1 / 19

Criminal Psychology

Criminal Psychology. Chapter 11(b) False Confessions Talbot Kellogg Community College. The Nature of False Confessions. Confession – An admission of guilt. False Confession – An admission of guilt by an innocent. A Counterintuitive Human Behavior Saul Kassin

baxter-haynes
Download Presentation

Criminal Psychology

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Criminal Psychology Chapter 11(b) False Confessions Talbot Kellogg Community College

  2. The Nature of False Confessions • Confession – An admission of guilt. • False Confession – An admission of guilt by an innocent. • A Counterintuitive Human Behavior • Saul Kassin • No numbers available on prevalence. • 200 DNA exonerations for wrongful confessions • 45% of those saying they falsely confessed are telling the truth. • 12% of prisoners, 10% high school students, 3 – 4% of college students admit to having falsely confessed to something. • Perhaps the tip of the iceberg. (Some issues do not appear in the data) • Police and prosecutors reject some false confessions. • Plea bargains. • Juvenile courts. • 15 minutes of fame issues • Lindberg baby

  3. How new is this? • 1692 Salem Witch Trials

  4. Central Park Jogger Case • Patricia Meili - 1989 • Location of physical evidence. • The presence of accomplices. • Other details of the crime or related crimes. • 5 suspects caught and within 72 hours, all had given detailed confessions. The teens--Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Kharey Wise

  5. Additional information • DNA was at the scene of the crime but did not match any of the 5. • Matteus Reyes (2002): Confessed from prison of the violent rape. • Identified details of the crime which had not been released to the public. • Preserved DNA matched his own. • He was in prison for raping 3 other women, and killing one after the 1989 investigation of the rape had ended.

  6. What does Psychology tell us? • Milgram’s Obedience • Studyhttp://learningat.ke7.org.uk/socialsciences/Psychology/PsyRes13/Milgram.htm

  7. What breeds obedience? • Emotional distance of the victim • Closeness and legitimacy of the authority • Institutional authority • The liberating effects of group influence

  8. What does Psychology tell us? Milgram’s Obedience Study Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

  9. What does Psychology tell us? Milgram’s Obedience Study Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Zimbardo’s Prison Study

  10. Stanford Prison Study • The issue of “Time”. • The U.S. Supreme Court has never limited the amount of time for interrogations.

  11. What does Psychology tell us? Milgram’s Obedience Study Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Zimbardo’s Prison Study Loftus work on false memories Confessions become reality

  12. The interview • What gets someone interviewed? • A belief of guilt. • How good are we at detecting deception? • College Students 52.82 • Polygrapher 55.67 • Psychiatrists 57.61 • Secret Service 64.12

  13. Training to improve the accuracy of detecting deception within the interview. Reid Technique Kassin & Forge (1999) Condition Laypeople Reid Training Police Detectives Accuracy Confidence 55% 5.9 46% 6.5 50% 7.05

  14. Reaction Time Tests Confess Internalize Confabulate Kassim & Kiechal No Witness SLOW FAST 35% 65% 0 12% - - • Witness • SLOW FAST • 89% 100% • 44% 65% • 6% 35%

  15. Case Study • Marty Tankleff • 17 years old • The crime • The interview • Tactics • Result • 1990 – 50 years to life. • Other issues CBS

  16. Studies of Innocence • Often waive their Miranda rights • More open and forthcoming • Give more plausible denials which trigger harsher tactics • The Innocence – Confession paradox • Bluff of DNA evidence.

  17. Innocents don’t confess! • 2003 – Glen Harris, Peter Kent, Joseph Creedon

More Related