Turn-Taking Asymmetry
Definition
The structural imbalance in a police interview where the officer holds nearly all the conversational rights: who asks, who answers, when a topic closes, and when the encounter ends.
- Structure
- Officer holds nearly all conversational rights
- Controlled elements
- Who asks, who answers, when a topic closes, when the encounter ends
- Context
- Police interview discourse analysis
Common questions
Why does turn-taking asymmetry matter when analysing an interview transcript?+
Because the officer controls the structure, an analyst reviewing the transcript can assess whether topic changes or interruptions cut off a suspect's account before it was complete, which is relevant to arguments about whether an answer was fairly obtained or context was lost.
Is turn-taking asymmetry itself evidence of coercion or misconduct?+
No, some asymmetry is a normal feature of institutional interviews given the officer's procedural role. Analysts distinguish routine control of structure from patterns that actively suppress or distort what the interviewee is able to say.
Related terms
- Code-Switching
- Shifting between different registers or even different languages within an interaction, often as a signal of role or authority. An interviewer who...
- Institutional Talk
- Conversation that takes place within an institutional context (courtroom, interview room, medical consultation) and is shaped by that context: one participant controls...
- Leading Question
- A question that signals or contains the expected answer. 'You were angry, weren't you?' is leading because the expected answer is embedded....
- Presupposition
- Information built into a question as a taken-for-granted background assumption. Asking 'Why did you go back?' presupposes the person went back. The...
- Reformulation
- An interviewer's restatement of what the interviewee just said, often shorter or differently framed. If the interviewee does not correct it, the...