Investigative Discourse Analysis [Paperback]

Don Rabon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0890895694 | ISBN-13: 978-0890895696 | Publication Date: January 1, 2007 | Edition: 1

Too often investigators from all areas and fields consider written statements, transcripts of interviews and interrogations, and letters as mere pieces of paper to be filed. They are only useful at face value -- as simple records, sworn statements, archives. In Investigative Discourse Analysis, Don Rabon demonstrates that these files can be put to work. These files can mean much more if the investigator uses proven techniques to move beyond the archive.

These files are analogous to a crime scene. To the uninitiated, the crime scene might look just like an ordinary room. To the trained eye, however, there can be evidence for follow-up everywhere. This book introduces techniques for discourse analysis in which a statement can be examined for more information than that available to the untrained eye.

These techniques lead the investigator to the sensitive areas of the statement or transcript where there might be deception. Armed with indications of the intent to falsify or conceal, the investigator can then focus the investigation on the heart of the deception. Follow-up questions and further investigation can be planned and executed.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Don Rabon is a professor at the North Carolina Justice Academy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Carolina Academic Press; 1 edition (January 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890895694
• ISBN-13: 978-0890895696
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,374 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good information by a nationally recognized authority, September 2, 2001

By 

Philip Hamilton (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Investigative Discourse Analysis (Paperback)

What is "statement analysis"? An investigator primarily uses statement analysis to study a person's choice and organization of words to gain the most information from that person's statement. Statement analysis represents a powerful tool because it goes beyond assessing the statement's content and the interviewee's non-verbal behavior.

Don Rabon is a nationally recognized authority on statement analysis. This book provides some excellent information about statement analysis, as well as excerpts from statements that you can analyze to help understand and develop these skills. The appendix provides answers to the exercises that appear throughout the book.

I highly recommend that anyone interested in statement analysis, however, begin with the book "In Search of Truth," by Daniel T. Marsano. It has these advantages over Mr. Rabon's book: It

1. presents the concepts and tools in a way that you can understand and work with much more easily;
2. explains why people unconsciously change their language patterns in ways that provide you additional information;
3. teaches you how to use statement analysis in oral interviews, rather than just how to use written or transcribed statements; and
4. shows you how to structure an interview to gain the most information.

The only disadvantage to "In Search of Truth" is that you'll need to order it through your book store. If, after reading Mr. Marsano's book, you want to pursue statement analysis further, Mr. Rabon's is one you'll probably want to pick up.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Clear, Focused Introduction, March 30, 2000

By 

Baudelaire (Between a rock and a hard place) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Investigative Discourse Analysis (Paperback)

Mr. Rabon's book provides an excellent overview of the basic premises and practices of statement analysis, leading the reader through information and examples, including practice statements where readers can apply the information they have learned. For anyone wanting to know more about this field, this book would be an excellent beginning. Clear, well-organized, and user-friendly throughout. Ted Kennedy's statement about the Chappaquiddick incident is included, as well as the statement of Dr. Jeffrey McDonald regarding the murder of his wife and two children. Fascinating and revealing analysis of both statements gives this book an added zing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent addition to your library.... a "must have" volume, March 26, 2005

By 

PWJ (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Investigative Discourse Analysis (Paperback)

This is an excellent volume on analysis of a written statement and is a companion volume to Rabon's Interviewing and Interrogation text. If I were to use them in any particular order, I would use Investigative Discourse Analysis to gain an understanding of the importance of word choice and to build awareness of word choices prior to going on to developing interviewing skills.

I've had the pleasure of both reading these two texts and attending multi-day presentations by Rabon on statement analysis and interviewing & interrogation and can say that he does not waste time or space on fluff. His material is both substantive and carefully researched.

Rabon knows his stuff. In my mind, this material is primary and texts by other, well-known and recognized authorities in the field of interviewing and interrogation are secondary in my library on the subject.

So that you know the perspective from which I come, my work involves fraud - primarily in the areas of embezzlement and financial statement fraud.