Criminal Psychology

1
Criminal Psychology

• Chapter 11(b)
• False Confessions
• Talbot
• Kellogg Community College

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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

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How new is this?

• 1692 Salem Witch Trials

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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.

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What does Psychology tell us?

• Milgrams Obedience
• Studyhttp//learningat.ke7.org.uk/socialsciences/P
  sychology/PsyRes13/Milgram.htm

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What breeds obedience?

• Emotional distance of the victim
• Closeness and legitimacy of the authority
• Institutional authority
• The liberating effects of group influence

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What does Psychology tell us?

• Milgrams Obedience Study
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

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11
What does Psychology tell us?

• Milgrams Obedience Study
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Zimbardos Prison Study

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Stanford Prison Study

• The issue of Time.
• The U.S. Supreme Court has never limited the
  amount of time for interrogations.

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What does Psychology tell us?

• Milgrams Obedience Study
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Zimbardos Prison Study
• Loftus work on false memories
• Confessions become reality

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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

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Training to improve the accuracy of detecting
deception within the interview.

• Accuracy Confidence
• 55 5.9
• 46 6.5
• 50 7.05

• Reid Technique
• Kassin Forge (1999)
• Condition
• Laypeople
• Reid Training Police
• Detectives

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Reaction Time Tests

• No Witness
• SLOW FAST
• 35 65
• 0 12
• - -

• Witness
• SLOW FAST
• 89 100
• 44 65
• 6 35

• Confess
• Internalize
• Confabulate
• Kassim Kiechal

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Case Study

• Marty Tankleff
• 17 years old
• The crime
• The interview
• Tactics
• Result
• 1990 50 years to life.
• Other issues

CBS
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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.

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• Innocents dont confess!
• 2003 Glen Harris, Peter Kent, Joseph Creedon