Police interrogation is a necessary process in which a person is questioned and interviewed. The goal of interrogation is to seek and acquire information from the respondent, that will help to determine whether a person is innocent or guilty. When it comes to interrogations, a problem arises when bias and error occur during a police investigation. As discussed in our text, at times a suspect is already determined by police to be guilty based on valid evidence, however at times the suspect is determined guilty by nothing more than a presentiment (Schneider, Gruman, Coutts, 2012).
Furthermore, the pressure of the interrogation may be harsh enough, where people make false confessions and/or come to believe that they are guilty when they are not. As a result, social psychologist play a big role in helping to improve the effectiveness of police interview procedures. As a social psychologist, their goal is to find ethical ways to interview and achieve a confession. According to Jacobson from Scientific American, it is important to establish rapport which will help to develop cooperation. By being empathetic, one may choose to open up more and relay critical information (2015). Another accepting interview technique is the cognitive interview, where open-ended questions and non leading questions are asked, using planned silence. This technique also helps to build rapport, convey good listening skills, and gather more accurate information from the interviewee (Schneider, Gruman, Coutts, 2012).
Social psychologists are providing the justice system with effective ways to interview suspects in a less harsh manner, which can help to increase trust and acquire credible information in order to rightfully accuse. It is important to conduct an interrogation ethically and give suspects the right to be “innocent until proven guilty.”
References:
Jacobson, R. (2015 May 1). How to extract a confession ethically. Scientific American. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-extract-a-confession-ethically/
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Batts, DeLone, & Stephens (2014) noted that since 1989, there have been over 1300 exonerations in the United States alone. Over 300 of those were done through newly discovered DNA evidence. This number is staggering. These are only the number of wrongful convictions that have been corrected, how many more are we unaware of?
One group is trying to change this. The Innocence Project was formed in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck. This project focuses on exonerating individuals that have been wrongly convicted while reforming the criminal justice system. The Innocence Project lists eyewitness misidentification, misapplication of forensic science, false confessions, unreliable jailhouse informant testimony, flawed forensics, government misconduct and inadequate defense as reasons for wrongful convictions. Not only is the Innocence Project attempting to free the wrongfully convicted, but they are determined to prevent it from happening again. This project advocates for laws to compensate innocent people that are wrongfully convicted, easy access to post conviction DNA testing and evidence retention (The Innocence Project, n.d.).
As mentioned in your entry, the police play a primary role in investigation and interrogation, often making the difference between a conviction or freedom. What training methods can be used to assist the police with fair interrogation techniques? What previous knowledge can we use to change how we do criminal lineups. As you mentioned, using empathy and open ended question techniques, police can build a rapport with the individuals being interrogated. It sounds like we are on the right track but still have so much left to learn. Changing some of the motivations for obtaining convictions may also be helpful. Many police officers receive incentives for closing a certain number of cases, but what if incentives were provided for proving innocence?
References:
Batts, A. W., DeLone, M., & Stephens, D. W. (2014, August). Policing and Wrongful Convictions. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/246328.pdf
Innocence Project. (n.d.). Reform Through the Courts. Retrieved from https://www.innocenceproject.org/policy/
This is a really interesting way to look at the criminal justice system. Yet another way in which social psychologists can make a big difference in the world! Every American knows and encourages the idea that one is innocent until proven guilty, but they do not see what happens behind the scenes. While we are able to see some court cases on television, we don’t get to see private interrogations, such as in police stations. Your statement about harsh interrogation coaxing people into false confessions prompted me to do a search about famous false confessions in US history. In one of the cases, The Central Park Five, all five individuals accused of horrendous crimes video taped their respective confessions and then later admitted they lied by coercion and police intimidation. I can’t even imagine facing such serious legal charges for something I did not commit and feeling SO intimidated that I would confess… This shows just how important it is to have the right people working in the right field so that we’re not just working to get any confession and close a case, but find the real perpetrator(s). If you’re interested in reading about more controversial false confessions, here is the link that I found: https://listverse.com/2013/05/22/10-controversial-convictions-based-on-false-confessions/