False Confessions

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saul M. Kassin
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
False Confessions ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Wrongful Convictions ◽  
Innocent People ◽  
Confession Evidence ◽  
Extensive Body ◽  
Shed Light

In recent years, DNA exoneration cases have shed light on the problem of false confessions and the wrongful convictions that result. Drawing on basic psychological principles and methods, an extensive body of research has focused on the psychology of confessions. This article describes the processes of interrogation by which police assess whether a suspect is lying or telling the truth and the techniques used to elicit confessions from those deemed deceptive. The problem of false confessions emphasizes personal and situational factors that put innocent people at risk in the interrogation room. Turning from the causes of false confessions to their consequences, research shows that confession evidence can bias juries, judges, lay witnesses, and forensic examiners. Finally, empirically based proposals for the reform of policy and practice include a call for the mandatory video recording of interrogations, blind testing in forensic crime labs, and use of confession experts in court.

Do Video Recordings Help Jurors Recognize Coercive Influences in Interrogations?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Blandón-Gitlin ◽  
Amelia Mindthoff
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Expert Testimony ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
False Confessions ◽  
Jury Decision Making ◽  
Wrongful Convictions ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Confession Evidence ◽  
Jury Decision ◽  
Proper Interpretation

In recognition of the role that false confessions play in wrongful convictions, it is recommended that criminal interrogations be video recorded from beginning to end to document the process by which suspects decide to confess. With a full video recording, it is assumed that jurors can see for themselves whether the defendant was coerced to confess to a crime he or she did not commit. Yet research suggests that video recording may in fact induce bias in interpretations of coercion and confession reliability, as factors like camera angles and close-ups can make confession evidence too vivid and persuasive. Without proper interpretation, even seemingly neutral recordings may unduly influence jurors’ decisions about confessions. This chapter reviews the literature on the usefulness of video-recorded interrogations in assisting jury decision-making, as well as the potential for procedural safeguards (e.g., expert testimony) to improve jurors’ understanding of the issues at hand.

scholarly journals The Truth Project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Matthew Markowitz ◽  
Kate Blackburn ◽  
Keya Saxena ◽  
Jade Marion ◽  
Omar Olivarez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Constitution ◽  
False Confessions ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Wrongful Convictions ◽  
Innocent People ◽  
The Right

The United States Constitution grants Americans the “right to a speedy and public trial,” with an assumption that the trial is impartial and fair. Recent data suggest a nontrivial number of cases fail to meet this standard. During interrogations, suspects can be presented with false evidence, long interrogations can undermine a suspect’s cognitive ability, and minimization tactics often mislead suspects into believing justice is on their side. These dynamics facilitate false confessions and wrongful convictions, which are common in the United States and globally. We argue that the current approaches to understand and predict innocence in legal cases are insufficient and interdisciplinary research is required to prevent innocent people from going to jail. In this review, we cover research on wrongful convictions and false confessions, ending with The Truth Project (www.truth-project.io), a new global framework to connect scholars and facilitate research into behavioral patterns of innocence.

The Truth Project

2021 ◽  
pp. 0261927X2110678
Author(s):  
David M. Markowitz ◽  
Kate G. Blackburn ◽  
Keya Saxena ◽  
Jade Marion ◽  
Omar Olivarez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Constitution ◽  
False Confessions ◽  
Legal Cases ◽  
Wrongful Convictions ◽  
Innocent People ◽  
The Right

The United States Constitution grants Americans the “right to a speedy and public trial,” with an assumption that the trial is impartial and fair. Recent data suggest a nontrivial number of cases fail to meet this standard. During interrogations, suspects can be presented with false evidence, long interrogations can undermine a suspect’s cognitive ability, and minimization tactics often mislead suspects into believing justice is on their side. These dynamics facilitate false confessions and wrongful convictions, which are common in the United States and globally. We argue the current approaches to understand and predict innocence in legal cases are insufficient and interdisciplinary research is required to prevent innocent people from going to jail. In this review, we cover research on wrongful convictions and false confessions, ending with The Truth Project ( www.truth-project.io ), a new global framework to connect scholars and facilitate research into behavioral patterns of innocence.

scholarly journals Perceptions of emotional abuse in the coach–athlete relationship in youth sport: The influence of competitive level and outcome

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 772-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Misia Gervis ◽  
Daniel Rhind ◽  
Amber Luzar
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
Youth Sport ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Point Scale ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Performance Outcome ◽  
Abusive Behaviour ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Main Effects

Emotional abuse has been highlighted as a key issue within the youth sport context. The present study investigated how perceptions of emotional abuse are influenced by situational factors. Two hundred and eight participants (107 athletes and 101 coaches) were shown a series of vignettes depicting emotionally abusive behaviour by a coach towards a 14-year-old athlete. Differences in perceptions were explored in relation to the level of competition (elite, county and club) and performance outcome (successful/unsuccessful) depicted in the vignette. Participants rated each vignette on a 5-point scale in terms of the extent to which the coach’s behaviour had an impact on the athlete’s performance and well-being as well as the perceived commonality and acceptability of the behaviour. Two-way ANOVAs revealed that competitive level and performance outcome, both as main effects and as an interaction, significantly influenced perceptions. These findings can inform policy and practice to change attitudes and behaviours which support and justify emotionally abusive behaviours in youth sport contexts.

Dynamic Political Interest: How Personality Differences and the Political Environment Shape Political Interest

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Erik Gahner Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Situational Factors ◽  
Political Interest ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Unexpected Events ◽  
Personality Differences ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Democratic Engagement ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Shed Light

Abstract In order to explain differences in political interest, two strands of literature point to the relevance of either dispositional or situational factors. I remedy this and show how political interest is shaped by the interplay between personality differences and the political environment. Specifically, I demonstrate that people with a stable motivation for engaging with new ideas are more interested in politics when exposed to new political events, e.g. during election campaigns and when unexpected events unfold. The results have implications for our understanding of political inequalities in democratic engagement and shed light on how citizens' interest in politics can be relatively stable over time as well as responsive to the political environment in predictable ways.

Assumption, the mother of all foul ups: a fundamental reason for the continuing abuse of adults at risk

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 129-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Moore
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Partial Explanation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Fundamental Reason ◽  
English Society ◽  
Vulnerable Adults ◽  
Lay Public ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of the assumption of altruism argued by the author to be a tendency among both the lay public, professionals and politicians, a generalised assumption that contributes to the long standing and obstinate presence of abuse of adults who are at risk throughout England, particularly older people living in care and nursing homes. Design/methodology/approach By examining available figures that depict the continuing abuse of vulnerable adults, and by drawing on research, the author offers a partial explanation for the longevity of abuse in English society. Findings The paper demonstrates how the concept of the assumption of altruism can explain to a degree the apparent enduring levels of abuse of adults who are at risk. Practical implications The paper offers the opportunity for the reader to consider some of the fundamental, higher order reasons for the persistent levels of abuse in England, abuse that endures despite the oversight by government of care provided to adults who maybe at risk by virtue of the activities of the statutory regulator and health and social care commissioners. Originality/value By presenting the incontrovertible evidence of enduring abuse, the paper introduces the concept of the assumption of altruism as a partial explanation for its continuing occurrence despite decades of policy and practice guidance designed to overcome it.

scholarly journals Reflexive Engine to Lock the System for Driving While Intoxicated – Simulation by Using LabVIEW

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (13) ◽  
pp. 132
Author(s):  
Kammara Bharath Kumar ◽  
Ch Sudha Mani ◽  
Mohd Abdul Naqi ◽  
S Mallesh Narayana
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Limit Set ◽  
Road Accidents ◽  
Driving While Intoxicated ◽  
Innocent People ◽  
Breath Analyzer ◽  
Drunken Driving

<p><strong>Drunken driving is a major issue due to which many road accidents are occurring. To overcome this many researches are going on and we also tried to develop a reflexive engine locking system In this paper we have developed a system through which when a person tries to drive by consuming alcohol will experience a automatic engine lock. By implementing this we can save lives of passengers as well as pedestrians and other people too. Today situation is worsening like for every thirty minutes accidents are happening and taking lives of many innocent people. To avoid this we are trying to implement a prototype for alcohol detection for drunk and drive. Based on threshold set, alcohol breath analyzer sense level of alcohol consumed by the driver and if it crosses the limit set it will automatically locks the engine. Due to drowsiness of driver and consumption of alcohol more number of accidents are happening. Because of this more lives are at risk. This design implements a model which saves lives of people inside and outside the vehicle.</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p>

The myth of the myth of martyrdom

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Sela ◽  
Todd K. Shackelford
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Political Correctness ◽  
Suicide Terrorism ◽  
Innocent People

AbstractLankford asserts that suicide terrorism is attributable to suicidality. We argue in this commentary that this assertion is not well supported theoretically or empirically. In addition, we suggest that failure to acknowledge religious beliefs as motivationally causal for suicide terrorism may place innocent people at risk of murder in the service of political correctness and multiculturalism.

False confessions after repeated interrogation: the Putten Murder Case

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 519-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLEM A. WAGENAAR
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
False Memories ◽  
Criminal Investigation ◽  
False Confessions ◽  
Effective Protection ◽  
Innocent People ◽  
Serious Crime ◽  
Interrogation Techniques ◽  
The Creation

Suggestive or misleading interrogation techniques may have the effect that innocent people start to remember having committed a serious crime. Confessions are therefore not the best possible evidence, especially not when it is obvious that the interrogation contained elements of suggestion and deception. The problem is illustrated by a case that has become famous in The Netherlands, because two innocent men were imprisoned for about eight years, after obviously false confessions. The confessions were obtained during long and repeated interrogations in which various types of psychological deception were used. In the end, the amount of contradiction, and even of sheer impossibilities, made it clear that the confessions were false and the men innocent. Some of the literature on the creation of false memories is reviewed. It is argued that the practice of criminal investigation may elicit even stronger effects, because empirical research is constrained by ethical limits. The objective of criminal investigation seems to put no limit on what is deemed acceptable, even though we know quite well that the elicitation of false confessions is a serious risk. European agreements about criminal interrogation techniques may provide an effective protection against undesirable practices; but it will not be easy to convince the European legislators of this.

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