Interrogation

[GURPSFredo]

I don't know if this subject has been discussed before but it seems that there is a lot of research that says that torture isn't effective, so it seems the Interrogation skill needs to be changed.
As far as I understand what current understanding of how to best interrogate someone is making them believe you're their friend or are at least on their side, so Interrogation should be based on Acting and probably have to do something to do with Empathy and understanding the subject.
Anyway, I wanted to pick the minds of the forum about how they would bring the GURPS skill of Interrogation up to date.

[Refplace]

Interrogation through torture is effective, the trouble comes when the subject lies to you to get you to stop. That is where Acting can help and use the friend strategy. I'm fine with Interrogation but a skilled operator will have several supporting skills. Acting, Body Language, Detect Lies, Diagnosis, Intimidation, and Physiology for instance.

[GURPSFredo]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Interrogation through torture is effective

I'm really sorry but I can't find a single source that confirms this and furthermore it seems to have psychological consequences on the interrogator too.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by GURPSFredo

I'm really sorry but I can't find a single source that confirms this and furthermore it seems to have psychological consequences on the interrogator too.

Sure it has psychological impact on both parties. I'm not advocating torture but any talk that its completely ineffective is just propaganda and possibly misunderstanding.

[GURPSFredo]

Originally Posted by Refplace

I'm not advocating torture but any talk that its completely ineffective is just propaganda and possibly misunderstanding.

Again, I'm really sorry but I can't seem to find any sources that state that torture is an effective method of interrogation.
Just to add, I never said 'completely ineffective'. Nothing is ever 100 percent effective or ineffective.
We are talking about bonuses and penalties in a RPG system, and skills that Interrogation defaults from.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by GURPSFredo

Again, I'm really sorry but I can't seem to find any sources that state that torture is an effective method of interrogation.
Just to add, I never said 'completely ineffective'. Nothing is ever 100 percent effective or ineffective.
We are talking about bonuses and penalties in a RPG system, and skills that Interrogation defaults from.

The phrase I read the most is "marginally more effective" which may be enough to justify stopping its use for humanitarian reasons. However the primary issue with its effectiveness is the validity f the information obtained. Hence a high Detect Lies skill, Intelligence Analysis, etc will greatly help get useful results.
Its use is due to its simplicity and speed of results more than the quality of the results.
The planted friend technique takes more time to implement and were taught to defend against it through things like SERE training and even lower levels, the whole "Loose Lips sink ships" thing.
I would apply it in GURPS as a Technique for Interrogation to figure the best type of insertion and the plant of course needs Acting.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by GURPSFredo

I'm really sorry but I can't find a single source that confirms this and furthermore it seems to have psychological consequences on the interrogator too.

To be specific the way in which torture is ineffective is that it tends to produce results that reflect the interrogator's initial bias as the subject tries to produce whatever the interrogator wants to hear regardless of whether or not that's the truth. Thus it will extract false confessions and accusations. But if you wanted to know "Where did you hide the sixty grand" then assuming the victim did hide 60 grand, you have a pretty good chance of getting the right location. Torture is going to be effective when you already know enough that you can catch their attempts to lie and you aren't just fishing for information without already knowing almost everything.

But even then it isn't going to be more effective than patient persistence which has the virtue that failures tend to produce recalcitrant refusals to answer, rather than attempts to satisfy you with lies. Torture's just a quick and dirty short cut, which can easily backfire.

[GURPSFredo]

Honestly, I'm not here to argue the effectiveness of torture in some specific situation. I couldn't find a single source that claims that torture is an effective means of interrogation (finding out new information). It just seemed to me that bonuses for torture aren't warranted in reality.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

But even then it isn't going to be more effective than patient persistence which has the virtue that failures tend to produce recalcitrant refusals to answer, rather than attempts to satisfy you lies. Torture's just a quick and dirty short cut, which can easily backfire.

The biggest advantage to torture over high pressure interviewing, or brainwashing the target to want to tell you stuff, is it will get you *an* answer fairly quickly. If you are short on time and this answer is easily checkable, or you already know enough about whatever you are asking about to tell reasonable answers from nonsense, that can be very helpful. If you want to know about something complicated you don't know much about to start with, it's fairly useless.

Where did you hide the money? Or where is your gang planning to hit tonight? This is stuff you might learn something useful about. Describe the finances of your organization? Or what are the goals of whoever it is you are working for? Those are probably a waste of time.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by GURPSFredo

Honestly, I'm not here to argue the effectiveness of torture in some specific situation. I couldn't find a single source that claims that torture is an effective means of interrogation (finding out new information). It just seemed to me that bonuses for torture aren't warranted in reality.

Given that a failed roll could result in a believable lie maybe the +6 is too high.
But I feel a bonus is warranted. I'd also use the two hours as a base for getting further bonus from Time Spent. Also Detect Lie as Complementary.