After the very first question she already interrupts the interviewer: “Sorry, but that is a closed question, and a rather leading one. Interviews can be tricky for me, because my expertise is spotting leading questions. I will do my best not to be distracted by that”, she laughs. Vredeveldt, who will soon deliver her inaugural lecture as Professor of Legal Psychology, argues for cultural humility. In brief: acknowledge that your own frame of reference is never neutral, ask follow-up questions and listen more attentively to the other person.
“In South Africa the seed was planted"
For a postdoctoral project, Vredeveldt worked at the University of Cape Town. Together with the South African police, she video-recorded one hundred interviews with witnesses and victims of serious crimes. For later research, the plan was to compare these interviews using three government-defined racial categories - Black, White and Coloured - with the ultimate aim of drafting guidelines for the intercultural interview. As the research progressed, a fundamental question arose: what is a cultural group, and is there a ‘right’ way to define it at all?
“The simple answer is no,” Vredeveldt now says firmly. She continues: “The person in the interview room is far more layered, carrying multiple identities that cannot be reduced to, say, place of birth. The idea that you can ever be ‘competent’ in a particular culture is therefore an illusion. Cultural humility means being aware of the assumptions and biases you yourself bring into the room. Before interviewing a suspect in a case involving child abuse, for instance, it helps to examine your own emotions. In South Africa, that seed was planted for me.”
My infinite identities
Back in the Netherlands, Vredeveldt read Mijn ontelbare identiteiten (My Infinite Identities) by anthropologist and VU colleague Sinan Çankaya. Using his own life story, Çankaya shows that we are made up of many unique identities, and he shows what happens when someone is reduced to a single, all-defining identity. “The book moved me and prompted reflection: which identities make me who I am? I will address that in my inaugural lecture as well, because it shows why we need to go beyond cultural background.”
She then touches on some of her own identities: scientist, Dutch, married to a South African, and a bisexual woman. “I share this because no one fits into a single box, and because visibility matters. Research shows, for example, that bisexuality still often leads to misunderstanding and exclusion.” In this way, her ‘infinite identities’ reinforce her plea for cultural humility: being less sure, asking more questions and being more aware of the assumptions you yourself carry. “It is a message I want to bring across clearly in my inaugural lecture and in my work as a Professor.”
Key figures in the criminal justice system
Fact-finding is central to police interviews. In recent years, Vredeveldt has trained interviewers in open interviewing methods: asking more open questions, avoiding leading formulations and giving witnesses greater control over their account. “That is cultural humility in practice. I am convinced it improves fact-finding.” Having long focused on the people being interviewed, Vredeveldt now wants to shift her attention to key actors in the criminal justice system, such as the police, expert witnesses and the judiciary. ‘Judges wield great power in our society. In the end, they decide who goes to prison. We need a better understanding of how they reach their judgments, and how cultural humility can play a role in that. My conviction is that it contributes to a fairer system, and I look forward to sharing these insights in my inaugural lecture.’
At the end of the conversation, Vredeveldt smiles when the interviewer says they have learnt a lot. “Thank you; I heard few leading questions today, mostly open ones. That helps and moves the conversation forward straight away.”
The Illusion of Cultural Competence in Criminal Justice is the title of the inaugural lecture that Annelies Vredeveldt will deliver on Thursday 13 November 2025.