Obtaining a truthful confession from a suspect during an interrogation requires intelligence and certain interviewing tactics. In past, the police could utilize coercive approaches to receive information such as torture and aggressive questioning. However, recently, the methods that the officers employ has become more intelligence-based since they gather data and analyze it through use of machines or apply psychological tactics. The significance of the shift in strategies used by detectives is that it helps avoid classifying false statements as genuine to determine the judicial decision. The value of the confession is too great to allow it to be false as Appleby points out “confessions have a greater impact on juries than other types of evidence” (1). Sometimes, the suspects are willing or forced to admit committing a crime they did not engage in, making many scholars focus on the reasons behind the situation. In this respect, analyzing the choice of methods in interrogating a suspect, determining the genuineness of confessions with respect to circumstantial evidence, as well as its impact on the perception of the jury, are critical in court proceedings. Assessing the effectiveness of the techniques employed by the police is, therefore, essential in the research on the relationship of the methods used by investigators and results of cases. Therefore, the paper entails a study concerning the techniques used by police during interrogation. The paper argues that psychological technique increases police chances of obtaining an honest answer as it reduces the possibility of achieving false convictions as opposed to coercive tactics. Secondly, non-confrontational leading interrogations are associated with a higher likelihood of confession. Thirdly, this tactic provides different methods that can be easily learned and tested by the police officers.
Psychology-Based Interrogations instead of Coercive Tactics
The aggressive methods of coercing suspects to confess include torture, persuasive questioning, and using bright spotlights to force a person admit being guilty. These methods are ineffective in determining deception and can lead to generation of false statements. Police-induced confessions can be false but most importantly they are often taken for granted by jury and judge even if the confession contradicts the given evidence. Appleby et al. in their research established that “people cannot readily distinguish between true and false confessions and that confession evidence has a potent, if not irrevocable, effect on juries” (14) This fact, in turn, proves that such methods of obtaining confession affect the fairness and truthfulness of justice system itself.
Moreover, the scenarios implying false confession can lead to wrongful convictions which undermine justice. As Trainum states in his book, confession is often mistakenly considered “a queen of proofs” and even if is not supported by evidence can too often lead to plea “guilty” (15). In addition, it implies that there is a connection between the choice of a suspect and the confessions obtained by police as evidence. Furthermore, the selection of the suspect also determines the techniques used in interrogation to receive information concerning crime involvement without prior evidence collection that cannot suffice as a proof. Therefore, making this connection can contribute to the change of tactics into obtaining information and conducting an analysis on the persons concerned to determine the facts that can be presented as a genuine evidence. The study by Vrij and Par differentiates between conventional means of coercion of the suspect to obtain information and new ways of receiving a false confession. In the section of findings of the study, the authors denote that there is a need to use the “right protocols” in the interview process by a detective, asking “unexpected questions” and employ a “forced turn taking” that can yield better results in eliciting truth (940). Identifying the method is essential and provides a basis for change in tactics into an intelligence-based one. This approach reduces a possibility of wrongful convictions. The objective is not only to obtain confessions of the suspects but also connect the pieces of evidence based on the stories of all the persons involved in the case before determining the main suspect. The authors of the study further suggest using three effective psychological methods that include “collective interviews, undercover questioning, and telling lies to the suspect” (Vrij and Par 936).
Instead of forcing a suspect to make potentially false statement, the police should employ the achievements of psychology. It is recommended to avoid manipulative statements that can affect the genuineness of the answer but asking many questions about every detail to find the truth (Larkins). Even polygraphs can fail and that only “psychological techniques which incorporated the interviewee's memory yielded the best results” (Larkins).
Seeking Genuine Statements by Means of Psychology
The accuracy of collecting evidence through scientific measures influences the level of confidence during interrogation of the subject. However, scientific approaches such as polygraphs can fail to detect a lie if the brain imaging of the person under interrogation malfunctions or involves any other erroneous activity, for instance (Larkins). In addition, if the results of polygraph unfavorable, they can be used by police officers to accuse a suspect of lying and obtain a confession (Gudjonsson 11). The process affects the attitudes of police towards the person they are interviewing as they base their conclusions exclusively on evidence of the forensic science. Because of the increased false confession realization, sociologists, psychologists and legal practitioners are examining factors that may cause innocent people to confess in crimes they never committed. It is, thus, important to note that confessions can be a reliable and supreme source of evidence to bring a verdict but they must be truthful, reasonable and supplemented by other evidence. Given that, only correct psychological methods should be used to obtain that statement. Gudjonsson also recommends conducting “post-confession interviews” to avoid evidence gaps (12).
There were many cases when overreliance on confession led to wrong imprisonment. Jackman in his article refers to a writer Trainum who describes a case of Danial Williams, a nan who was erroneously charged with a murder despite obvious discrepancies because of confession. He narrates about an event that took place in 1997 when Bill Bosko found his wife murdered in their bedroom upon returning home, Norfolk, Virginia. Bosko’s neighbor, Danial Williams was then interrogated a few hours later and after eight hours of interrogation, he confessed to have raped and murdered a woman. Five months since, the Norfork police having evaluated the evidence were convinced that Danial did not act alone and interrogated Danial’s roommate, Dick, who confessed as well. Later Dick appealed and worked with a team of lawyers. In 2005, he filed a petition asking Virginia governor for clemency based on a new physical evidence and in August 2009, Dick and other men were pardoned unconditionally “but forced to be on parole” for the next 20 years (Jackman). The DNA evidence ruled out the false confessions by Dick but did not prevent the possibility of deception or circumstantial evidence that could force an individual to undergo injustice because of the police wrong cues and perceptions of the crime scene. In this respect, it is critical to determine some of the ways to identify the suspect and collect prior information before an interrogation.
It is also essential to employ correct psychological methods while interrogating. Manuals for police officers are usually focused on forceful persuasive approach and manipulation. As Gudjonsson states in the book, “there is a general reluctance among the authors of police interrogation manuals to accept the possibility that their recommended techniques could…make a suspect confess to a crime that he or she had not committed” (9). Hence, police officers should avoid such harmful psychological methods as trickery, deceit, and obtrusiveness.
Psychological Technique Perspective
Most scholars have advocated for use of psychological methods such leading questioning, using certain facial expressions as the effective interrogation tactics that police can employ to get a truthful confession. Psychology provides insights into how truth can be distinguished from lie. In article by Carey, it is mentioned that “people telling the truth tend to add 20 to 30 percent more external detail than do those who are lying” as people’s memory operates on the principle of association (Carey par. 5). Thus, police officers while interrogating should pay attention to the way the suspects give their testimonies and ask them more questions about details relating to the case.
Moreover, psychological methods can be borrowed from other fields and simply learnt by police. One of these methods is a recourse to a chat talk and is known as Scharff technique. As argued by Vrij and Pär, this method brought impressive results by obtaining valuable information from an American and British pilots who discussed the issue in a friendly manner with a German interrogator Joachim Scharff without knowing that they provided an important data (936).
Conclusion
The research proves that psychological methods should be constantly used by police to obtain reliable statements. Coercive tactics is ineffective as it often produces false confessions that are not further analyzed. Through adopting intelligence-based psychological approaches such as undercover questioning, a detail-oriented interrogation and “chat talk” technique can elicit truth which when compiled with other evidence can lead to a right judicial decision. The study is, therefore, crucial not only for identifying the techniques to be employed by interrogation officers but also reasons of wrong convictions. Given that, it should be noted that only correct psychological methods that pursue establishing facts rather than manipulation can be used during proceedings and they must be supported with relevant material evidence. Although confession alone, despite being an important piece of proof, cannot suffice, it should be genuine. Therefore, as appropriate psychological techniques enhance the chances of obtaining truthful confession, they must be used by police on a regular basis. Other advantages of these approaches include effectiveness of interrogation process and easiness of learning. However, subtle peculiarities of psychological approach must not be confused with coercive persuasion, manipulation and other variants of harsh psychology that can only have adverse implications for justice.
Annotated bibliography
Scholarly Journals
Vrij, Aldert, and Pär Anders Granhag. "Eliciting Information And Detecting Lies In Intelligence Interviewing: An Overview Of Recent Research." Applied Cognitive Psychology 28.6 (2014): 936-944. Web. 7 Feb. 2018.
The research in this article entails a review of the traditional approaches in intelligent-led interviews between the police and suspects, as well as new research-based methods to distinguish lies from truths. The authors differentiate between conventional means of coercion of the suspect to obtain information and reviews research into new cues that police officers use during interviews to assess deceit. In particular, there are three methods under review, which include collective interviews, undercover questioning, and telling lies to the suspect (936). In the findings of the study, the authors denote that there is need to use the “right protocols” in the interview process by a detective, asking “unexpected questions” and the introduction of a “forced turn taking” can yield better results in eliciting truth (936). Further, in comparison with the traditional methods used by force, the technique of Scharff is more intelligence-based and effective in identifying false statements by a suspect recording.
The article is critical to the current research since it identifies some of the methods used by intelligence officers to obtain information from criminals in the interview process and how new study contributes to the development of new approaches. In this regard, it assists in discussing the methods and the tactics used by the interviewers to determine the truth and the lies in confessions. Application of the findings regarding the Scharff techniques will help in the assessment of characteristics of an appropriate protocol in asking questions that are intelligence-led rather than a plea of guilt from the client that significantly influences the outcome of a trial.
Appleby, Sara C., Lisa E. Hasel, and Saul M. Kassin. "Police-Induced Confessions: An Empirical Analysis Of Their Content And Impact." Psychology, Crime " Law 19.2 (2013): 111-128. Web. 7 Feb. 2018.
The study contributes to the article by Vrij and Pär as it narrows downs to focus on a sample of twelve false confessions obtained by the police. The objectives include determining the content in statements which form the basis for identifying a lie from a suspect and testing the variables of a mock jury to evaluate the impact of their decisions based on the information provided. Also, Appleby et al. (111) sought to find the impact extent of the variables of falsification in a confession on the weight of the verdict delivered in the courts. The scenario involves evidence presented before a judge is contradictory and the admission by a suspect is instrumental to the pronouncement of the judge in the case. The findings (which are essential to the study to be carried out) are split in two studies where the first one includes a qualitative analysis of the content of the false confessions induced by the police. The inference is that when the confessors include their "thoughts, feelings, or motives" in the process of committing the crime or afterward, then the judges and jurists are likely to believe the statement. A variation of the variables in the second experimental research involving a mock jury, the absence of the crime details could not be convincing to the participants. Therefore, when police obtain elaborate confessions containing feelings and in-depth description of the criminal activity increases the confidence of the guilty verdicts and offers firm conviction.
In this manner, the study is instrumental in determining specific indicators of lies in confessions and the impact on the outcome of the ruling. Further, it offers an insight into more research in deciding tactics of obtaining information by police to indict a suspect for an offense without affecting truthful statement.
Book
Gudjonsson, Gisli H. The Psychology Of Interrogations And Confessions: A Handbook. England: Wiley, 2003. Print.
The book provides an in-depth description and analysis of the interrogation techniques that police especially in Britain use in comparison to other states such as the US and Norway, as well as the theoretical and psychological assessments of these methods. Chapter 5 to 7 entails “theories, empirical evidence, and compromise of justice based on false confessions” which indicate the reasons and inhibiting factors for the police to obtain truths. Chapter 8 and 9 are critical in providing an in-depth analysis of false confessions and the psychological assumptions behind the behavior of suspects. Lastly, section 22 and 23 illustrate some of the case file examples involving false confessions obtained by the police and the impact of the ruling delivered on the suspects.
The chapters sampled are very critical to the research to be undertaken since thy address the techniques directly and the psychological perspective behind the methods used by the police to obtain the information. Through the evaluation of the approaches, understanding the mind of a criminal and being able to distinguish through the help of psychology significantly improves the quality and confidence of the case process. However, using false statements through tactics can also lead to the miscarriage of justice which can lead to a wrongful sentence of suspects or impose heavy punishments unfairly. Therefore, through the book's contributions, the research will discern the pitfalls of distinguishing and obtaining confessions that reflect the crime and reasons behind its occurrence. Besides, the cases file given in the later chapters, and the comparison of regional approaches to admissions help in widening the scope of the future research and gathering of empirical evidence in the quantitative assessments. Mind reading psychology can be utilized to predict innocence and guilt behavior of the suspect and gauge it along existing empirical work. The ability of an interviewer to detect deception from a witness, alleged victims, and suspects is essential in the legal procedures of determining occurrence of a crime, possible charges, and the persons accountable. The authors use the framework to design a framework that can, therefore, improve the intelligence of the officers conducting interrogations with the aim of getting a confession during an interrogation from the suspect and other people or organizations of interest of a crime under investigation. Also, the police can use the skills of mind reading as a tool and interview tactic to discern truth from false statements as a way to avoid wrongful convictions.
Newspapers/Magazines
Jackman, Tom. "Homicide Detective’S Book Describes ‘How The Police Generate False Confessions’." Washington Post. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Feb. 2018.
The article by the author indicates the way through which police coerce suspects into admitting of committing a crime leading to wrongful convictions. The book is by a retired detective who recounts some of the experiences and cases where suspect confessed of a crime they never committed and how the justice system fixes the situation through dropping of charges in the circumstances such as the evidence indicates another person committed the crime. Some of the lies by the police officers also contribute to the false confessions based on the deceptiveness of the police such as lesser punishment if one admits to the charges. The author suggests that in most cases, “the jury and police prioritize confessions when making decisions” on the occurrence of the crime and suspect involvement. Lastly, the article cites the P.E.A.C.E. program used by the British investigators which aim at eliciting a truth rather than forcing the suspects into telling lies and avoiding compromise of the justice system of pronouncing a judgment based on facts.
Therefore the article provides a critical review of some of the techniques used by police to obtain confession based on the book of Trainum which end up generating false confessions. In the future research, identifying the method is essential and provides ground for change of tactics that are intelligence-based in obtaining truths rather than coercing information out of a suspect to admit a crime without an implication of wrongful convictions. Additionally, the introduction of the P.E.A.C.E. program offers new information for further research on its effectiveness in obtaining truth as applied in interrogation and its application to other parts of the word. In this regard, the results of instrumental mind reading can be applied in interview and thus allow interviewers to detect deception. The study and framework can be instrumental to the research to be conducted by identifying some of the approaches from a psychological point of view that can elicit truths. The objective is not only to obtain confessions of the suspects but also connecting the pieces of evidence based on the stories of all the persons involved in the case before determination of a viable confession to present in court for consideration in administration of justice.
Carey, Benedict. "Judging Honesty By Words, Not Fidgets." Nytimes.com. N.p., 2009. Web. 8 Feb. 2018.
The article entails a discussion of the traditional and recent approaches that the police use in identification of potential suspects for seeking confessions to a crime and ways to avoid false statements passing as truths. In the past, most of the police officers send statements by witnesses to obtaining leading intelligence to the suspect who could be then forced to a confession by use of aggressive techniques to provoke the suspect. However, the recent dependence on “forensic science evidence and casual interview” not only lead to a specific suspect but also contribute to analyzing information provided by the suspect to determine truths. The new measures, therefore, help to avoid arrest of people who through circumstantial evidence can lead to wrongful convictions and admission into the confession of crimes never committed by the individuals. Also, in some instances, obtaining accounts of suspects without restricting their narrations can be able to correct brain imaging machine mistakes such as in the case a polygraph does not detect a lie from the person under interrogation.
In this respect, the article is critical in identifying some of the ways placing an individual under the suspect status of a crime. Also, it implies that there is a connection in the choice of a suspect to the confessions obtained and produced by police as evidence of a report. Further, the selection of the suspect also determines the techniques to use in interrogation to receive information or force admissions to crime involvement without precedence of truths as to whether the person is telling the truth or not. Therefore, making this connection can contribute significantly to the future research based on the information.
Website
Larkins, Damien. "Art Of Interrogation: Psychology Shines Light On Truth In Investigations." ABC News. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Feb. 2018.
The article involves narrating an interview based on an experienced detective on new efficient ways of obtaining an honest confession from the suspect. Larkins identifies methods of coercing admissions from the suspects such as “torture, aggressive questioning, and bright spotlights to break a suspect down” as ineffective in determining deception. Instead, today, the police use ingenuity, creativity and psychological science to obtain, classify and verify information before the presentation of the confession. The author focuses on three primary areas during the interview which includes the children susceptible to suggestions by detectives, deception during torture, and application of psychology skills in determining truth from a person under interrogation. In this respect, Larkins makes three critical findings in which the first one agitates that it is useful when police officers are questioning individual collect information before interrogation of the person and details of the crime to guide the process. Secondly, some individuals can tell lies and admit to confessions for fear of harsh punishment, being victims of provocative lies, avoid the pain, or protect their loved ones from undergoing suffering. Lastly, psychology science can improve interview tactics of discerning telling of lies based on the statement of individuals, their responses, as well as actions.
In this respect, the article is crucial in indicating the changes to the interrogation processes and tactics by the police overtime in obtaining confessions from suspects. Though from the author and the detective interviewed, the insights provided by Larkins contribute to the identification of pitfalls for generating false confessions and the significance of scientific methods based on psychology to determine truth on the information obtained by the police during questioning. In this respect, the paper will be used to show some of the applicable facial expression to determine false statements from a suspect. Also, through the suggestion of in-depth questioning of the subject when showing signs of deceit, the aggression by police officer can lead to the generation of false statement leading to wrongful convictions. The suggestions by the authors are critical in discussing some of the misinterpretations and techniques of reading facial expressions and behavior of the suspect as indicators of truthful and false statements, as well as the connection the nature of the confession. Lastly, using the evidences of the method in previous case files, the future research will entail the analysis of the effectiveness of the approach in seeking information from a disinterested person during an interrogation without bias of the interrogator.
Works Cited
Appleby, Sara C., Lisa E. Hasel, and Saul M. Kassin. "Police-Induced Confessions: An Empirical Analysis Of Their Content And Impact." Psychology, Crime " Law 19.2 (2013): 111-128. Web. 7 Feb. 2018.
Carey, Benedict. "Judging Honesty By Words, Not Fidgets." Nytimes.com. N.p., 2009. Web. 8 Feb. 2018.
Gudjonsson, Gisli H. The Psychology Of Interrogations And Confessions: A Handbook. England: Wiley, 2003. Print.
Jackman, Tom. "Homicide Detective’S Book Describes ‘How The Police Generate False Confessions’." Washington Post. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Feb. 2018.
Larkins, Damien. "Art Of Interrogation: Psychology Shines Light On Truth In Investigations." ABC News. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Feb. 2018.
Vrij, Aldert, and Pär Anders Granhag. "Eliciting Information And Detecting Lies In Intelligence Interviewing: An Overview Of Recent Research." Applied Cognitive Psychology 28.6 (2014): 936-944. Web. 7 Feb. 2018.
