
Called to consult in 1,000 criminal cases at the request of either police,
prosecution or defence, Gísli has brought influence to bear on some of the
most notorious court cases in recent decades, including “The Guildford Four”
and “The Birmingham Six”. The majority of these cases involve either homi-
cide or sexual offences. In November 1997, evidence that Gísli contributed to
the case of Andrew Evans, from his clinical assessment and research, led to
Evans’ release after 25 years of wrongful incarceration for murder, with a
record compensation payment last June of one million pounds sterling. That
aside, he has testified as a specialist in over 140 cases in England, Scotland,
Northern Ireland, Germany, Norway, Israel and the USA. He is a professor of
Forensic Psychology and the Head of Forensic Psychology Services at the
Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, London. His work is a balance of clinical
work, teaching and supervision, research and administration.
Until last year he had worked part-time for eight years as a magistrate (lay
judge).
He is also Visiting Professor of Psychology at the University of Iceland.
It is no surprise that with a specialist background and experience-bank like
this, Gísli is under great demand to be involved with many aspects of his
discipline.
This covers an expansive field of influence, from being active within the judi-
cial system itself to academic research, and the sharing of new findings and
methodologies both with his colleagues in psychology and the law enforce-
ment agents and judges.
As a result of his widespread involvement Gísli has written prolifically.
He has published four books, the most widely recognised of these being The
Psychology of Interrogations, Confessions and Testimony: a volume received
by the international community of Forensic Psychology as being a pioneering
investigation.
It gives an important insight into psychological vulnerabilities, such as
suggestibility and compliance, which can lead to false confessions under police
interrogation. It also provides guidelines for police awareness when interview-
ing suspects. Within his field, Gísli is famous for the tests he has devised to
measure such vulnerabilities. He is the author of over 200 scientific papers, 40
book chapters, and two research reports for the Royal Commission on Criminal
Justice. A busy man indeed.
AN EMPHASIS ON LEARNING
“When I am approached to take on a case now I always have to think no before
yes, because there is simply no way I can say yes to everything. So, I have to
consider first whether it is worthy of my expertise and experience and then
whether there is someone else who is equally capable of doing what is
The fact is
that people are
sometimes wrong-
fully convicted.
"In the UK,
there are some-
where in the
region of
300,000 police
interviews a
year and of that
300,000, 50!60
per cent will
involve a
confession.
A small minority
of those people
will have
confessed to
crimes that they
did not commit,
for various
reasons.
PUSHING THE FRONTIERS
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