PSYC 2400 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: True Confession, Psychological Science, Suggestibility
29 Jan 2017
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Goals: obtain confession and gather relevant information (stephenson & moston, 1994) Confession is usually most damaging evidence (kassin, 1997) Right to counsel and to be informed of right without delay. Right to telephone calls (as many as necessary to retain and instruct counsel) Most common training program in canada and u. s. If suspect is thought to be guilty, a 9- step accusatorial interrogation procedure is implemented to secure confession. Defendant must be competent at time of confession. Even if interrogators do occasionally persuade suspects to confess, there is the danger of false confessions. May be motivated by desire for attention, generalized guilt, or to protect someone else. May be motivated by desire to avoid further interrogation, gain promised benefit, or avoid threatened punishment. Coerced-internalized false confessions believe in guilt and confess despite being innocent caused by coercive interrogation tactics and vulnerability. Possibly deficits in brain functioning (e. g. , substance abuse), heightened suggestibility, or mental state factors (e. g. , anxiety)
