ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the degree of reliability of the recalled material to highlight the ways in which processes intrinsic to the nature of hypnosis may distort the recollection of the “facts” of a witnesses event. It discusses the degree of the clinical responsibility of the hypnotist towards the subject. The chapter explains the ethical dilemmas and problems of civil rights involved in using hypnosis for criminal investigations. Hypnosis has been used by clinicians interested in facilitating their patient’s recall of previously forgotten experiences. In a forensic context, hypnotic techniques can be used in an attempt to uncover information which has been blocked by some disruption or repression of memory in an apparently healthy individual because of psychological causes. Criminal Investigations often rely on the reports of witnesses as a basis for collecting information about a crime. The chapter discusses a number of practical and ethical considerations which may arise with the use of hypnosis during forensic investigations.
