Developing and evaluating a training programme in legal psychology for Finnish asylum officials
Read exciting new research from post doctoral researcher Jenny Skrifvars and colleagues Jan Antfolk & Julia Korkman, in collaboration with Maahanmuuttovirasto – Migrationsverket – Finnish Immigration Service
Together they developed and evaluated a training programme in Legal Psychology for Finnish Asylum Officials!
Recent research questions the accuracy of asylum decisions, noting that officials partly follow evidence-based methods and hold assumptions about memory and behaviour that are not supported by psychological science.
Analyses of Finnish and Dutch real-life asylum interview transcripts revealed that 80% of the questions were non-recommended closed questions, while only 20% were open questions.
Nevertheless, most questions followed the recommended information-gathering style. To adjudicate asylum claims accurately and effectively, asylum officials require enhanced training in evidence-based interviewing and decision-making techniques.
Through a pre and post-training online test, participants were evaluated on their knowledge of relevant legal psychology topics, such as memory and interviewing techniques, and their ability to identify, assess, and formulate appropriate interview questions.
The team developed a comprehensive 75-hour hybrid training program in legal psychology for asylum officials. The training resulted in a substantial immediate improvement in trainees knowledge (d=1.67), with these gains persisting after a follow-up period of 5 months.
Future research should examine the application of this acquired knowledge in actual asylum adjudications.
