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I think this technique will work if the victim does not expect interrogated by this approach. So, for example a terrorist group notorious for beheading victim,

by 188201 8y ago

I think this technique will work if the victim does not expect interrogated by this approach. So, for example a terrorist group notorious for beheading victim, by contradicting themselves and use a friendly approach, then it will work. For example for police force, they cannot play too tough due to law restriction, then those really bad guys basically don't give a fuck, so it may not work.

hutzlibu 8y ago
"For example for police force, they cannot play too tough due to law restriction, then those really bad guys basically don't give a fuck, so it may not work. " Isn't the point of Scharffs Method that you do not have to be tough? You can be friendly. Neutral ... in general you are having a conversation - you are not pushing - and therefore the tough guys do not feel pushed and do not block and reveal information without realising it.
- empath75 8y ago
  If you read news stories about the mueller investigation you can catch glimpses of this as people who have been interviewed tell reporters over and over again that it’s close to wrapping up. I’m sure everytime everyone is interviewed the agent tells them they’re just wrapping up a few loose ends and they think the whole thing is a big misunderstanding.
  - dsfyu404ed 8y ago
    Or that the people who are being interviewed individually have no leads so from their vantage point the investigation perpetually seems to be wrapping up (because there seem to never be any new leads) except every now and then they find someone they can nail for the typical process crimes wall street/Washington elite engage in. Then there's the whole political angle. One side wants this to seem like the investigation is chasing nothing and should have ended a long time ago. The other side wants it to seem like a damning report will come out tomorrow.
bloak 8y ago
Yes, there are big differences between interviewing a police suspect and interrogating a prisoner of war. For example, the police suspect may be worried about going to prison if they say the wrong thing, or being murdered if they betray a colleague, while that hardly applies to the prisoner of war. Also, the police suspect is typically speaking in front of several witnesses while being (visibly) recorded. By the way, if someone working for the Luftwaffe during the second world war is a "Nazi interrogator", then presumably any RAF people being interviewed would be "Tory airmen".
- mikeash 8y ago
  The UK was not a totalitarian state whose most important and well-known characteristic was absolute control by a single political party.
  - icebraining 8y ago
    Still, there seems to be no evidence that he was a Nazi. My country was also under the control of a fascist party during that time, yet it was a conspiracy of soldiers and low-rank officers that brought it down.
    - mikeash 8y ago
      My point is that “Nazi interrogator” just means he was an interrogator for Nazi Germany, since it’s that country's defining charteristic.
      - richardhod 8y ago
        Beware imprecise language: Germany has not had a Nazi state since 1945, and is not anything like that. Also, there were SS officers and German military officers, and they were not the same.
        mikeash 8y ago
        All the more reason that calling this guy a Nazi interrogator is useful and reasonably correct! If you called him a German interrogator you'd have no idea what era he from or what role he might have played. The phrase "Nazi interrogator" tells us immediately that he was an interrogator for the German government somewhere between 1933 and 1945.
stared 8y ago
From Wikipedia: "A prisoner was frequently warned that, unless he could produce information beyond name, rank, and serial number, such as the name of his unit and airbase, the Luftwaffe would have no choice but to assume he was a spy and turn him over to the Gestapo for questioning. For Scharff, this technique apparently worked quite well. In addition to initially preying upon his prisoner's fears of the infamous Gestapo, he portrayed himself as their closest ally in their predicament, telling them that while he would like nothing more than to see them safely deposited in a POW camp; his hands, he claimed, were tied unless the prisoner gave him the few details that he requested to help him properly identify the prisoner as a true POW." So we have a "good cop, bad cop" technique, not just pure kindness.
- chasd00 8y ago
  i don't see any kindness, it's just another threat. "tell us or else" basically.
  - pure-awesome 8y ago
    This part is just another threat, yes. Some of the other things he did is (portrayed as) kindness.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  >For Scharff, this technique apparently worked quite well. In addition to initially preying upon his prisoner's fears of the infamous Gestapo, Meanwhile in 2019: "Ok, if that's all you know we have no further questions. Next week you'll be transferred to Saudi custody so they can ask you anything they want to ask"
moosey 8y ago
There are multitudinous ways to show people kindness that go beyond the interrogation room. Also, the police force plays tough with people all the time. Then, our prison system is brutal. Then when you leave prison trying to reenter society is made brutal. There are no niceties for suspected criminals in this country.

by 188201 8y ago

hutzlibu 8y ago

"For example for police force, they cannot play too tough due to law restriction, then those really bad guys basically don't give a fuck, so it may not work. " Isn't the point of Scharffs Method that you do not have to be tough? You can be friendly. Neutral ... in general you are having a conversation - you are not pushing - and therefore the tough guys do not feel pushed and do not block and reveal information without realising it.

empath75 8y ago
If you read news stories about the mueller investigation you can catch glimpses of this as people who have been interviewed tell reporters over and over again that it’s close to wrapping up. I’m sure everytime everyone is interviewed the agent tells them they’re just wrapping up a few loose ends and they think the whole thing is a big misunderstanding.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  Or that the people who are being interviewed individually have no leads so from their vantage point the investigation perpetually seems to be wrapping up (because there seem to never be any new leads) except every now and then they find someone they can nail for the typical process crimes wall street/Washington elite engage in. Then there's the whole political angle. One side wants this to seem like the investigation is chasing nothing and should have ended a long time ago. The other side wants it to seem like a damning report will come out tomorrow.

bloak 8y ago

Yes, there are big differences between interviewing a police suspect and interrogating a prisoner of war. For example, the police suspect may be worried about going to prison if they say the wrong thing, or being murdered if they betray a colleague, while that hardly applies to the prisoner of war. Also, the police suspect is typically speaking in front of several witnesses while being (visibly) recorded. By the way, if someone working for the Luftwaffe during the second world war is a "Nazi interrogator", then presumably any RAF people being interviewed would be "Tory airmen".

mikeash 8y ago
The UK was not a totalitarian state whose most important and well-known characteristic was absolute control by a single political party.
- icebraining 8y ago
  Still, there seems to be no evidence that he was a Nazi. My country was also under the control of a fascist party during that time, yet it was a conspiracy of soldiers and low-rank officers that brought it down.
  - mikeash 8y ago
    My point is that “Nazi interrogator” just means he was an interrogator for Nazi Germany, since it’s that country's defining charteristic.
    - richardhod 8y ago
      Beware imprecise language: Germany has not had a Nazi state since 1945, and is not anything like that. Also, there were SS officers and German military officers, and they were not the same.
      - mikeash 8y ago
        All the more reason that calling this guy a Nazi interrogator is useful and reasonably correct! If you called him a German interrogator you'd have no idea what era he from or what role he might have played. The phrase "Nazi interrogator" tells us immediately that he was an interrogator for the German government somewhere between 1933 and 1945.

stared 8y ago

From Wikipedia: "A prisoner was frequently warned that, unless he could produce information beyond name, rank, and serial number, such as the name of his unit and airbase, the Luftwaffe would have no choice but to assume he was a spy and turn him over to the Gestapo for questioning. For Scharff, this technique apparently worked quite well. In addition to initially preying upon his prisoner's fears of the infamous Gestapo, he portrayed himself as their closest ally in their predicament, telling them that while he would like nothing more than to see them safely deposited in a POW camp; his hands, he claimed, were tied unless the prisoner gave him the few details that he requested to help him properly identify the prisoner as a true POW." So we have a "good cop, bad cop" technique, not just pure kindness.

chasd00 8y ago
i don't see any kindness, it's just another threat. "tell us or else" basically.
- pure-awesome 8y ago
  This part is just another threat, yes. Some of the other things he did is (portrayed as) kindness.
dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>For Scharff, this technique apparently worked quite well. In addition to initially preying upon his prisoner's fears of the infamous Gestapo, Meanwhile in 2019: "Ok, if that's all you know we have no further questions. Next week you'll be transferred to Saudi custody so they can ask you anything they want to ask"

moosey 8y ago

There are multitudinous ways to show people kindness that go beyond the interrogation room. Also, the police force plays tough with people all the time. Then, our prison system is brutal. Then when you leave prison trying to reenter society is made brutal. There are no niceties for suspected criminals in this country.