'You are Foreign, You are Nothing in this Country': Managing Risk in Interpreter-Mediated Police Interviews with Victims of Domestic Abuse

Abstract

This article examines approaches to police interviews involving limited language proficient victims of domestic abuse. The discussion critically examines the concept of risk in order to better understand how it is currently managed from procedural, translatorial and intercultural perspectives. The critique takes account of discourses relating to contemporary policing in England and Wales, and recent research in translation studies on cross-cultural communication as a risk management activity. I propose that risk management be viewed as an individual and interactional achievement, and explore the implications of both for the investigative interview through an analysis of current police guidelines. The analysis is supported by evidence of interpreter perceptions of police interviews elicited through a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews at one Constabulary in England. I conclude that the scope of the guidelines needs to be broadened and call for additional empirical research on ‘what works’ to support developments in authorised professional practice (APP).