While the verbal and physical indicators are critical for identifying criminal behavior, they are also visible in social settings. In my interactions with others around me, I have been able to observe these indicators in others around me. One of the most common verbal, behavioral indicators that I have been able to observe is stalling. An example is a case of stalling that was especially apparent while in a conversation with one of my siblings. One summer, while at home with my siblings, I could not find one of my electronic devices. When I directly questioned one of my siblings about whether they were aware of its location, I could see her stalling. Stalling is described as an indicator in which the individual skirts the question or delays providing a direct answer, as they may be stalling to buy time or correct an answer (Grubb et al., 2018).
Once I had questioned my sibling, she started to clear her throat, while uttering "uh…um, huh?". She seemed to have considerable difficulty answering the simple question that I had asked her and instead appeared to try and delay responding to the question. After I asked the question for a second time, she then vaguely answered that she had seen somewhere near her room. Once I proceeded to go to her room to check the device, I realized that the device was now broken and could no longer be used. Based on the delay in response to my question and the provision of a minimal answer once I had asked twice, I felt that she was lying to me or hiding something. Stalling is often used when people do not want to talk about something (Napier, 2017). Although she was hiding information about my device, I cannot change my opinion about her; she was stalling because of destroying my device.
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While working as a volunteer at a domestic shelter while in high school, I was in constant contact with domestic violence victims. Most of these women were hiding from their domestic partners while also hesitant to provide information concerning their identities and their domestic violence experiences. While interacting with these women, one physical indicator that was highly prominent was restlessness. When questioned about personal subjects such as their names and what had happened to them, they would become increasingly fidgety and appear to be distressed. Most of these women would uncomfortably play with their hands, cross and uncross their arms, or shift in the chairs that they were in. This restlessness was mainly due to the anxiety that they struggled with due to their experiences with domestic violence (Mauriello, 2020). On other occasions, I have often seen people shift in their seats when asked about personal details that they do not want to answer.
Lastly, the verbal behavioral indicator that I have come across in my interactions with others is a diversion. Diversion is an indicator that is exhibited when an individual attempts to change the subject while trying to hide something. Once, while engaging in a conversation with two of my friends, one of my friends was questioned about his current work station. When asked about the state of his job, he immediately attempted to shift the attention away from him. His attempt to shift the attention away from him was done by making a commentary about how the crime rate had increased in one of the social areas we commonly visited. Later, I learned that this diversion was because my friend had lost his job and did not want to discuss it. Based on these instances, it is clear that verbal and physical indicators can only become visible if one pays enough attention.
These indicators greatly influenced how valid communication was. In the first case, I felt that my sister was hiding something about my device as she was stalling. Although she said, she did not know where my device, it was all a lie since I found the device in her room. Despite lying to me at first, I do not think that I can change my opinion towards her since she lied because she was worried after breaking my device. In the case regarding the women, anxiety showed that they were unwilling to talk about their issues. Being restless made me doubt the credibility of their story, although the fear of narrating their experiences; I would therefore have mixed feelings about the credibility of their stories. In the last case, using diversions made me believe that my friend was hiding something. Although he lied initially, I believe he did so for feeling bad about losing his job; therefore, my opinion about him cannot change.
References
Grubb, R. E., & Hemby, K. V. (2018). Effective Communication in Criminal Justice . SAGE Publications.
Mauriello, T. P. (2020). Public Speaking for Criminal Justice Professionals: A Manner of Speaking . CRC Press.
Napier, M. R. (2017). Behavior, truth, and deception: Applying profiling and analysis to the interview process . CRC Press.
