Forensic Science - Body Language Analysis

Forensic Science - Body Language Analysis focuses on an important component of witness and suspect statement analysis.  Psychologists, profilers, and detectives have worked for decades to understand the subtle clues that individuals provide when they discuss details of crimes.  We may be able to develop a sense of the truthfulness (or lack thereof) that permeates a statement from a witness or suspect.  This can lead to new avenues of investigation in an ongoing case and can help to classify the speaker as a person of interest or a valuable information asset.  

Understanding body language analysis confers significant benefits not only in forensic investigations, but also in debate, negotiations, and many business situations.  In interrogation settings, detectives often determine which specific issues need further elucidation due to a speaker deviating from the baseline they establish in non-adversarial lines of questioning.

We will discuss the subtle actions, such as lip purses, eye widening or narrowing, brow furrowing, retreat, neck exposure, laughs/chuckles, touching one’s own face, actions with the hands, odd breath patterns, natural vs. unnatural pauses, and flashes of emotion, which help to evaluate the honesty of the person speaking.  We will also discuss individual idiosyncrasies that make some of these actions less informative in our appraisal of the speaker.  

There are many situations when we have to consider other factors which may blunt notions of one’s dishonesty when displaying certain “indications of dishonesty.”  The context of the person’s connection to the case may impact our appraisal of their statements.  If there is overwhelming emotion or shock from the details of the case, we may see a person significantly deviating from baseline multiple times within a short span of time, and we will discuss the ways we can redirect questioning to areas that may elicit more useful responses.

We will examine recorded statements of suspects and witnesses in real cases, and we will also examine recorded statements of detectives to understand the difficulty some suspects face when dealing with an interviewer who may carry their own assumptions into questioning, leading to conclusions that may not conform to the statements of those interviewed.

The class schedule appears in the syllabus.  After an initial discussion of the basic concepts of body language analysis, we will watch publicly available videos of interviews with suspects, witnesses, and/or investigators in real cases, including the Jon Benet Ramsey case, the Zodiac, Diane Downs, O.J. Simpson, the Staircase Murder, and Amanda Knox.

This class, like all of my classes, will be taught in a Socratic Discussion fashion.  The goal is to foster discussion and improve analytical and critical thinking skills.