Staff Profiles

Prof. Martine Powell
Position	Personal Chair
Email	martine.powell@deakin.edu.au
Area	School of Psychology
Phone	+61 3 924 46106
Campus	Burwood
Role and Profile	Professor Powell has held academic appointments at Deakin University since 1997 and was appointed to a Personal Chair in 2004. Her research, supervision and teaching profile relate primarily to the forensic psychology area. Professor Powell has played a major role in the development of several postgraduate courses including the Doctor of Psychology (Forensic) and an on-line professional development unit for forensic interviewers (e.g. police and social workers).
Teaching Responsibilities	HPS944 Children & the Law HPS948 Forensic Placement 1 and Case Analysis Seminar 1 Course Coordinator, Doctor of Forensic (Psychology)
Research Interests	Professor Powell has published in a broad range of areas. However her research focuses primarily on the issue of child eyewitness testimony and forensic interviewing of child witnesses and suspects. The focus of her research has been the identification of factors which make interviewees more or less reliable, as well as training strategies that improve the competency of forensic interviewers. Her publications have addressed: • memory and suggestibility; • individual, organisational, procedural factors that impact the competency of forensic interviewers; • impact, assessment and treatment of sexual abuse across the life span; • stress and policing; • narrative language ability of juvenile offenders.
Service to the University, discipline or community	Professor Powell’s primary contribution has been in the development and delivery of interview training for various professionals (e.g., police, prosecutors, judicial officers, social workers) across all jurisdictions of Australia. Specifically, she has assisted in the development of 9 investigative interviewer training courses and is currently coordinating the first ever national training protocol dictating acceptable standards of investigative interviewing and interviewer training. Other key duties include: • Director of Research, School of Psychology, Deakin University (2006 – 2008) • Australasian Editor, Applied Cognitive Psychology (2000 – 2009) • Accreditation Officer and Member of the Executive committee, College of Forensic Psychologists, Australian Psychological Society (2005- 2008): • Chair of the Scientific Committee of the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iIIRG). (2008-current)
Awards	Early Career Award, Australian Psychological Society (2001)
Memberships	Australian Psychological Society APS College of Forensic Psychologists Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and the Law Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition International Investigative Intreviewing Research Group Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
Conferences	1. Powell, M. B. (2008). Improving the competency of investigative interviewers. Nexus Policing: Linking Research, Policy and Practice to shape a better policing future, Melbourne Convention Centre, World Trade Centre, 26-28 May 2008. 2. Guadagno, B. L., & Powell, M. B. (2008). A critique of investigative interviewers' use of open-ended questions. 28th Annual Congress of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, Sydney, 23-26 October, 2008. 3. Hughes-Scholes, C. H. & Powell, M. B. (2008). An examination of the types of leading questions used by investigative interviewers of children. 28th Annual Congress of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, Sydney, 23-26 October, 2008. 4. Kebbell, M. R. & Powell, M. B. (2008). Investigative interviewing in cases of suspected domestic-related homicide. International conference on homicide. Australian Institute of Criminology, Gold Coast, 3-5 December, 2008 5. Snow, P. & Powell, M. B. (2009). Getting the story in investigative interviews with child witnesses: The emerging role of story grammar in theory and practice. Advancing Forensic Psychology: 2009 Conference of the College of Forensic Psychologists, Australian Psychological Society, 25-28 February, 2009.
Publications	1. Smith, R., Powell, M. B. & Lum, J. (2009). The relationship between job status, interviewing experience, gender and police officers’ adherence to open-ended questions. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 14, 51-63. 2. Gignac, G. E. & Powell, M. B. (2009). A psychometric evaluation of the Gudjonnson Suggestibility Scales: Problems associated with measuring suggestibility as a difference score composite. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 88-93. 3. Powell, M. B. (2008). Guide to designing effective training programs in the area of investigative interviewing of children Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 20, 189-208 4. Powell, M. B., Fisher, R. P., Hughes-Scholes, C. H. (2008). The effect of using trained versus untrained adult respondents in simulated practice interviews about child abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32, 1007-1016. 5. Powell, M. B., Fisher, R. P., Hughes-Scholes, C. H. (2008). The effect of intra- versus post- interview feedback during simulated practice interviews about child abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32, 213-227.
Research Link	View Deakin Associated Research Data
Biography	View Biography as a pdf ( 153K - opens in a new Window)
Highest Qualification	Doctor of Philosophy Monash University Completed: 23-OCT-96

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