Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:27:48.408Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

11 - The Psychology of Confession Decision-Making During Police Interrogation

from Part II - Pretrial Phase Decision-Making

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2024

By
Stephanie Madon ,
Patricia A. Ferreira ,
Alexandria Goldstein  and
Ryan Ditchfield
Edited by
Monica K. Miller ,
Logan A. Yelderman ,
Matthew T. Huss  and
Jason A. Cantone
Monica K. Miller
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Reno
Logan A. Yelderman
Affiliation:
Prairie View A & M University, Texas
Matthew T. Huss
Affiliation:
Creighton University, Omaha
Jason A. Cantone
Affiliation:
George Mason University, Virginia
Get access

Summary

A criminal confession typically ends in conviction, raising a critically important question: Why do suspects decide to confess to their guilt against their own self-interests? The authors of this chapter answer this question by reviewing a large body of theoretical and empirical research related to decision-making involving confessions. Major topics covered include the distinction between different types of confessions, the Reid technique, Miranda waiver decisions, psychological and dispositional vulnerabilities that encourage a confession decision, and interrogation reforms and their impact on confessions and interrogations. The core message of the chapter is that the dominant method of police interrogation used in North America relies on well-established social influence tactics that cause suspects to perceive a confession as a rational decision under the circumstances. The authors examine research involving these tactics and their effects on interrogations and confessions, along with laws and policies that regulate interviews and interrogations of suspects in custody.

Keywords

confessionpolice interrogationReid techniquebehavior analysis interviewMirandapsychological and dispositional vulnerabilitiesinterrogation reform
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Legal Decision-Making , pp. 159 - 177
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.Google Scholar
Appleby, S., Hasel, L., & Kassin, S. (2011). Police-induced confessions: An empirical analysis of their content and impact. Psychology, Crime, and Law, 19(2), 111–128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2011.613389.Google Scholar
Appleby, S. C., Perillo, J. T., Wright, J. A., & Rinberger, T. M. (2018). Impoverished cognition: Effects of poverty on confessions decisions. Paper presented at the American Psychology-Law Society Annual Meeting, Memphis, TN.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1252–1265. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252.Google Scholar
Björkman, M. (1984). Decision making, risk taking and psychological time: Review of empirical findings and psychological theory. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 25(1), 31–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.1984.tb00999.x.Google Scholar
Bond, C. F. Jr., & DePaulo, B. M. (2006). Accuracy of deception judgments. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(3), 214–234.Google Scholar
Brimbal, L., Meissner, C. A., Kleinman, S. M., et al. (2021). Evaluating the benefits of a rapport-based approach to investigative interviews: A training study with law enforcement investigators. Law and Human Behavior, 45(1), 55–67. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000437.Google Scholar
Cassell, P. G., & Hayman, B. S. (1996). Police interrogation in the 1990s: An empirical study of the effects of Miranda. UCLA Law Review, 43, 839–931.Google Scholar
CBS News. (2017). Robert Springsteen interrogation. www.cbsnews.com/video/robert-springsteen-interrogation/.Google Scholar
Chokshi, N. (2018). False confessions, mistaken witnesses, corrupt investigators: Why 139 innocent people went to jail. www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/us/convict-exonerations-2017.html.Google Scholar
Costanzo, M. & Krauss, D. (2012). Forensic and legal psychology: Psychological science applied to law. Worth Publishers.Google Scholar
Drizin, S. A., & Leo, R. A. (2004). The problem of false confessions in the post-DNA world. North Carolina Law Review, 82, 891–1007.Google Scholar
Feld, B. C. (2014). Cops and kids in the interrogation room. In Bull, R. (Ed.), Investigative interviewing (pp. 35–61). Springer Science: Business Media. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9642-7_3.Google Scholar
Forrest, K. D., Wadkins, T. A., & Larson, B. A. (2006). Suspect personality, police interrogations, and false confessions: Maybe it is not just the situation. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(3), 621–628. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PAID.2005.09.002.Google Scholar
Friese, M., Loschelder, D. D., Gieseler, K., Frankenbach, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2019). Is ego depletion real? An analysis of arguments. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 23(2), 107–131. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1088868318762183.Google Scholar
Gernsbacher, M. A. (1985). Surface information loss in comprehension. Cognitive Psychology, 17(3), 324–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(85)90012-X.Google Scholar
Gross, S. R., Jacoby, K., Matheson, D. J., & Montgomery, N. (2005). Exonerations in the United States 1989 through 2003. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 95(2), 523–560.Google Scholar
Gudjonsson, G. H. (2018). The psychology of false confessions: Forty years of science and practice. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119315636.Google Scholar
Gudjonsson, G. H., & Clark, N. K. (1986). Suggestibility in police interrogation: A social psychological model. Social Behavior, 1(2), 83–104.Google Scholar
Guyll, M., Madon, S., Yang, Y., et al. (2013). Innocence and resisting confession during interrogation: Effects on physiologic activity. Law and Human Behavior, 37(5), 366–375. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000044.Google Scholar
Guyll, M., Yang, Y., Madon, S., Smalarz, L., & Lannin, D. G. (2019). Mobilization and resistance in response to interrogation threat. Law and Human Behavior, 43(4), 307–318. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000337.Google Scholar
Hartwig, M., Anders Granhag, P., & Strömwall, L. A. (2007). Guilty and innocent suspects’ strategies during police interrogations. Psychology, Crime & Law, 13(2), 213–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/10683160600750264.Google Scholar
Hawai’i v. Baker, 146 Hawai’i 299, 463 P.3d 956 (2020).Google Scholar
Horvath, F., Jayne, B., & Buckley, J. (1992). Trained evaluators’ judgments of behavioral characteristics of truthful and deceptive criminal suspects during structured interviews. Report submitted to the US Department of Defense, National Security Agency (Grant #MDA904-90-C-1164).Google Scholar
Inbau, F. E., Reid, J. E., Buckley, J. P., & Jayne, B. C. (2013). Criminal interrogation and confessions (5th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.Google Scholar
Innocence Project (2016, October). Must-see wrongful conviction films and TV shows. https://innocenceproject.org/wrongful-conviction-media/.Google Scholar
Innocence Project (2020, August). Remembering exoneree Richard Lapointe, who died from COVID-19. https://innocenceproject.org/exoneree-richard-lapointe-died-covid19-coronavirus-wrongful-conviction/.Google Scholar
Innocence Project (2021a). All cases. https://innocenceproject.org/all-cases/.Google Scholar
Innocence Project (2021b). DNA exonerations in the United States. https://innocenceproject.org/dna-exonerations-in-the-united-states/.Google Scholar
Innocence Project (2021c). False confessions. https://innocenceproject.org/false-confessions-recording-interrogations/.Google Scholar
John E. Reid & Associates, Inc. (2010, May). What is the PEACE model for interviewing? https://reid.com/resources/whats-new/2010-what-is-the-peace-model-for-interviewing.Google Scholar
John E. Reid & Associates, Inc. (2017, January). The Reid technique: A position paper. http://archive.reid.com/newmedia/The%20Reid%20Technique%20A%20Position%20Paper%20Jan%202017.pdf.Google Scholar
Kassin, S. M. (2005). On the psychology of confessions: Does innocence put innocents at risk? American Psychologist, 60(3), 215–228. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0003-066X.60.3.215.Google Scholar
Kassin, S. M. (2021, January). It’s time for police to stop lying to suspects. Innocent people are in jail because police tricked them. www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/opinion/false-confessions-police-interrogation.html.Google Scholar
Kassin, S. M., Leo, R. A., Meissner, C. A., et al. (2007). Police interviewing and interrogation: A self-report survey of police practices and beliefs. Law and Human Behavior, 31(4), 381–400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-006-9073-5.Google Scholar
Kassin, S. M., Drizin, S. A., Grisso, T., et al. (2010). Police-induced confessions: Risk factors and recommendations. Law and Human Behavior, 34(1) 3–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-009-9188-6.Google Scholar
Kassin, S. M., & Gudjonsson, G. H. (2004). The psychology of confessions: A review of the literature and issues. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5, 33–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-1006.2004.00016.x.Google Scholar
Kassin, S. M., & McNall, K. (1991). Police interrogations and confessions: Communicating promises and threats by pragmatic implication. Law and Human Behavior, 15(3), 233–251. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01061711.Google Scholar
Kassin, S. M., & Norwick, R. J. (2004). Why people waive their Miranda rights: The power of innocence. Law and Human Behavior, 28(2), 211–221. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:LAHU.0000022323.74584.f5.Google Scholar
Kassin, S. M., & Wrightsman, L. S. (1985). Confession evidence. In Kassin, S. & Wrightsman, L. (Eds.), The psychology of evidence and trial procedure (pp. 67–94). Sage Books.Google Scholar
Keedy, E. R. (1937). Third degree and legal interrogation of suspects. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 85(8), 761–777.Google Scholar
Lassiter, G. D., & Irvine, A. A. (1986). Videotaped confessions: The impact of camera point of view on judgments of coercion. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16(3), 268–276. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1986.tb01139.x.Google Scholar
Leo, R. A. (1996). Miranda’s revenge: Police interrogation as a confidence game. Law & Society Review, 30(2), 259–288. https://doi.org/10.2307/3053960Google Scholar
Leo, R. A. (2001). Questioning the relevance of Miranda in the twenty-first century. Michigan Law Review, 99(5), 1000–1029.Google Scholar
Leo, R. A. (2008). Police interrogation and American justice. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Leo, R. A. (2009). False confessions: Causes, consequences, and implications. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 37(3), 332–343.Google Scholar
Madon, S., Guyll, M., Scherr, K., Greathouse, S., & Wells, G. (2012). Temporal discounting: The differential effect of proximal and distal consequences on confession decisions. Law and Human Behavior, 36(1)13–20. http://doi.org/10.1037/h0093962.Google Scholar
Madon, S., Guyll, M., Yang, Y., et al. (2017). A biphasic process of resistance among suspects: The mobilization and decline of self-regulatory resources. Law and Human Behavior, 41(2), 159–172. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000221.Google Scholar
Madon, S., Yang, Y., Smalarz, L., Guyll, M., & Scherr, K. C. (2013). How factors present during the immediate interrogation situation produce short-sighted confession decisions. Law and Human Behavior, 37(1), 60–74. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000011.Google Scholar
Malloy, L. C., Shulman, E. P., & Cauffman, E. (2014). Interrogations, confessions, and guilty pleas among serious adolescent offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 38(2), 181–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000065.Google Scholar
Manitowoc County/Calumet Sheriff. (2006). Calumet county sheriff’s department. www.stevenaverycase.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Brendan-Dassey-Interview-Transcript-2006May13_text.pdf.Google Scholar
Marinette County. (2007). Interview of Brendan Dassey by Marinette county detectives. www.stevenaverycase.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Brendan-Dassey-Interview-Transcript-2005Nov06.pdf.Google Scholar
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 US 436 (Supreme Court 1966).Google Scholar
Nirider, L. H. (2017, August). Brendan Dassey: A true story of a false confession. Keynote address presented at the annual conference of the Minnesota Criminal Justice Institute, Minneapolis, MN.Google Scholar
North Carolina v. Butler, 441 US 369 (Supreme Court 1979).Google Scholar
Ofshe, R. J., & Leo, R. A. (1997). The social psychology of police interrogation: The theory and classification of true and false confessions. Studies in Law, Politics, & Society, 16, 187–251.Google Scholar
Ofshe, R. J., & Leo, R. A. (2021). The decision to confess falsely: Rational choice and irrational action. Denver Law Review, 74(4), 979–1122.Google Scholar
Pimentel, P. S., Arndorfer, A., & Malloy, L. C. (2015). Taking the blame for someone else’s wrongdoing: The effects of age and reciprocity. Law and Human Behavior, 39(3), 219–231. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000132.Google Scholar
Possley, M. (2016). Robert Springsteen: Other Texas murder cases with DNA. www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3658.Google Scholar
Redlich, A. D., & Goodman, G. S. (2003). Taking responsibility for an act not committed: The influence of age and suggestibility. Law and Human Behavior, 27(2), 141–156.Google Scholar
Redlich, A. D., Summers, A., & Hoover, S. (2010). Self-reported false confessions and false guilty pleas among offenders with mental illness. Law and Human Behavior, 34(1), 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-009-9194-8.Google Scholar
Rogers, R., Rogstad, J., Gillard, N., et al. (2010). “Everyone knows their Miranda rights”: Implicit assumptions and countervailing evidence. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 16(3), 300–318. http://doi.org/10.1037/a0019316.Google Scholar
Russano, M. B., Meissner, C. A., Narchet, F. M., & Kassin, S. M. (2005). Investigating true and false confessions within a novel experimental paradigm. Psychological Science, 16(6), 481–486.Google Scholar
Schatz, S. J. (2018). Interrogated with intellectual disabilities: The risks of false confession. Stanford Law Review, 70(2), 643–690.Google Scholar
Scherr, K. C., & Madon, S. (2012). You have the right to understand: The deleterious effect of stress on suspects’ ability to comprehend Miranda. Law and Human Behavior, 36(4), 275–282. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0093972.Google Scholar
Scherr, K. C., Miller, J. C., & Kassin, S. M. (2014). “Midnight confessions”: The effect of chronotype asynchrony on admissions of wrongdoing. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 36(4), 321–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2014.917974.Google Scholar
Sigurdsson, J. F., & Gudjonsson, G. H. (1996). The psychological characteristics of “false confessors.” A study among Icelandic prison inmates and juvenile offenders. Personality and Individual Differences, 20(3), 321–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(95)00184-0.Google Scholar
Sigurdsson, J. F., Gudjonsson, G. H., Einarsson, E., & Gudjonsson, G. (2006). Differences in personality and mental state between suspects and witnesses immediately after being interviewed by the police. Psychology, Crime & Law, 12(6), 619–628. https://doi.org/10.1080/10683160500337808.Google Scholar
Starr, D. (2013). The interview: Do police interrogation techniques produce false confessions? www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/09/the-interview-7.Google Scholar
Steinberg, L. (2007). Risk taking in adolescence: New perspectives from brain and behavioral science. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16(2), 55–59. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1467-8721.2007.00475.x.Google Scholar
Smith, J. (2009). The never-ending (crime) story: Although their case has hit a dead end, prosecutors of the yogurt shop murders say they’re determined to find the ‘unknown suspect’ – and to retry Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen. The Austin Chronicle. www.austinchronicle.com/news/2009-07-17/810486/.Google Scholar
Vrij, A. (2008). Detecting lies and deceit: Pitfalls and opportunities (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Google Scholar
Wagner, M. (2015). Milwaukee dad who took blame for hit-and-run to protect culprit son will be released from prison. www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/milwaukee-dad-confessed-son-hit-and-run-free-article-1.2306447.Google Scholar
Warden, R., & Drizin, S. A. (2009). True stories of false confessions. Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates. (2016). Goodbye confrontation, hello truth. www.w-z.com/.Google Scholar
Willard, J., Guyll, M., Madon, S., & Allen, J. E. (2016). Relationship closeness and self‐reported willingness to falsely take the blame. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 34(6), 767–783. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2270.Google Scholar
Willard, J., Madon, S., & Curran, T. (2015). Taking blame for other people’s misconduct. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 33(6), 771–783. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2164.Google Scholar
Yang, Y., Madon, S., & Guyll, M. (2015). Short-sighted confession decisions: The role of uncertain and delayed consequences. Law and Human Behavior, 39(1), 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000100.Google Scholar
Yang, Y., Moody, S. A., Cabell, J. J., & Madon, S. (2019). Why suspects confess: The power of outcome certainty. Law and Human Behavior, 43(5), 468–476. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000350.Google Scholar
Yang, Y., Madon, S., Cabell, J., Kruger, & Guyll, M. (2023). The effect of a presumption of guilt on police guilt judgments. Psychology, Crime & Law. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2023.2279337.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×