Dr. Igor Areh is Associate Professor in Forensic Psychology at the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, Slovenia. His lectures and research work focus, mainly on interviews of witnesses, crime victims, and suspects. Having majored in psychology (2004), he accepted a teaching position at the Faculty and narrowed his research work to the issues related to eyewitness testimony. In his successfully defended 2008 PhD thesis in psychology, he researched gender differences in eyewitness memory recall. In recent years, his research interests moved towards suspect interviews focused on two main themes: detecting deceit and the investigative interview. He has published over 90 papers and four books on forensic and investigative psychology issues. He also works as a criminal investigation advisor, mainly by evaluating the veracity of suspects’ statements, as well as an expert witness in court. Igor teaches psychology in criminal justice, forensic psychology, and investigative psychology. He is a member of the IAAP – International Association of Applied Psychology (Division 10: Psychology, Law and Ethics), EAPL – European Association of Psychology and Law, and the Association for Psychological Science.
In 2020, Dr Igor Areh was elected as President-Elect of Division 10: Psychology, Law and Ethics, the International Association of Applied Psychology.
Contact:
Igor Areh, Ph.D., Associate Professor in Forensic Psychology
Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor
Kotnikova 8, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, EU
e-mail: igor.areh@fvv.uni-mb.si
Phone: +386 1 300 83 13
Curriculum vitae:
1999: B.Sc. in Psychology (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, EU)
2000: Assistant Lecturer in Psychology
2003: Lecturer in Psychology
2004: M.Sc. Degree in Psychology (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, EU)
2008: Ph.D. in Psychology (Thesis: The influence of personal characteristics of an eyewitness on veracity of testimony, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, EU)
2008: Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology
2013: Associate Professor in Forensic Psychology (professor extraordinarius)
Selected publications (English language only):
Walsh, D., Areh, I., Minhas, R., & Menzies, S. L. (2023). When law enforcement interview witnesses and write their statements. Police practice and research: An international journal, 24(3), 346-367. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2022.2116436
Jaklin, K. & Areh, I. (2021). Examining communication in penal court proceedings. Journal of Criminal Investigation and Criminology, 72(3), 245–263.
Areh, I., Verkampt, F., & Allan, A. (2021). Critical review of the use of the Rorschach in European courts. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2021.1894260
Areh, I. & Walsh, D. (2020). Own-gender bias may affect eyewitness accuracy of perpetrators’ personal descriptions. Journal of Criminal Investigation and Criminology, 71(4), 247–256.
Areh, I. (2020). Forensic assessment may be based on common sense assumptions rather than science. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 71, 101607. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101607
Denault, V., Plusquellec, P., Jupe, L. M., St-Yves, M., Dunbar, N. E., Hartwig, M., … Areh, I. … van Koppen, P. J. (2019). The analysis of nonverbal communication: The dangers of pseudoscience in security and justice contexts. Anuario de Psicología Jurídica. Ahead of print. doi.org/10.5093/apj2019a9
Areh, I. (2016). Police interrogations through the prism of science. Horizons of Psychology, 25, 18–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.20419/2016.25.440
Areh, I., Zgaga, S, & Flander, B. (2016). Gathering information from victims and witnesses in Slovenian investigation proceedings. In D., Walsh, G. E. Oxburgh, A. D. Redlich, & T. Myklebust (Eds.), International Developments and Practices in Investigative Interviewing and Interrogation; Volume 1: Victims and witnesses (pp. 219-229). London: Routledge.
Areh, I., Zgaga, S, & Flander, B. (2016). Police interrogation of suspects in Slovenia. In D., Walsh, G. E. Oxburgh, A. D. Redlich, & T. Myklebust (Eds.), International Developments and Practices in Investigative Interviewing and Interrogation (pp. 204-214). London: Routledge.
Areh, I. & Baić. V. (2016). The scientific basis, reliability, and validity of techniques for verbal detection of deceit. Journal of Criminal Investigation and Criminology, 67(3), 209-220.
Areh, I., Sotlar A., & Zgaga, S. (2016). Some psychological and law features of the insanity defence in war crimes trials in Europe. Collected Papers of Zagreb Law Faculty, 66(1), 87-103.
Areh, I., Walsh, D. & Bull, R. (2015). Police interrogation practice in Slovenia. Psychology, Crime & Law, 1–15. doi:10.1080/1068316X.2015.1114113
Areh, I. (2011). Gender-related differences in eyewitness testimony. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(5), 559-563.
Areh, I., Meško, G., Umek, P. (2009). Attribution of personal characteristics to victims of rape – police officers´ perspectives. Studia Psychologica, 51(1), 85-100.
Areh, I., Dobovšek, B., Umek, P. (2007). Citizens’ opinions of police procedures. Policing, 30(4), 637-650.
Areh, I., Umek, P. (2007). Predicting quality of memory recall by personality traits. Studia psychologica, 49(1), 19-26.
Meško, G., Areh, I., Umek, P., Jevšek, A., Kury, H. (2006). Police officers’ understanding of female victims of specific crimes. In Meško, G., Dobovšek, B. (Eds). Past, present and futures: policing in Central and Eastern Europe. Ljubljana: Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, pp. 91-92.
Areh, I., Umek, P., (2004). Personal characteristics and validity of eyewitness testimony. In Meško, G., Pagon, M., Dobovšek, B. (Eds). Policing in Central and Eastern Europe, Dilemmas of contemporary criminal justice. Ljubljana: Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, pp. 355-359.
Meško, G., Areh, I., Kury, H. (2004). Testing social-demographic and social-psychological models of fear of crime in Slovenia. In Meško, G., Pagon, M., Dobovšek, B. (Eds). Policing in Central and Eastern Europe, Dilemmas of contemporary criminal justice. Ljubljana: Faculty of Criminal Justice, University of Maribor, pp. 642-655.
Areh, I., Umek, P. (2004). Personal characteristics and eyewitness testimony. In Czerederecka, A. (Eds). Forensic Psychology and law: facing the challenges of a changing world. Kraków: Institute of Forensic Research Publishers, pp. 213-218.
Areh, I., Umek, P. (2003). The connection among personal characteristics and validity of eyewitness testimony. In P. J., Saukko (Ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd European Academy of Forensic Science Meeting, Forensic science international (p. 299). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Undergraduate courses taught:
Psychology in criminal justice, forensic psychology, and investigative psychology.
ERASMUS Subject: Forensic Psychology
