Deck 3: B: The Psychology of Police Investigations

Question 1

What are the three main categories of false confessions proposed by Kassin and Wrightsman (1985)? Describe each and identify the circumstances under which each are likely to arise.

Answer 1

Voluntary false confessions occur when someone voluntarily confesses to a crime he or she did not commit without any elicitation from the police.Research has indicated that people voluntarily false confess for a variety of reasons.For example,Gudjonsson (1992)suggested that such confessions may arise out of (1)a morbid desire for notoriety, (2)the person being unable to distinguish fact from fantasy, (3)the need to make up for pathological feelings of guilt by receiving punishment,or (4)a desire to protect somebody else from harm (which may be particularly prevalent among juveniles).
Coerced-compliant false confessions are those in which the suspect confesses to a crime,even though the suspect is fully aware that he or she did not commit it.This type of false confession is perhaps the most common ( Gudjonsson & MacKeith,1988 ).Unlike voluntary false confessions,these confessions are caused by the use of coercive interrogation tactics on the part of the police,such as the maximization techniques described earlier.Specifically,coerced-compliant confessions may be given so the suspect can (1)escape further interrogation, (2)gain a promised benefit,or (3)avoid a threatened punishment ( Gudjonsson,1992 ).
The third,and perhaps the most bizarre type of false confession proposed by Kassin and Wrightsman (1985 )is the coerced-internalized false confession .Here,individuals recall and confess to a crime they did not commit,usually after they are exposed to highly suggestible questions,such as the minimization techniques described earlier in the chapter ( Gudjonsson,2003 ).In contrast to the coerced-compliant false confessor,however,these individuals actually end up believing they are responsible for the crime.According to Gudjonsson (1992),several vulnerability factors are associated with this type of false confession,including (1)a history of substance abuse or some other interference with brain function, (2)the inability of people to detect discrepancies between what they observed and what has been erroneously suggested to them,and (3)factors associated with mental state,such as severe anxiety,confusion,or feelings of guilt.

Question 2

List the two primary goals of a police interrogation.In addition,describe the three types of false confessions that can result from North American-style police interrogation techniques,making it very clear how they differ from one another.

Answer 2

-The two primary goals of a police interrogation are:
a.To gain information that will further the investigation
b.To obtain a confession from the suspect
-The three types of false confessions are:
a.Voluntary false confession: The suspect confesses voluntarily to a crime he/she did not commit without elicitation or coercion from a police interrogator.
b.Coerced-compliant false confession: Although fully aware of his/her innocence,the suspect confesses to a crime he/she did not commit as a product of coercive interrogation techniques used by the police.
c.Coerced-internalized false confession: The suspect recalls and confesses to a crime he/she did not commit,usually after being exposed to suggestible questions by interrogators.

Question 3

What is the name of the interrogation model that is most often taught to police officers in North America? Briefly describe the model's three stages.

Answer 3

-The model of interrogation that is most often taught to police officers in North America is the Reid model of interrogation.
-Stage 1: gather crime-related evidence and interview witnesses and victims
-Stage 2: conduct a non-accusatorial interview of the suspect to assess guilt
-Stage 3: if the suspect is perceived to be guilty,conduct an accusatorial interrogation of the suspect using the nine-step procedure in order to obtain a confession

Question 4

Define criminal profiling in general terms and provide four main goals of criminal profiling.

Question 5

Define what is meant by minimization and maximization techniques and provide one example of each technique.

Question 6

List five background characteristics that are assumed to relate to organized offenders and five background characteristics that are assumed to related to disorganized offenders.

Question 7

What does the acronym for the PEACE model of interrogation stand for? Briefly describe the primary goal of this model,and provide one example of how Canadian police officers are not adhering o the principles advocated by the PEACE model.

Question 8

Distinguish between a retracted confession and a disputed confession.

Question 9

List five crime scene behaviours that are assumed to relate to organized offenders and five crime scene behaviours that are assumed to related to disorganized offenders.

Question 10

Distinguish between deductive criminal profiling and inductive criminal profiling.Identify a problem associated with each method.

Question 11

State four general criticisms of criminal profiling.

Question 12

What is the equation specified by Pinizzotto and Finkel (1990)that describes the process of criminal profiling? Define or explain each component of the equation.