`You Punched Him, didn't You?': Versions of Violence in Accusatory Interviews

This paper explores the management in police-suspect interviews of accusations of violent involvement. Eleven officially taperecorded interviews between police and suspects were transcribed and analysed and a basic grammar of violent accusations was identified. Different ways in which accusations are warranted and contested are discussed and instantiated. It is suggested that the interview participants use two discourses of violence: disorderly and justificatory. The paper explores their localized deployment and raises issues concerning their wider ideological implications.