ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly describes the psychological process of interrogation and explains why false confessions, like truthful ones, can be understandable responses to certain interrogative procedures and strategies. At the end of 2015, the National Registry of Exonerations at the University of Michigan had logged 1705 post-conviction DNA and non-DNA exonerations since 1989. Approximately 13% of these wrongful convictions were due to false confessions, and virtually all of these have occurred in either homicide or rape cases. Police investigators do not choose to interrogate individuals randomly. Rather, they typically first investigate a case before deciding whether to interrogate. J. Reid and Associates, the creators and trainers of the dominant police interrogation approach in the United States, instruct detectives to investigate thoroughly before interrogating. Social scientists have extensively studied and identified factors that elevate or increase the risk of eliciting false confessions. Factors associated with the techniques, methods, strategies, and/or environment of interrogation are referred to as situational risk factors.
