Essay Rough Draft – How Interrogation Tactics Influence False Confessions and How Reforms Can Improve Reliability

Essay Question: How do interrogation tactics influence the prevalence of false confessions in the criminal justice system, and how can interrogation practices be reformed to improve the reliability of confessions?
2000 words (+/- 5%) a. Cover page, table and figure captions, and reference list are excluded from word count 2. Cover page a. Including essay question, your name, word count, and submission date 3. Double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 11 or 12pt standard font (e.g. Aptos, Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri), page numbers included 4. Any style of referencing is accepted, as long as there is consistency a. Except in-text citations must be in author-date format 5. At least 10 references Sources 1. Gudjonsson, G.H., & Pearse, J. (2011). Suspect Interviews and False Confessions. Current Directions in Psychological Science. Gudjonsson and Pearse discuss the Reid Method and its influence on false confessions, finding that when it’s applied in interrogations, false confessions are usually produced by two main causes: manipulative interrogation tactics and the suspects’ vulnerability in interviews. This source can contribute to my essay because the Reid technique can function as a supporting argument for my main idea that certain manipulative interrogation tactics can lead to false confessions. This source also might help discuss how the criminal justice system can be reformed because it informs about the PEACE Model, created to account for a suspect’s vulnerabilities when interrogated. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-04157-009 2. Kassin, S. M., & Gudjonsson, G. H. (2004). The Psychology of Confessions: A Review of the Literature and Issues. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. Kassin and Gudjonsson discuss various interrogation techniques, conducting three experiments to explore the bluff tactic, in which law enforcement officers pretend to have information regarding a suspect without saying whether the ‘information’ proves if the suspect is guilty. The study found that all three experiments imminently lead to a false confession. This source can help support my essay because it provides information about the bluffing tactic, which is also employed in the Reid Technique. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2005-05600-002 3. Kassin, S. M. (2008). False Confessions: How Can Psychology So Basic Be So Counterintuitive? Psychological Science. Kassin explores how psychology can influence and/or lead to false confessions in suspects. This source can contribute to my article by helping define how and why certain intense interrogation tactics can lead to false confessions in non-guilty suspects. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-57424-025 4. Kassin, S. M. (2008). Miranda’s Revenge: Police Interrogation as a Confidence Game. Law and Human Behavior. Kassin discusses how interrogations can be manipulated by law enforcement officers to force false confessions in suspects, specifically by employing manipulative tactics like long interrogation durations to influence the likelihood of a suspect admitting to a false confession. This can contribute to my argument by providing supporting evidence surrounding long interrogation timing contributing to false confessions. https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/mirandas-revenge-police-interrogation-confidence-game 5. Perillo, J. T., & Kassin, S. M. (2021). Inside Interrogation: The Lie, The Bluff, and False Confessions. Oxford University Press. Perillo and Kassin discuss how specific interrogation techniques, including misleading, bluffing, and pressuring suspects can lead to false confessions. This source presents information about interrogation tactics, particularly about bluffing, which can help support the argument that specific manipulative interrogation tactics can be leveraged to lead to false confessions. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20734122/ 6. Iris Blandón-Gitlin, Katheryn Sperry & Richard Leo (2009). Jurors believe interrogation tactics are not likely to elicit false confessions: will expert witness testimony inform them otherwise. Taylor & Francis. This article can help provide insight into a court case on jurors’ perceptions. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10683160903113699#d1e315 7. Marina Sorochinski, Division of Criminal Justice & Homeland Security, Collins College of Professional Studies (2024). Beyond the Badge: A Critical Commentary on B. Beyer’s “Rethinking the False Confession Phenomenon”. Sage Journals. This article can be used to help explain crucial details about researchers and that it’s a false claim that they must be practitioners to be credible. It also goes into the Innocence Project. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/07340168241297129 8. Mary Catlin, David Wilson, Allison D Redlich, Talley Bettens, Christian Meissner, Sujeeta Bhatt, Susan Brandon (2024). Interview and interrogation methods and their effects on true and false confessions: A systematic review update and extension. PMC. This article contains a lot of information. I don’t know where to break it down, but it could be helpful. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11465838/ 9. Mark A. Costanzo, Ellen Gerrity (2009). The Effects and Effectiveness of Using Torture as an Interrogation Device: Using Research to Inform the Policy Debate. SPSSI. This article goes into what torture is, the why, and how it can be good and bad which can get very debatable on ethics and morals. https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1751-2409.2009.01014.x 10. Sara C. Appleby, Lisa E. Hasel & Saul M. Kassin (2011). Police-induced confessions: an empirical analysis of their content and impact. Taylor & Francis. This article provides data and support for the idea that many cases involve police-induced confessions. It also goes into detail about why people confess to crimes that are unrelated to them. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1068316X.2011.613389?src=recsys#abstract