PSYC 2400 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Reid Technique, Legal Technicality, False Evidence
25 May 2018
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Unit 3: Psychology of Police Investigations
Section 1: False Confessions
Definition
• False Confession:
o Intentionally fabricated
o Not based on actual knowledge of facts that form content
▪ Ca e a eaggeatio o iiizatio of soeoes ole i a ie, o
mistake due to memory failure
▪ Key is that is fully or partially not true
• Retracted confessions
o Claim confession false at later date
▪ Coerced
• Disputed confessions
o Legal technicality
▪ Ma e peso didt udestad thei legal ights, o polie didt use
proper techniques
o Claimed never confession never made
False Confessions - Incidence
• Self-report
o ~ 1% - 12%
• Wrongful convictions
o ~ 25% contained false confession
False Confession - Types
• Voluntary False Confession
o No prompting by police
o Reasons:
▪ Protect real offender
▪ Notoriety (attention/publicity)
▪ Need to relieve guilt
▪ Cannot distinguish fact from fantasy
• Coerced compliant
o Caused by police interrogation tactics
o Confessor knows they are innocent
o Reasons:
▪ Escape interrogation situation
▪ Gain promised reward/escape threatened punishment
o Arguably most common
• Coerced-Internalized
o Believed they committed crime
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o Highly suggestive interrogations
o Reasons:
▪ Substance abuse
▪ Vulnerable mental state (anxious, confused, etc.)
▪ Highly suggestible questions
False Confession – Research
• Epeiet: tpe ithout hittig Alt Ke
o All oputes ashed & people iteogated
▪ False evidence
▪ Vulnerability
o Experimenters measured level of:
▪ Compliance
▪ Internalization
▪ Confabulation (degree to which made up details are formed to fit)
• Russano/Cheating paradigm
o Participants perform individual & group problems
▪ Guilty condition – poide help o idiidual poblem
▪ Innocent condition – not asked to provide help
o Accused of cheating by experimenter
o Large minority falsely confessed (20%)
▪ Offered a deal (8% increase)
▪ Minimization (12% increase)
▪ Both (37% increase)
False Confessions – Consequences
• Innocent people sent to jail (or executed)
o Juries ignore how confession was obtained
• Guilty person not apprehended
• Waste of time & resources
• Impact on victim (re-live the crime)
Section 2: Police Interrogations & the Reid Technique
Police Interrogations – Goals
• Main goal – obtain a confession
o Powerful evidence in court
• Gain info to further the investigation
o Location of evidence
o Co-conspirators
o Exact details of crime
Police Interrogations – Historical
• Mid-1900s – Third degree
o Whipping
o Rubber hoses & phone books
▪ Confession by physical tactic
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• 1980 – stun gun used by NYPD
o less, but some physical tactic
• Today – subtle psychological tactics & trickery
o Lie about physical evidence
o Use of hypotheticals
o Imply threats to family members
o Minimize seriousness of crime
Police Interrogations – Reid
• Most widely used approach
• Involves 3 stages:
o Gather evidence
o Conduct a non-accusatorial interview to assess guilt (detecting deception)
o Conduct an accusatorial interrogation to obtain a confession
• 9-step interrogation
o goal – confession
Step 1: Direct Positive Confrontation
• state certainty in guilt
o use fabricated or real evidence
• pause, observe, repeat confrontation
• passive reaction= deception
• state pupose of iteie is to figue out h
2 Types of Suspects
Step 2: Theme Development
• Offer excuses/explanations for offence
o Allow for justification & rationalization
• Possible themes for emotional suspects:
o Anyone in situation would have done same
o Miiize ies oal seiousess
o Suggest morally acceptable reasons
o Condemn others (i.e., blame victim)
o Praise & flattery (i.e., you seem like a good guy)
• Possible themes for non-emotional suspects:
o Catch them in a lie
o Get suspect associated with crime scene
o Suggest non-criminal intent behind act
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
~ 1% - 12: wrongful convictions, ~ 25% contained false confession. False confession research: e(cid:454)pe(cid:396)i(cid:373)e(cid:374)t: t(cid:455)pe (cid:449)ithout hitti(cid:374)g (cid:862)alt(cid:863) ke(cid:455, all (cid:272)o(cid:373)pute(cid:396)s (cid:272)(cid:396)ashed & people (cid:862)i(cid:374)te(cid:396)(cid:396)ogated(cid:863, false evidence, vulnerability, experimenters measured level of, compliance, confabulation (degree to which made up details are formed to fit) Internalization: russano/cheating paradigm, participants perform individual & group problems, guilty condition p(cid:396)o(cid:448)ide help o(cid:374) (cid:862)i(cid:374)di(cid:448)idual(cid:863) p(cid:396)oblem. Innocent condition not asked to provide help: accused of cheating by experimenter, large minority falsely confessed (20%, offered a deal (8% increase, minimization (12% increase, both (37% increase) Innocent people sent to jail (or executed: juries ignore how confession was obtained, guilty person not apprehended, waste of time & resources. Section 2: police interrogations & the reid technique. Police interrogations goals: main goal obtain a confession, powerful evidence in court, gain info to further the investigation, location of evidence, co-conspirators, exact details of crime. Imply threats to family members: minimize seriousness of crime.
