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

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

Table of Contents:
About the Author xiii Series Preface xv Preface xvii Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 Part I Interrogations and Confessions 1 Interrogation Tactics and Techniques 7 Police Training Manuals 7 The Reid Technique 10 The Format and Recording of the Confession 21 The Context of the Interrogation 24 American Research on Interrogation 31 How Things Can Go Wrong During Interrogation 34 Conclusions 36 2 Interrogation in Britain 38 Irving’s Studies 39 Softley’s Study 43 Walsh’s Study 43 Research at the University of Kent 44 Baldwin’s Study 48 British Training Manuals 51 Conclusions 55 3 Persons at Risk during Interviews in Police Custody: the Royal Commission Studies 57 The 1993 Royal Commission Study by Gudjonsson and Colleagues 58 Who Confesses? 69 Detainees’ Legal Rights 71 General Conclusions 73 4 The Identification and Measurement of ‘Oppressive’ Police Interviewing Tactics in Britain 75 John Pearse and Gisli H. Gudjonsson Background to the Research 75 The Cases Analysed 77 Methodology 79 Interview Tactics 80 Suspects’ Responses 83 Methodological Issues 85 Statistical Procedures 86 Application of the Framework to Individual Cases 87 The Heron Murder Case 96 The Miller Murder Case 106 Court Outcome 112 Conclusions 114 5 Why do Suspects Confess? Theories 115 Factors Inhibiting Confession 115 Theoretical Models of Confession 117 Conclusions 128 6 Why do Suspects Confess? Empirical Findings 130 How Important are Confessions? 130 How Commonly do Suspects Confess? 133 Factors Associated with Admissions and Denials 140 Self-Report Studies into Why Suspects Confess 151 Conclusions 156 7 Miscarriages of Justice and False Confessions 158 Miscarriages of Justice 158 Studies of Miscarriages of Justice 159 The Leo–Ofshe Study 164 Some Notorious British Cases 166 Conclusions 172 8 The Psychology of False Confession: Research and Theoretical Issues 173 Definitions of False Confession 174 The Frequency of False Confessions 174 False, Retracted and Disputed Confessions 178 The Innocent Pleading Guilty 184 The Broader Context of False Confessions 186 The Causes of False Confessions 193 Theoretical Implications of the Different Types of False Confession 197 The Ofshe–Leo Model of Confessions 203 Differences between True and False Confessions 208 A Proposed Modified Framework 211 Recovered Memory and False Confession 212 Conclusions 215 9 The Psychology of False Confession: Case Examples 217 Voluntary False Confessions 218 Pressured–Compliant False Confessions 224 Pressured–Internalized False Confessions 233 Conclusions 242 Part II Legal and Psychological Aspects 10 The English Law on Confessions 247 The Admissibility and Reliability of Confession Evidence 248 The Voire Dire 258 Issues Affecting Vulnerable Defendants 259 The Admissibility of Expert Evidence 275 Conclusions 281 11 The American Law on Confessions 283 Gisli H. Gudjonsson and Lorca Morello The Basic Law of Confessions 283 Voluntariness and Mentally Vulnerable Suspects 288 Challenging a Confession in Court 293 Differences between English and American Law and Practice 304 Conclusions 306 12 The Psychological Assessment 308 The Assessment Framework 309 Psychological Vulnerabilities 316 Learning Disability as a Vulnerability 320 The Court Report and Oral Evidence 327 Conclusions 330 13 Suggestibility: Historical and Theoretical Aspects 332 Theoretical Approaches 334 Some Characteristics of Suggestion and Suggestibility 335 Brief Historical Background to Suggestibility 336 The Classification of Suggestibility 338 Theories of Suggestibility 340 Reinforcement and Suggestibility 343 Suggestibility: a State or a Trait? 343 Definition of Interrogative Suggestibility 344 The Gudjonsson–Clark Theoretical Model 347 Implications of the Model and Hypotheses 352 External Evaluation of the Model 353 Conclusions 358 14 Interrogative Suggestibility: Empirical Findings 360 The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales 361 Suggestibility and Hypnotic Susceptibility 368 Compliance 370 Acquiescence 376 Correlations between Suggestibility, Compliance and Acquiescence 378 Suggestibility and Gender 379 Suggestibility and Ethnic Background 380 Suggestibility and Age 380 Suggestibility and Intelligence 381 Suggestibility and Memory 384 Suggestibility and Anxiety 385 Suggestibility and Impulsivity 388 Suggestibility and the MMPI-2 389 Suggestibility and Sleep Deprivation 389 Suggestibility: Dissociation and Fantasy Proneness 390 Suggestibility and Instructional Manipulation 391 Suggestibility and the Experimenter Effect 392 Suggestibility and Social Desirability 394 Suggestibility and Coping Strategies 395 Suggestibility and Assertiveness 396 Suggestibility and Self-Esteem 396 Suggestibility and Locus of Control 398 Suggestibility and Field Dependence 399 Suspiciousness and Anger 400 Suggestibility and Test Setting 402 Suggestibility and Previous Convictions 403 Police Interviewing and Suggestibility 403 Resisters and Alleged False Confessors 404 Suggestibility and False Confessions 407 Suggestibility and Eyewitness Testimony 410 Suggestibility and Recovered Memory 411 Conclusions 412 15 The Effects of Drugs and Alcohol upon the Reliability of Testimony 415 The Extent of the Problem 416 Theoretical Perspectives 418 The Effects of Intoxication and Withdrawal 421 The Effects of Alcohol Withdrawal on Interrogative Suggestibility 428 False Confessions to Murder by a Heroin Addict 430 Conclusions 432 Part III British Court of Appeal Cases 16 The Court of Appeal 437 The Beginning of Expert Psychological Testimony 440 Conclusions 441 17 The ‘Guildford Four’ and the ‘Birmingham Six’ 445 Gisli H. Gudjonsson and J. A. C. MacKeith The Guildford Four 445 The Birmingham Six 452 Conclusions 456 18 Psychological Vulnerability 458 Engin Raghip—The Beginning: Landmark Decision for Psychology 458 Jacqueline Fletcher—Unidentified Borderline Intelligence 468 Judith Ward—Personality Disorder 470 David MacKenzie—Inability to Distinguish Facts from Fantasy 472 Idris Ali—Pathological Lying 473 George Long—Clinical Depression 476 Patrick Kane—Anxiety and Compliance 479 Andrew Evans—Misdiagnosed Psychogenic Amnesia 482 John Roberts—Abnormal Compliance 492 Ashley King—Abnormal Suggestibility and Compliance 493 Darren Hall—Disorder in the Absence of a Psychiatric Diagnosis 495 Ian Hay Gordon—Exploitation of Sexuality 499 Peter Fell—Poor Self-Esteem 506 Conclusions 512 19 Police Impropriety 514 Stephen Miller 515 Alfred Allen (the ‘UDR Four’) 517 The Carl Bridgewater Case 519 Derek Bentley 520 Conclusions 522 20 Misleading Special Knowledge 523 Stefan Kiszko 523 The Darvell Brothers 530 Donald Pendleton 533 Conclusions 537 Part IV Foreign Cases of Disputed Confessions 21 Four High Profile American Cases 541 Waneta Hoyt 541 Joe Giarratano 550 Henry Lee Lucas 554 John Wille 563 General Conclusions 572 22 Canadian and Israeli Cases 573 A Canadian Case of Non-Custodial Interrogation 573 An Israeli Terrorist Case 582 General Conclusions 589 23 Murder in Norway: a False Belief Leading to a False Confession 590 Background to the Case 590 Pre-Trial (1997) Psychological Evaluation 594 The First Trial 595 The Psychological Evaluation Prior to the Appeal 596 Interviews with Informants 602 Mr A’s Strengths and Vulnerabilities 605 The Interrogation and Confinement 606 Repression and Psychogenic Amnesia 608 The Appeal 609 Conclusions 611 Conclusions 615 General Comments and Conclusions 615 Interrogation 619 Psychological Vulnerability 621 True Confessions 622 Retracted and False Confessions 623 Appendix 628 References 631 Author Index 663 Subject Index 672 

About the Author :
Gisli Gudjonsson is Professor of Forensic Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London and Head of Forensic Psychology Services, Maudsley Hospital, London

Review :
"…a comprehensive and authorative handbook that demonstrates the crucial relationship between research and practice…" (Internet Book Reviews, 17 January 2003) “…I am impressed with this handbook…an important addition to the bookshelves…” (Applied Cognitive Psychology, No.18 2004)