The Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions : A Handbook (Wiley Series in Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law)

Professor Gudjonsson has obviously put a great deal of effort into researching this subject and writing this book. The book contains a comprehensive review of the studies of noted psychologists. Unfortunately the thrust of the book appears to be aimed at pointing out his displeasure with the techniques advocated by Reid and Associates. These techniques have been proven to be extremely effective in the US law enforcement arena. I was disappointed with my purchase after the repeated "Reid bashing". The author is clearly one of the foremost researchers in the areas of suggestibility and false confessions. It would have better served others if he had spent more time discussing empirical research surrounding these areas. Well worth buying. The Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions......Page 3 Contents......Page 9 About the Author......Page 15 Series Preface......Page 17 Preface......Page 19 Acknowledgements......Page 21 Introduction......Page 23 PART I INTERROGATIONS AND CONFESSIONS......Page 27 Police Training Manuals......Page 29 The Reid Technique......Page 32 The Format and Recording of the Confession......Page 43 The Context of the Interrogation......Page 46 American Research on Interrogation......Page 53 How Things Can Go Wrong During Interrogation......Page 56 Conclusions......Page 58 2. Interrogation in Britain......Page 60 Irving’s Studies......Page 61 Walsh’s Study......Page 65 Research at the University of Kent......Page 66 Baldwin’s Study......Page 70 British Training Manuals......Page 73 Conclusions......Page 77 3. Persons at Risk During Interviews in Police Custody: the Royal Commission Studies......Page 79 The 1993 Royal Commission Study by Gudjonsson and Colleagues......Page 80 Who Confesses?......Page 91 Detainees’ Legal Rights......Page 93 General Conclusions......Page 95 Background to the Research......Page 97 The Cases Analysed......Page 99 Methodology......Page 101 Interview Tactics......Page 102 Suspects’ Responses......Page 105 Methodological Issues......Page 107 Statistical Procedures......Page 108 Application of the Framework to Individual Cases......Page 109 The Heron Murder Case......Page 118 The Miller Murder Case......Page 128 Court Outcome......Page 134 Conclusions......Page 136 Factors Inhibiting Confession......Page 137 Theoretical Models of Confession......Page 139 Conclusions......Page 150 How Important are Confessions?......Page 152 How Commonly do Suspects Confess?......Page 155 Factors Associated with Admissions and Denials......Page 162 Self-Report Studies into Why Suspects Confess......Page 173 Conclusions......Page 178 Miscarriages of Justice......Page 180 Studies of Miscarriages of Justice......Page 181 The Leo–Ofshe Study......Page 186 Some Notorious British Cases......Page 188 Conclusions......Page 194 8. The Psychology of False Confession: Research and Theoretical Issues......Page 195 The Frequency of False Confessions......Page 196 False, Retracted and Disputed Confessions......Page 200 The Innocent Pleading Guilty......Page 206 The Broader Context of False Confessions......Page 208 The Causes of False Confessions......Page 215 Theoretical Implications of the Different Types of False Confession......Page 219 The Ofshe–Leo Model of Confessions......Page 225 Differences between True and False Confessions......Page 230 A Proposed Modified Framework......Page 233 Recovered Memory and False Confession......Page 234 Conclusions......Page 237 9. The Psychology of False Confession: Case Examples......Page 239 Voluntary False Confessions......Page 240 Pressured–Compliant False Confessions......Page 246 Pressured–Internalized False Confessions......Page 255 Conclusions......Page 264 PART II LEGAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS......Page 267 10. The English Law on Confessions......Page 269 The Admissibility and Reliability of Confession Evidence......Page 270 The Voire Dire......Page 280 Issues Affecting Vulnerable Defendants......Page 281 The Admissibility of Expert Evidence......Page 297 Conclusions......Page 303 The Basic Law of Confessions......Page 305 Voluntariness and Mentally Vulnerable Suspects......Page 310 Challenging a Confession in Court......Page 315 Differences between English and American Law and Practice......Page 326 Conclusions......Page 328 12. The Psychological Assessment......Page 330 The Assessment Framework......Page 331 Psychological Vulnerabilities......Page 338 Learning Disability as a Vulnerability......Page 342 The Court Report and Oral Evidence......Page 349 Conclusions......Page 352 13. Suggestibility: Historical and Theoretical Aspects......Page 354 Theoretical Approaches......Page 356 Some Characteristics of Suggestion and Suggestibility......Page 357 Brief Historical Background to Suggestibility......Page 358 The Classification of Suggestibility......Page 360 Theories of Suggestibility......Page 362 Suggestibility: a State or a Trait?......Page 365 Definition of Interrogative Suggestibility......Page 366 The Gudjonsson–Clark Theoretical Model......Page 369 Implications of the Model and Hypotheses......Page 374 External Evaluation of the Model......Page 375 Conclusions......Page 380 14. Interrogative Suggestibility: Empirical Findings......Page 382 The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales......Page 383 Suggestibility and Hypnotic Susceptibility......Page 390 Compliance......Page 392 Acquiescence......Page 398 Correlations between Suggestibility, Compliance and Acquiescence......Page 400 Suggestibility and Gender......Page 401 Suggestibility and Age......Page 402 Suggestibility and Intelligence......Page 403 Suggestibility and Memory......Page 406 Suggestibility and Anxiety......Page 407 Suggestibility and Impulsivity......Page 410 Suggestibility and Sleep Deprivation......Page 411 Suggestibility: Dissociation and Fantasy Proneness......Page 412 Suggestibility and Instructional Manipulation......Page 413 Suggestibility and the Experimenter Effect......Page 414 Suggestibility and Social Desirability......Page 416 Suggestibility and Coping Strategies......Page 417 Suggestibility and Self-Esteem......Page 418 Suggestibility and Locus of Control......Page 420 Suggestibility and Field Dependence......Page 421 Suspiciousness and Anger......Page 422 Suggestibility and Test Setting......Page 424 Police Interviewing and Suggestibility......Page 425 Resisters and Alleged False Confessors......Page 426 Suggestibility and False Confessions......Page 429 Suggestibility and Eyewitness Testimony......Page 432 Suggestibility and Recovered Memory......Page 433 Conclusions......Page 434 15. The Effects of Drugs and Alcohol Upon the Reliability of Testimony......Page 437 The Extent of the Problem......Page 438 Theoretical Perspectives......Page 440 The Effects of Intoxication and Withdrawal......Page 443 The Effects of Alcohol Withdrawal on Interrogative Suggestibility......Page 450 False Confessions to Murder by a Heroin Addict......Page 452 Conclusions......Page 454 PART III BRITISH COURT OF APPEAL CASES......Page 457 16. The Court of Appeal......Page 459 The Beginning of Expert Psychological Testimony......Page 462 Conclusions......Page 463 The Guildford Four......Page 467 The Birmingham Six......Page 474 Conclusions......Page 478 Engin Raghip—The Beginning: Landmark Decision for Psychology......Page 480 Jacqueline Fletcher—Unidentified Borderline Intelligence......Page 490 Judith Ward—Personality Disorder......Page 492 David MacKenzie—Inability to Distinguish Facts from Fantasy......Page 494 Idris Ali—Pathological Lying......Page 495 George Long—Clinical Depression......Page 498 Patrick Kane—Anxiety and Compliance......Page 501 Andrew Evans—Misdiagnosed Psychogenic Amnesia......Page 504 John Roberts—Abnormal Compliance......Page 514 Ashley King—Abnormal Suggestibility and Compliance......Page 515 Darren Hall—Disorder in the Absence of a Psychiatric Diagnosis......Page 517 Ian Hay Gordon—Exploitation of Sexuality......Page 521 Peter Fell—Poor Self-Esteem......Page 528 Conclusions......Page 534 19. Police Impropriety......Page 536 Stephen Miller......Page 537 Alfred Allen (the ‘UDR Four’)......Page 539 The Carl Bridgewater Case......Page 541 Derek Bentley......Page 542 Conclusions......Page 544 Stefan Kiszko......Page 545 The Darvell Brothers......Page 552 Donald Pendleton......Page 555 Conclusions......Page 559 PART IV FOREIGN CASES OF DISPUTED CONFESSIONS......Page 561 Waneta Hoyt......Page 563 Joe Giarratano......Page 572 Henry Lee Lucas......Page 576 John Wille......Page 585 General Conclusions......Page 594 A Canadian Case of Non-Custodial Interrogation......Page 595 An Israeli Terrorist Case......Page 604 General Conclusions......Page 611 Background to the Case......Page 612 Pre-Trial (1997) Psychological Evaluation......Page 616 The First Trial......Page 617 The Psychological Evaluation Prior to the Appeal......Page 618 Interviews with Informants......Page 624 Mr A’s Strengths and Vulnerabilities......Page 627 The Interrogation and Confinement......Page 628 Repression and Psychogenic Amnesia......Page 630 The Appeal......Page 631 Conclusions......Page 633 General Comments and Conclusions......Page 637 Interrogation......Page 641 Psychological Vulnerability......Page 643 True Confessions......Page 644 Retracted and False Confessions......Page 645 Appendix......Page 650 References......Page 653 Author Index......Page 685 Subject Index......Page 694 0471491365 The Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions 3 Contents 9 About the Author 15 Series Preface 17 Preface 19 Acknowledgements 21 Introduction 23 PART I INTERROGATIONS AND CONFESSIONS 27 1. Interrogation Tactics and Techniques 29 Police Training Manuals 29 The Reid Technique 32 The Format and Recording of the Confession 43 The Context of the Interrogation 46 American Research on Interrogation 53 How Things Can Go Wrong During Interrogation 56 Conclusions 58 2. Interrogation in Britain 60 Irving’s Studies 61 Softley’s Study 65 Walsh’s Study 65 Research at the University of Kent 66 Baldwin’s Study 70 British Training Manuals 73 Conclusions 77 3. Persons at Risk During Interviews in Police Custody: the Royal Commission Studies 79 The 1993 Royal Commission Study by Gudjonsson and Colleagues 80 Who Confesses? 91 Detainees’ Legal Rights 93 General Conclusions 95 4. The Identification and Measurement of ‘Oppressive’ Police Interviewing Tactics in Britain 97 Background to the Research 97 The Cases Analysed 99 Methodology 101 Interview Tactics 102 Suspects’ Responses 105 Methodological Issues 107 Statistical Procedures 108 Application of the Framework to Individual Cases 109 The Heron Murder Case 118 The Miller Murder Case 128 Court Outcome 134 Conclusions 136 5. Why do Suspects Confess? Theories 137 Factors Inhibiting Confession 137 Theoretical Models of Confession 139 Conclusions 150 6. Why do Suspects Confess? Empirical Findings 152 How Important are Confessions? 152 How Commonly do Suspects Confess? 155 Factors Associated with Admissions and Denials 162 Self-Report Studies into Why Suspects Confess 173 Conclusions 178 7. Miscarriages of Justice and False Confessions 180 Miscarriages of Justice 180 Studies of Miscarriages of Justice 181 The Leo–Ofshe Study 186 Some Notorious British Cases 188 Conclusions 194 8. The Psychology of False Confession: Research and Theoretical Issues 195 Definitions of False Confession 196 The Frequency of False Confessions 196 False, Retracted and Disputed Confessions 200 The Innocent Pleading Guilty 206 The Broader Context of False Confessions 208 The Causes of False Confessions 215 Theoretical Implications of the Different Types of False Confession 219 The Ofshe–Leo Model of Confessions 225 Differences between True and False Confessions 230 A Proposed Modified Framework 233 Recovered Memory and False Confession 234 Conclusions 237 9. The Psychology of False Confession: Case Examples 239 Voluntary False Confessions 240 Pressured–Compliant False Confessions 246 Pressured–Internalized False Confessions 255 Conclusions 264 PART II LEGAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS 267 10. The English Law on Confessions 269 The Admissibility and Reliability of Confession Evidence 270 The Voire Dire 280 Issues Affecting Vulnerable Defendants 281 The Admissibility of Expert Evidence 297 Conclusions 303 11. The American Law on Confessions 305 The Basic Law of Confessions 305 Voluntariness and Mentally Vulnerable Suspects 310 Challenging a Confession in Court 315 Differences between English and American Law and Practice 326 Conclusions 328 12. The Psychological Assessment 330 The Assessment Framework 331 Psychological Vulnerabilities 338 Learning Disability as a Vulnerability 342 The Court Report and Oral Evidence 349 Conclusions 352 13. Suggestibility: Historical and Theoretical Aspects 354 Theoretical Approaches 356 Some Characteristics of Suggestion and Suggestibility 357 Brief Historical Background to Suggestibility 358 The Classification of Suggestibility 360 Theories of Suggestibility 362 Reinforcement and Suggestibility 365 Suggestibility: a State or a Trait? 365 Definition of Interrogative Suggestibility 366 The Gudjonsson–Clark Theoretical Model 369 Implications of the Model and Hypotheses 374 External Evaluation of the Model 375 Conclusions 380 14. Interrogative Suggestibility: Empirical Findings 382 The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales 383 Suggestibility and Hypnotic Susceptibility 390 Compliance 392 Acquiescence 398 Correlations between Suggestibility, Compliance and Acquiescence 400 Suggestibility and Gender 401 Suggestibility and Ethnic Background 402 Suggestibility and Age 402 Suggestibility and Intelligence 403 Suggestibility and Memory 406 Suggestibility and Anxiety 407 Suggestibility and Impulsivity 410 Suggestibility and the MMPI-2 411 Suggestibility and Sleep Deprivation 411 Suggestibility: Dissociation and Fantasy Proneness 412 Suggestibility and Instructional Manipulation 413 Suggestibility and the Experimenter Effect 414 Suggestibility and Social Desirability 416 Suggestibility and Coping Strategies 417 Suggestibility and Assertiveness 418 Suggestibility and Self-Esteem 418 Suggestibility and Locus of Control 420 Suggestibility and Field Dependence 421 Suspiciousness and Anger 422 Suggestibility and Test Setting 424 Suggestibility and Previous Convictions 425 Police Interviewing and Suggestibility 425 Resisters and Alleged False Confessors 426 Suggestibility and False Confessions 429 Suggestibility and Eyewitness Testimony 432 Suggestibility and Recovered Memory 433 Conclusions 434 15. The Effects of Drugs and Alcohol Upon the Reliability of Testimony 437 The Extent of the Problem 438 Theoretical Perspectives 440 The Effects of Intoxication and Withdrawal 443 The Effects of Alcohol Withdrawal on Interrogative Suggestibility 450 False Confessions to Murder by a Heroin Addict 452 Conclusions 454 PART III BRITISH COURT OF APPEAL CASES 457 16. The Court of Appeal 459 The Beginning of Expert Psychological Testimony 462 Conclusions 463 17. The ‘Guildford Four’ and the ‘Birmingham Six’ 467 The Guildford Four 467 The Birmingham Six 474 Conclusions 478 18. Psychological Vulnerability 480 Engin Raghip—The Beginning: Landmark Decision for Psychology 480 Jacqueline Fletcher—Unidentified Borderline Intelligence 490 Judith Ward—Personality Disorder 492 David MacKenzie—Inability to Distinguish Facts from Fantasy 494 Idris Ali—Pathological Lying 495 George Long—Clinical Depression 498 Patrick Kane—Anxiety and Compliance 501 Andrew Evans—Misdiagnosed Psychogenic Amnesia 504 John Roberts—Abnormal Compliance 514 Ashley King—Abnormal Suggestibility and Compliance 515 Darren Hall—Disorder in the Absence of a Psychiatric Diagnosis 517 Ian Hay Gordon—Exploitation of Sexuality 521 Peter Fell—Poor Self-Esteem 528 Conclusions 534 19. Police Impropriety 536 Stephen Miller 537 Alfred Allen (the ‘UDR Four’) 539 The Carl Bridgewater Case 541 Derek Bentley 542 Conclusions 544 20. Misleading Special Knowledge 545 Stefan Kiszko 545 The Darvell Brothers 552 Donald Pendleton 555 Conclusions 559 PART IV FOREIGN CASES OF DISPUTED CONFESSIONS 561 21. Four High Profile American Cases 563 Waneta Hoyt 563 Joe Giarratano 572 Henry Lee Lucas 576 John Wille 585 General Conclusions 594 22. Canadian and Israeli Cases 595 A Canadian Case of Non-Custodial Interrogation 595 An Israeli Terrorist Case 604 General Conclusions 611 23. Murder in Norway: a False Belief Leading to a False Confession 612 Background to the Case 612 Pre-Trial (1997) Psychological Evaluation 616 The First Trial 617 The Psychological Evaluation Prior to the Appeal 618 Interviews with Informants 624 Mr A’s Strengths and Vulnerabilities 627 The Interrogation and Confinement 628 Repression and Psychogenic Amnesia 630 The Appeal 631 Conclusions 633 Conclusions 637 General Comments and Conclusions 637 Interrogation 641 Psychological Vulnerability 643 True Confessions 644 Retracted and False Confessions 645 Appendix 650 References 653 Author Index 685 Subject Index 694 The Psychology Of Interrogations And Confessions Is Essential Reading For Clinical And Forensic Psychologists And Others In The Legal, Psychological And Psychiatric Professions: Police Officers Will Find Many Parts Of The Book Directly Applicable To Their Work, As Will Social Workers And Probation Officers.--jacket. Interrogations And Confessions. Interrogation Tactics And Techniques -- Interrogation In Britain -- Persons At Risk During Interviews In Police Custody : The Royal Commission Studies -- The Identification And Measurement Of 'oppressive' Police Interviewing Tactics In Britain / John Pearse And Gisli H. Gudjonsson -- Why Do Suspects Confess? Theories -- Why Do Suspects Confess? Empirical Findings -- Miscarriages Of Justice And False Confessions -- The Psychology Of False Confession : Research And Theoretical Issues -- The Psychology Of False Confession : Case Examples. Legal And Psychological Aspects. The English Law On Confessions -- The American Law On Confessions -- The Psychological Assessment -- Suggestibility : Historical And Theoretical Aspects -- Interrogative Suggestibility : Empirical Findings -- The Effects Of Drugs And Alcohol Upon The Reliability Of Testimony. British Court Of Appeal Cases. The Court Of Appeal -- The 'guilford Four' And The 'birmingham Six' / Gisli H. Gudjonsson And J.a.c. Mackeith -- Psychological Vulnerability -- Police Impropriety -- Misleading Special Knowledge. Foreign Cases Of Disputed Confessions. Four High Profile American Cases -- Canadian And Israeli Cases -- Murder In Norway : A False Belief Leading To A False Confession. Gisli H Gudjonsson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [631]-662) And Indexes.

This volume, a sequel to The Psychology of Interrogations, Confessions and Testimony which is widely acclaimed by both scientists and practitioners, brings the field completely up-to-date and focuses in particular on aspects of vulnerability, confabulation and false confessions. The is an unrivalled integration of scientific knowledge of the psychological processes and research relating to interrogation, with the practical investigative and legal issues that bear upon obtaining, and using in court, evidence from interrogations of suspects.
* Accessible style which will appeal to academics, students and practitioners
* Authoritative integration of theory, research, practical implications and vivid case illustration
* Coverage of topical issues like confabulation, false memory, and false confessions
Part of the Wiley Series in The Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law

The impact of psychological research and expert testimony on legal changes, police practice and legal judgements in England and Northern Ireland is unparalleled in the rest of the world and valuable lessons have been learned as a result. A number of high profile murder and terrorist convictions based largely on confession evidence have been quashed on appeal. In The Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions, Gisli Gudjonsson traces the scientific advances and relevant cases, many of which he was directly involved with, and demonstrates their legal and psychological significance