Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Influence of Blame Mitigation and Guilt Induction on True Versus False Confessions

University Of Texas At El Paso, El Paso TX

Investigators

Abstract

False confessions account for approximately 30% of the more than 325 wrongful convictions identified by The Innocence Project. Interrogation themes, which attempt to rationalize and minimize the seriousness of the crime or project blame away from the suspect, have been shown to increase the likelihood of false confessions. It is possible that these blame mitigation strategies may also inhibit confessions from guilty suspects, given that true confessions are related to feelings of guilt and blame mitigation approaches are designed to reduce feelings of guilt. This project will examine blame mitigation in an interrogation as well as a novel interrogation technique (guilt induction) in which an interrogator emphasizes a suspect's responsibility for the crime, the impact his or her actions had on the victim, and how the suspect's behavior failed to meet an ideal standard. Experiments conducted here will (1) test practitioners' beliefs that blame mitigation techniques do not produce false confessions, and (2) assess whether guilt induction leads guilty, but not innocent, suspects to confess. The experiments will also assess how these techniques affect suspects' perceptions of responsibility and future punishment. This project will use experimental methods. Participants will imagine themselves in an interrogation (Experiment 1) or experience an interrogation in a laboratory paradigm (Experiment 2) that includes blame mitigation, guilt induction, or direct questioning interrogation techniques. This project has the potential to benefit society by developing an empirically-based perspective on what works in the interrogation room. Given the prevalence of false confessions in our criminal justice system and current debates over the use of coercive interrogation methods, it is critical that we develop more diagnostic, evidence-based interrogation approaches. This project will also provide an important test of contrasting theories of confession proposed by practitioners and researchers.