المؤشرات الحجاجية في استجوابات متعارضة للمشتبه بهم لدى الشرطة الأمريكية والكندية – من منظور تداولي جدلي

Argumentative Indicators in Conflictive American and Canadian Police-Suspect Interrogations: A Pragma-Dialectical Perspective

Abstract

The present study investigates the role of argumentative moves and indicators in four American and Canadian police interrogations. Argumentative moves and indicators have been examined in political debates, political speeches, courtroom discourse, and other sorts of discourse. However, investigating argumentative indicators in American and Canadian police interrogations have not been conducted, particularly from a pragma-dialectical perspective. Thus, the present study attempts to bridge this gap by highlighting the argumentative indicators and their uses in the data under scrutiny.
The study mainly aims at identifying argumentative moves and indicators and their functions in the data under scrutiny, differences between the various argumentative indicators utilized by American and Canadian police officers and suspects are also explored.
The main hypotheses of the study are: 1) each stage of argumentation has a specific set of indicators that are utilized by the participants of the interrogation, for instance, request for clarification and dispute indicators mark the confrontation stage, 2) and there is no statistically significant difference between American and Canadian police officers and suspects in utilizing the argumentative indicators of the confrontation, opening, argumentation, and concluding stages.
To achieve the aims and verify these hypotheses, the study adopts the model of “critical discussion” by van Eemeren, et al. (2007). Qualitative and quantitative approaches are used in analysis of the data.
The main conclusions of the study are: 1) not all types of the argumentative indicators found in police interrogations. Police interrogation requires a specific set of indicators, such as: Request for justification, request for clarification, strong assertive, weak assertive, semi-assertive and doubt indicators are found in the confrontation stage. The opening stage is marked by a challenge to defend standpoint, acceptance of the challenge as well as agreement and disagreement with the other arguer’s proposition. 2) The use of the argumentative indicators in the confrontation, the opening, and the argumentation stage differs between American and Canadian police, but their use is similar in the concluding stage. American and Canadian suspects differ in using the argumentative indicators in the confrontation stage, and they are similar in applying the argumentative indicators of the opening, argumentation, and concluding stage. The study ends with some recommendations and suggestions for further research.