معرفی
Prof. Dr. Renate Volbert holds a Professorship for Legal Psychology with a focus on Statement Psychology at the Psychologische Hochschule Berlin (PHB). She co-leads the Legal Psychology Working Group at PHB alongside Prof. Jelena Zumbach-Basu, with Volbert heading the Statement Psychology research focus area and Zumbach-Basu leading Family Law Psychology. Her work bridges academic research with practical forensic applications, particularly in credibility assessment and interviewing techniques in abuse cases.
Volbert's research centers on statement psychology, examining the intersection of memory, perception, communication, developmental psychology, and clinical issues in legal contexts. Her work specifically focuses on:
- Assessment of statement credibility
- Suggestibility in interviews, especially in suspected abuse cases
- Relationship between psychotherapy and credibility assessment
- Development of methods to distinguish experience-based from non-experience-based statements
- Questioning behavior and its influence on witness and accused statements
Her recent publications demonstrate a strong emphasis on evidence-based practices in forensic interviewing, particularly with children who may be victims of abuse. Volbert has been instrumental in developing virtual reality training tools like 'ViContact' to improve professional skills in conducting interviews with children. She co-authored the influential 'White Paper on Forensic Child Interviewing' which established European consensus on best practices for interviewing children in legal contexts. Her research on recovered memories in psychotherapy and their implications for criminal proceedings represents significant contributions to the field.
Volbert actively supervises research staff and doctoral students including Jana Otzipka (working on debiasing strategies in criminal investigations) and Mona Leve (conducting systematic analyses of credibility assessments). She leads multiple major research projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and the Archdiocese of Bamberg addressing critical issues such as errors in criminal proceedings, investigation of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Bamberg (ASMEB), and development of virtual reality training for professionals conducting abuse interviews.
Her research team includes scientific staff Mona Leve, Jana Otzipka, and Anett Tamm, plus student employees. This multidisciplinary group conducts both theoretical research and practical applications that directly impact forensic psychology practice in Germany and internationally through organizations like the European Association of Psychology and Law (EAPL).
