Forensics Flashcards
What is forensic psychology?
It is the application of psychological knowledge and theories to all aspects of the criminal and civil justice systems, including the processes and the people
What kind of topics are studied as part of the ‘process’
Criminal Investigation
Pre trial
Trial
Post trial
What kind of topics are studied as part of the ‘people’
Victims of crime
Jurors
Offenders of crime
Judges
Police
Witnesses
What kind of sub topics are in the study of the process of criminal investigation
Profiling
Lie detection
Identification parade
Eyewitness testimony
Repressed / recovered memories
Interrogations and confession evidence
What kind of sub topics are in the study of the process of Pre trial
Competency to stand trrial
Pre trial publicity
Jury selection
What kind of sub topics are in the study of the process of Trial
Insanity plea / defence of mental illness
Expert evidence / judge warnings
Jury deliberation
Sentencing
What kind of sub topics are in the study of the process of Post trial
The prison experience
Treatment of offenders and risk assessment
Who were important people who allowed the development of forensic psyhcology in history
James Cattell (1895)
Alfred Binet (1900)
Von Liszt (1902); Stern (1910)
Julian Varendonck
Hugo Von Munsterberg
How did James Cattell contribute to the history of forensic psychology
He asked people to recall things that they witnessed in their everyday life, and found that answers were often inaccurate –> related to forensic psychology and the credibility of witnesses
How did Alfred Binet contribute to the history of forensic psychology
Showed children objects and then asked them questions about the object. He found that accuracy varied depending on type of question
He found that highly misleading questions resulted in children being misled and thus having poor accuracy
Binet made a study that proved that witnesses have a poor memory in regards to the events they witnessed, and thus their reliability may be questioned
How did Von Liszt and Stern contribute to the history of forensic psychology
Conducted “reality experiments” with staged events/crimes –> and then tested accuracy of what observers saw .
Showed that even the best forms of recollection still made a high degree of errors –> can eyewitness testimony still be trusted?
How did Varendonck contribute to the history of forensic psychology
He decided to test children’s memory for false events, and from this he was able to conclude that children’s memories were inaccurate and suggestive. This means increased susceptibility to suggestive questions –> unreliability of children’s testimony as well as being wary of leading questions in the court towards children
How did Hugo Von Munsterberg contribute to the history of forensic psychology
He is described as the father of forensic psychology. He called into question legal assertions that eyewitness memory is necessarily accurate. He wrote the book ‘ On the witness stand’ (1908)
However, he was very arrogant and critical of lawyers for their failure to recognise the value of psychology –> overstated his case. As a result, this prevented the development of the discipline for a few decades
What happened after Munsterberg published his book
Wigmore (law professor) criticised Munsterberg’s book –> major factor impact Munsterberg’s credibility in forensics,
WW1 prevented further research in Germany
Rise of behaviourism –> focus on theory not applied psychology
When did eyewitness research re-emerge again?
In the 1960s and 70s.
Who were the two key characters driving eyewitness research in the 60s and 70s
Robert Buckhout (wanted practical change and change in the legal system)
Elizabeth Loftus (focussed on theoretical perspective, and more on the malleability of memory)
What work do forensic psychologists do?
Work in policy units
Work in government research units
Work as academic researchers
Work in prisons designing and administering treatment programs
Help the police with investigations / advise on procedures/ employment matters
Evaluate mental health related claims for damages
Provide expert advice in court
What do psychological experts do?
Functions of an expert witness
Challenges of providing expert testimony
Admissibility criteria
Examples of expert evidence
What are the two functions of an expert witness?
Aid in understanding a particular issue relevant to a case, which the expert witness specialises in
Provide an opinion (can speculate) - which is unique
Note either side can ask for an expert witness. They can be clinical or academic psychologists
What are the legal system’s criticisms of psychology?
Lack of ecological validity (a measure of how test performance predicts behaviors in real-world settings) of psychological research
Psychologists become advocates and lose their objectivity (you can get hired by a defender or prosecutor, and its hard to be objective if they are the ones paying you)
‘It’s all common sense’
What is admissibility criteria?
Experts must satisfy judge that they have special knowledge above and beyond the jurors and that this experience will assist jurors –> often look to precedent
What is the admissibility criteria like in England & Wales?
Experts not commonly used because of the R v Turner (1975 case):
It suggests that just because experts are well qualified, doesnt mean they will be helpful to the jury, but thre is danger that the jury will think so and pay too much attention. Thus, ruled against accepting psychologists and psychiatrists as expert witnesses except when mental illness is an issue
Concluded that all other psychological knowledge is seen as common knowledge
However, recent relaxing of Turner ruling has allowed psychological experts to give evidence on issues other than mental illness
What is the admissibility criteria in Australia
Aus and aNZ are also constrained by the Turner ruling - especially the “common knowledge” ruling
Expert evidence relating to eyewitness testimony regularly disallowed.
However, the Evidence Act NSW (1995) abolishes the common knowledge rule
R v skaf (2006)
Psychologists allowed to give expert evidence regarding reliability of certain aspects of the eyewitness testimony - first time in NSW
Evaluate the use of fingerprint identification as a forensic technique
Fingerprint ID evidence has been analysed and used in court for 100+ years
First study to objectively investigate fingerprint id accuracy was published in 2011:
Overall fingerprint experts were very accurate but not perfect –> chance for mistaken sentencing
Experts tend to err on the side of caution by making judgements that would free the guilty
Occasionally make the error that leads to false convictions
Evaluate the use of facial mapping as a forensic technique
Techniques used aren’t standardised and not consistently applied by all practitioners
Process involves taking measurements, noting characteristics or other techniques which are mainly subjective
Mainly unknown validity and reliability
Evaluate the use of hair analysis as a forensic technique
Hair analysis is done by evaluating hair structure and DNA from cells attached to the root of the hair. It can be used to find out if a certain person was at a place at a certain time –> could be convicting
However, through this, people have been wrongfully convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. Studies confirm long suspected problems with subjective pattern based forensic techniques such as hair analysis
WHat is the most common and persuasive form of evidence for jurors used in court?
eyewitness testimony
Do psychologists argue that eyewitness memory is as reliable as the lay person believes?
No psychologists argue the opposite –> eyewitness memory is not as reliable as most people believe
What are the two different ways to assess eyewitness memory
Recall memory
Recognition memory
What is recall memory
Reporting details of previously witnessed event / person (i.e. Short answer questions in a test)
What is recognition memory
Reporting whether what is currently being viewed / heard is the same as the previous witnessed person / event of interest (i.e. identification evidence) (or even mcqs in a test)
What are the two factors affecting eyewitness testimony?
Estimator variables
System Variables
What are estimator variables?
These are variables affecting eyewitness evidence, and aren’t under control of the criminal justice system.
These are variables present at the time of the crime which can’t be changed (such as distance from eyewitness and perpetrator)
What are some flaws in eyewitness testimony?
(These are all actually parts of estimator variables)
Witnesses can view same thing and perceive it differently (‘easy to miss things you aren’t looking for’)
Our expectations affect our perception –> construct memories based on our preconceived beliefs and expectations. (i.e. easy to miss out for typos because we don’t expect them)
Context affects our perception of events
What is own race bias?
Tendency for people to have difficulty identifying people of another race
Can identify our race better than other races - likely due to lack of interracial contact
However, it has been shown that being part of a multicultural society has reduced own race bias
What are the many estimator variables which influence a person’s perspective
Exposure time (how long they were shown the crime)
Lighting
Distance (from crime)
Physical disguise
Distraction
Stress (more stressed you are –> worsens memory -> ‘flashbulb memory’)
What does the Yerkes - Podson Law suggest?
That memory is best at an optimum level of arousal (inverted U hypothesis)
Memory is best at a balance
What is the Easterbrook hypothesis
Highly aroused witnesses have better memory for central details than peripheral details
What we remember depends on how stressed we are
What is the Weapons focus effect?
Shows that the presence of a weapon draws attention and impairs a witness’ ability to identify a culprit
What are system variables? Give examples
These are variables that can be manipulated after the fact / occurence of crime, and impair accuracy of the witness. This is under the control of the justice system.
I.e. the method of questioning by police
Mainly concerns the questioning techniques used by police which can affect eyewitness accuracy (I.e. misleading questions)
What is the misinformation effect? How does it link to system variables
When people are exposed to wrong info about an event after it occurred, it often causes people to incorporate the misinformation into their own memories
Links into system variables because different variables under the control of justice question such as misleading questioning can result in the misinformation effect
Explain the research into the misinformation effect
Participants (Ps) saw pictures of an accident showing a stop sign at an intersection
Some Ps were given leading questions suggesting that it was a ‘give way’ sign at the intersection instead
Participants were later shown 2 pictures - one with the car next to the stop sign and another to a give way sign, and Ps had to pick which one was the right photo
The results showed that these misleading questions which implied misinformation misled the main group
Ps were shown a film of a traffic accident.
Ps were asked “How fast were the cars going when they ‘SMASHED’ into each other’ gave higher speed estimates than those asked “how fast were the cars when they ‘HIT’ each other’ –> shows how small words matter when it comes to misinformation
A week later, Ps in the ‘smashed’ condition were more than twice as likely to recall broken glass when in fact there was none
MacMartin preschool effect –> children are highly susceptible to suggestion
What are the implications of misinformation effect?
Police/legal officials shouldn’t ask misleading questions to prevent misinformation effect –> ask open non leading questions
Needs to be unbiased questions when police officers or lawyers ask / cross examine a witness
What factors influence susceptibility to the misinformation effect?
Age (young and old)
Hypnosis
Suggestibility
Credible source of misinformation
Repetition of misinformation
Misinformation is peripheral (not a central aspect of the event)
What are the limitations of research into the misinformation effect?
Methodological issues
- type of questioning
- ecological validity: applicability of laboratory stimulations to real life solutions
Ethical issues:
- Implanting traumatic false memories
What are false memories?
A false memory is a fabricated or distorted recollection of an event. Such memories may be entirely false and imaginary.
Who was the main researcher into false memories?
Elizabeth Loftus (and a bit of Pickrell).
They wanted to ask whether people would accept suggestions from “rich false memories” (entirely false)
What did the false memory research/experiments include?
Gave students 4 short narrations of childhood stories / experiences, where 3 were provided by families, and 1 was completely false.
Gave false memories such as:
Getting lost in a shopping mall
Being hospitalised overnight
Have an accident at a family wedding
Nearly drowning but being rescued by a lifeguard
Victim of a vicious animal attack
Result is that the fake memories were successfully implanted, with some people confirming the false memories
They also found they could include falsified photographs to confirm false memories
Just to confirm that none of the above have happened (and that they just forgot as well as their parents), the researchers organised something they knew can’t happen (Bugs Bunny at Disneyworld)
Ps were told how they met and shook hands with Bugs Bunny at Disneyland –> 16% reported shaking hands with Bugs Bunny
What are repressed memories?
It is where sometimes memory is repressed deep in the unconscious because something trraumatic had happened, and is later recovered by a similar event happening
What are some examples of research into repressed memories?
Williams (1994) interviewed 129 women who had experienced well documented cases of childhood sexual abuse around 17 years earlier.
Results showed that 38% of women didn’t report abuse in the interviews
Goodman et al (2003) also had a similar study and showed similar responses
What does Mcnally and Geraerts (2009) suggest as an alternative to the two main perspectives (repression vs false memories)
They argue that some people don’t think of abuse as traumatic at the time, and fail to think about abuse for years or forget their previous recollections until they spontaneously recall after encountering memories which are similar, and when they are older and more mature and understanding of what they had been through
What are the two types of lineups?
Target present lineups
Target absent lineups
What are target present lineups?
lineups containing the guilty culprit
What are target absent lineups?
lineups contains innocent suspects only
Why could identification evidence be dangerous?
It is very convincing
Identification evidence is often inaccurate
False IDs have negative consequences –> guilty person goes free and innocent person in jail
What is the evidence that inaccurate IDs have happened before?
Surveyed justice officials
DNA exoneration cases
Empirical studies of ID performance
What were the results/evidence of surveying justice officials?
Reported that over 70% thought that erroneous convictions occurred in less than 1% of the cases.
Even though this sounds little, it is quite a lot, esppecially if we consider around 1.5 million convictions a year in the US
Shows how IDs can be sketchy
What were the results/evidence of DNA exoneration cases?
DNA analysis used to prove innocence of those convicted. 72% of DNA exoneration due to mistaken ID in 2015
What are the two types of empirical studies
Field studies
Laboratory studies
What are the features of field studies?
Have high ecological validity, but lack of experimental control
What are the features of lab studies
Allows for more control, but typically lacks ecological validity
What is ecological validity?
a measure of how test performance predicts behaviours in real-world settings
What were the results/evidence from field studies?
Studies had confederates go into convenience stores / banks to perform unusual transactions
Overall, 41.8% of the IDs were correct, and 35.8% were false
Results were no different to blank clerks who claimed they had been trained in IDing
What were the results/evidence from lab studies?
Participants watch a staged crime. They were then required to identify perpetrator from either photos or a live lineup
Showed rate of false ID varied from 0% to almost 100%. False IDs associated with high witness confidence
What are the problems with lab studies?
Aren’t designed to estimate overall level of accuracy, rather they are designed to investigate the effect of a particular variable (i.e. how does duration of time of seeing perpetrator affect accuracy)
What estimator variables affect accuracy of eyewitness ID?
Viewing conditions
fatigue, alcohol etc
attention
own race bias
weapon focus
arousal
What system variables affect accuracy of eyewitness ID?
ID procedures
Instructions given to witnesses
Composition of lineup
Format of ID procedure
Lineup presentation
What are the two types of ID procedures?
Showups
Lineups
What are showups?
1 person lineup containing only the suspect, which can be performed in street or at police station
Acceptable if there isn’t enough evidence to arrest and conduct lineup
Has been criticised as biased because witnesses know the person the police suspect –> high rate of false IDs as a result
The whole purpose is that it allows for the arrest of a person for further questioning
What are lineups?
Tests ability of witness to identify the suspect when seen with several foils
Procedures vary greatly between jurisdictions
What are the different lineup procedures in different jurisdictions (UK, NSW)
UK, suspect be part of a lineup of 7+ innocent foils of similar appearance, and they can choose their position in the line
In NSW, they are often 20 people in a lineup
What should the composition of lineups be to ensure fairness?
Characteristics of the suspect shouldn’t stand out from those of foils (i.e. gender)
Lineups should contain foils who look like the eyewitness description unless doing so would cause the suspect to stand out
What makes a good ‘foil’
Matches the verbal description of the eyewitness, but differs from suspect in ways not mentioned in the description. (if everyone looks identical, it would be hard to ID someone)
What are the different formats of ID procedures?
live, video, photos
What are the criticisms of live lineups?
Expensive and difficult to arrange
research shows that lineups might not even be worth it –> doesn’t even allow for the person to be identified
What are the types of photograph IDs that could occur
Photo lineups (or photospread)
mugshot search
What are photo lineups?
They test witness ability to recognise a suspect. Involves a series of photographs which may or may not include the suspect
What are mugshot searches?
Should only be used to help identify suspect in the early stages of an investigation.
Involves witnesses being exposed to a whole lot of mugshots and required to identify the person who committed the crime. However there are flaws to this
What is the flaw to mugshot searches
Unocnsious transference: when people remember a face, but mistake the circumstances in which they saw the face –> picks that person in the mugshot search –> false ID
What should the instructions given to witnesses be to ensure no false ID?
Witnesses should be told that perpetrator may or may not be in the lineup
Witnesses more likely to ID someone if they’re told suspect is in the lineup
Thus, have to maintain unbiased instructions
Also, there should be a double blind where the police officer doesn’t know the suspect either, because if they do, they are likely to give verbal and non verbal cues to witness which might lead them to make biased decisions
What are the two methods of lineup presentations?
Simultaneous lineups
Sequential lineups
What are simultaneous lineups?
Present all lineup members at the same time to the witness
What are sequential lineups?
Suspects are presented one at a time, and the person must decide if it is or not the criminal before seeing another photo or person
Which form of lineup is thought to be better?
Sequential lineup, because witnesses use absolute judgement instead of relative judgement
However, sequential lineups less likely to identify any suspect than simultaneous, but when there was identification, they were more likely to be guilty
WHat is relative judgement
Involves comparing lineup members to one another and only choosing who looks the most like the culprit –> who looks more relatively suspicious kind of
What is absolute judgement
Each member of lineup could be equally suspicious. I have to make a decision as to who is the most like the suspect
Each member of lineup is there to test the witness memory
What are the problems of juries with ID/eyewitness testimony?
Jurors more likely to believe confident witnesses but confidence isn’t always related to accuracy
Juries are more likely to convict if there is a witness, even if the witness testimony is discredited
What can be done to address the problems associated with the juries’ assumption of the confidence of witnesses?
9 recommendations:
conduct thorough pre lineup interview of eyewitness to see if they can remember / recognise the suspect or not
decide when or even whether to conduct a lineup
use a neutral administrator to conduct a lineup
setup lineup fillers so suspect doesn’t stand out
Give non suggestive pre lineup instructions to eyewitnesses
Take confidence statements from eyewitness immediately after an identification
VIdeo record the entire procedure
Avoid repeated ID procedures with the same witness and suspect
Avoid “showups” in favour of lineups
Educate jurors about:
biased lineups
lineup instructions given
How confidence isn’t always a good indicator of accuracy
The way in (mis) leading questions can influence memory
What is criminal profiling?
A technique for identifying the major personality and behavioural characteristics of an individual based upon analysis of crimes he/she has committed
Often includes info about demographics, personality and behavioural characteristics
Normally used in serial homicides or rapes
What were the origins of criminal profiling / history of profiling?
Late 1400s: Text written by contractors to catholic church for purpose of accurately idnetifying and eradicating witches
1888:A police surgeon attempted to profile Jack the Ripper
1956: Most famous early case was Dr James Brussel who profiled the “mad bomber”
1970s: Development of criminal profiling program at the FBI
Today: similar programs developed internationally
What are the 5 types of criminal profiling?
Deductive criminal profiling
Inductive criminal profiling
FBI approach
Statistical approach
Geographical profiling
What is the deductive criminal profiling method?
Profiling the background characteristics of an unknown offender based on evidence left at the crime scene(s) by that particular offedner
relies on logical reasoning
WHat is inductive criminal profiling
Has 3 types:
FBI approach
Statistical profiling
Geographical profiling
Here, it involves profiling background characteristics of an unknown offender based on what we know about other solved cases
Relies on determining how likely an offender has certain characteristics given the prevalence of such characteristics among known offenders who committed similar offences
What is the FBI approach?
Involves the organised vs disorganised crime scene approach
The FBI method of profiling is a system created by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used to detect and classify the major personality and behavioral characteristics of an individual
What is the organised vs disorganised crime scene approach
Proposes that crime scenes can be either organised or disorganised, and whichever one it is, it will reveal the behaviours/characteristics of the offender
What are the features of an organised crime scene
Planned in advanced
Specific victim targeted - is “personalised”
Controlled conversation
Crime scene shows signs of control
Restraint used
Body moved and hidden
Evidence and weapon removed
What are the features of a disorganised crime scene
Spontaneous offence
Depersonalises victim
Minimal convesation
Chaotic scene
Sudden violence
Body left in view
Evidence and weapon in view
What can we deduce about the perpetrator from an organised crime scene
Intelligent
Socially competent
Skilled job
Sexually competent
Lives with partner
Follows details of crime in news
May move following crimes etc.
What can we deduce about the perpetrator from an disorganised crime scene
Average IQ
Immature
Poor work history
Sexually incompetent
Lives alone
Lives near crime scene
Little interest in media
Little change in lifestyle after crime etc.
What are the issues with the FBI approach?
Little research examined in the model, and the ones that did showed serious doubts with the model
Can’t account for offences with a mix of organised and disorganised features
Model is too simplistic
What is the statistical approach to criminal profiling
Involves use of data collected from solved similar crimes, and this is analysed using stats
However, this type of analysis can be statistically unstablle, especially if there is no large sample size for data collection
WHat is geographical profiling
Involves analysis of crime scene locations in order to determine the most probable area of offender residence
Assumes that offenders don’t travel long distances from home to commit their crimes
What are examples of experimentla evaluations of how accurate criminal profilers are?
Pinzzotto et al (1990): gave solved cases (sex offence and murder) to profilers detectives, psychologists and students
Profilers did much better with sex offence but not murder
Koscis et al (2000): Gave solved murder cases to profilers, police, psychologists, students and psychis
Psychologists are only slightly better than police and psychics
What is deception?
It is the successful or unsuccessful DELIBERATE attempt without forewarning to create in another a belief which the communicator knows to be false
Describe the history of polygraphs:
1917: William Marston claimed to detect lying by measuring systolic blood pressure
1932: A Lorsou built forerunner to modern polygraph which measured pulse rate blood presure etc.
What are polygraphs? What do they measure?
They measure physiological changes. This thus assumes that telling is a lie is more stressful than telling the truth
They measure examples such as:
Blood pressure
Respiration
Heart rate
Sweating
Briefly describe the uses of polygraphs
Helps in criminal investigations
Verifying a crime occurred
Pre employment screening (especially for security)
What are the legal bindings around the use of polygraphs
Could be used in some conexts in Aus, UK and most of Europe, however it is not part of legal process.
Prohibited from use in criminal investigations Act
What are the 3 types of polygraph tests?
Relevant / Irrelevant test
Control Question Test
Guilty Knowledge Test
What does relevant / irrelevant test mean/ measure?
Invovles asking questions related to crime and irrelevant to it. Idea is that guilty people react more strongly when lying about relevant questions
Issue is that innocents will know which are relative questions of worry –> worrying –> false positive
What does Control Questions Test (CQT) measure?
a technique used in polygraph testing, typically for criminal investigations. In addition to questions relevant to the crime and general questions to get a baseline pattern of physiological responses (i.e., irrelevant questions), the CQT also includes questions about past behavior (e.g., “Have you ever cheated on your taxes?”) with the aim of eliciting strong physiological reactions on the part of examinees.
What is phase 1 of the CQT?
Pre-test interview
Developes yes/no questions discussed with suspect:
Irrelevant questions = no arousal
Relevant questions = Discussed with suspect and agree that its unambiguous. Stressful for guilty but not for innocent
Control questions: Issues related to crime but not crime itself. These questions should embarass both innocent and guilty. These questions require an honest ‘yes’ response, but subject told they must lie, and the polygraph will detect this ‘baseline’
What is phase 2 of CQT?
Important as polygraphs only work if suspects believes they work
This phase involves manipulation.
We need a stimulation test to convince suspect that the polygraph can detect lies.
Often involves a rigged card trick –> pretend polygraph can see if a lie is happening
What is phase 3 of CQT?
Control, relevant and irrelevant questions asked several times
What is phase 4 of CQT?
Score the responses using either:
Subjective impressionism (GLobal approach)
Numerical scoring approach:
relevant > control = -ve score
control . relevant = +ve score
All comparisons added to take a total score
What are the criticisms of CQT?
Difficult to create control Q
Scoring isn’t quantifiable enough
Ethically worse
How do we know if suspect is ‘taken in’ by stim test
Why should innocents have stronger response to control than relevant Qs?
What is the Guilty Knowledge test (GKT) What are the features involved?
Assesses if suspect has info only the criminal would know
Asks suspects MCQ, one option is correct.
Assumes if suspect is guilty, they will react strongly to correct info
Innocents won’t recognise crime relevant details –> no response
Check all alternatives are equally arousing for innocent people
Examiner can’t be aware of correct answer
What are the issues with GKT?
Applicability: issue arises when info is released to media –> everyone already has access to the info –> can’t be used unless lots of details which are only known to perpetrator
Knowledge of perpetrator: Assumes perpetrator knows or remembers details which might not be true
Describe the accuracy of CQT
Majority of guilty are identified accurately
84% to 92% guilty identified
Relatively large number of innocent suspects falsely identified as guilty through this method (9% to 24% ) –> false positives
Describe the accuracy of GKT
Very accurate at identifying innocents (95% correct ID). Less accurate at identifying guilty participants (85%)
What are the current directions for research into polygraphs
People say lying is considered more stressful –> voice changes –> voice stress analysis (VSA), however this has been shown to be unlikely to tell the truth or lie
Recebt research into EEG and brain scanning by fMRI, however results of studies havent shown enoug consistency to be admissible in court
What are the two goals of police interrogation
Gain info which furthers the investigation
Obtain confession
What is the history of coercive measures used in police interrogations?
Mid 1900s: whipping suspects for confession
1980s: stun guns for confessions
More recently: Psychological methods such as deceit
What is the nine step approach to interrogation?
It involves techniques from Inbau, Reid and Buckleys (1986) ‘Criminal Interrogations and confessions’ book
Techniques are unlawful in many western European countries and Australia
What are the 3 general stages to the nine step approach to interrogations
Gather evidence
Conduct a non-accusatorial interview to assess deception
Conduct accusatorial interrogation to obtain a confession
What are the 9 steps in breaking down the suspec’s resistance ?
Positive confrontation
Theme development
Handling denials
Overcoming objections
Retaining suspect’s attention
Handling suspect’s mood
Create opportunity to confess
Oral confession
Converting an oral confession to a written one
What settings of the interrogation is optimal?
Small, bare room
Control of aspects such as lighting should be inaccessible to suspect
Invasion of suspect’s physical space
One way mirror
What does positive confrontation entail in the 9 step approach?
Involves the:
Direct presentation of real or fictional(can be made up) evidence and suspects involvement in crime
Behavioural cues of suspect observed
Repetition of accusation
What does theme development entail in the 9 step approach?
Theme development depends on emotional state of suspect:
If emotional –> minimisation
Non Emotional –> maximisation
However, we could flip from minimisation to maximisation or the reverse as well throughout the interview
What does minimisation mean
Involves acting as a good cop, build rapport and help minimise the perceived seriousness of the crime, minimise blame on victim
What does maximisation mean
Involves acting as a bad cop. Intimidate suspects to confess
What does handling denials entail in the 9 step approach?
Involves stopping suspect’s repetition / elaboration of denials
This is because the more a suspect does this, the harder it is to be persuaded to tell the truth
Innocents wont allow their denials to be cut off, but guilty suspects will
What does overcoming objections entail in the 9 step approach?
Shows understanding when faced with objections, and can return to conversation theme
What does retaining suspect’s attention entail in the 9 step approach?
Achieved by moving close to the suspect, leaning in towards them and maintaing eye contact
What does handling suspect’s mood entail in the 9 step approach?
Interrogation focuses on the suspects mind on potential reasons for committing crime
Interrogator exhibits signs of sympathy, urges subject to tell truth and create remorseful mood
What does creating opportunities to confess entail in the 9 step approach?
Suspects given opportunity to explain or give excuse for crime
Two alternate explanations of crime: acceptable and unaccpetable excuses. Here, the alternative is stressed to lead subjects to choose the other positive ‘face-saving’ excuse / acceptable excuse.
However, either choice is an admission of guilt –> bad
What does oral confession entail in the 9 step approach?
Involves the suspect orally disclosing circumstances, motives and details of crime
Questions should be brief, clear and non emotional
Brief responses involved
What does converting oral confession to a written one entail in the 9 step approach?
Get suspect to write confession as they could sometimes deny they made an oral confession
Psychological reasons why the nine step approach works
minimisation emphasises positive aspects of admitting guilt
Maximisation emphasises negative aspects of not making a confession
These techniques create a more positive attitude to confession
What are the concerns with the nine step approach system?
Officers enter the interrogation with the belief that the suspect is guilty, which can lead to inappropriate biases
Trickery and deceit are unlawful in several countries and unethical
Pressing suspects to confess may result in the opposite effects (the “boomerang effect”) and suspects may retain strong feelings of resentment towards police
Guilty suspect may catch on to bluffing and not believe anything told
Police may think it’s okay to bluff in other circumstances
Vulnerable suspects may get PTSD
Brief responses from suspects might not give the whole, accurate story
Assumes that police officers can accurately detect deception when little evidence supports this assumption and indicators of deception endorsed are not appropriate
Technique may lead to false confessions
What are false confessions?
Occurs when individuals confess to a crime they didn’t commit or exaggerate involvement in a crime they didn’t commit
What is the frequency of false confessions?
27% of prisoners gave false confessions
95% of new inmates to Icelandic persons interviewed ove 12 months:
12% claimed to have made a false confession
Greater than 50% said they made false confession to escape interrogation
Less than 50% said they did it to protect others
What are the 3 types of false confessions?
Voluntary
Coerced-compliant
Coerced-internalisation
What is a voluntary false confession? Why does it occur?
Occurs without being prompted..
Could be because:
Desire for notoriety
Inability to distinguish fact from fiction
Protect real offender
Subconsious need to be punished
What are coerced - compliant false confessions?
Here confessions are a response to desire to escape further interrogation or gain a reward or avoid threatened punishment. Here the confessor knows they didn’t commit a crime
What are coerced - internalised false confessions
Results of highly suggestive interrogations. Confessor comes to believe they actually committed the crime
People with learning disabilities more susceptible to this
What are the two psychological concepts important to false confessions?
Compliance and suggestibility
What does compliance mean?
Tendency to go along with authority
What does suggestibility mean?
Tendency to internalise info communicated through questions
What is the admissibility of confessions
They must be given voluntary by a person who is competent
Confessions obtained by coercive tactics aren’t admissible in court
What are the costs of false confessions?
Confessor is arrested
Police get directed down a false trail –> cant catch real offedner
Public loses faith in the capabilities of police because of revelation of false confessions
What is the PEACE model?
It is important to a form of ‘investigative interviewing’ which aims to reduce the ‘investigation’ aspect.
Includes:
Planning and preparation
Explain and engage
Account
Closure
Evaluation
What does the strategic use of evidence (SUE) criticise about the 9 step model?
It reveals information too early in the process, which is detrimnetal to innocent suspects and beneficial to those guilty
According to SUE echnique, late disclosure of evidence can assist in distinguishing truth from lie
What are the current practices in Aus for interrogations?
All interviews with suspects is to be recorded using Electronic Recording Of Interview With Suspects (ERISP).
Videotaping interrogations
What are the benefits of videotaping interrogations?
Protects police against false allegations of abuse
Protects citizens from police coercion
Allows courts to make informed decisions
Why might confession culture continue to live on?
Pressure on police to solve crimes quickly
Suspects who confess are more likely to plead guilty
Confession evidence helps prosecution
Detectives who obtain confessions are highly regarded
Police officers often assume suspect is guilty
How many suspects confess?
Confession rates from 49-61%
Similar confession rates before and after changes in laws regarding manipulative and persuasive tactics, and similar confession rates in the US
The stereotypical beliefs that suspects deny involvement in crimes and prefer to remain silent are untrue
Only a small minority of suspects change their ‘position’ throughout an interview
What are the significant predictors of confessions?
Strength of evidence (strong evidence –> increased confessions)
Perceived seriousness of crime (decreased seriousness –> increased confession)
The presence of a legal advisor (Decreased confession with legal advisor present)
Criminal history of the suspect (less likely to confess if experienced at crime)
Explain lab research on false confessions and the findings
Participants accused of committing a “crime”–pressing the “Alt key” when told not to because computer crashes. However, computer set to crash automatically
Manipulated:
Participants vulnerability (typing pace)
Presence of false evidence (false witnesses)
Results show two factors increase risk of false confessions:
Suspect who lacks clear memory of event
Presentation of false eveidence
However, the study was criticised as participants had no -ve consequence for confession. Thus, it was replicated but participants told they lose 80% of reward if confession is signed. Still 82% signed and 42% internalised the confession
What are the requirements for jurors in Aus?
Jurors must have citizenship
Be at least 18 years of age
No ex prisoners (within 10 years)
senators , judges, medical professionals etc. exempt
What is the main function of a jury?
Apply the law to the evidence and render a verdict of guilt or innocence.
Uses wisdom of 12, and acts as the community conscience and protects against out of date laws
What is jury nullification?
Juries ignoring the law and rendering a verdict based on other criteria..
May happen in cases where juries believe the law is unfair
What are the desired characteristics of a jury?
Impartiality - Lack of bias on the part of the jurors
Representativeness - Representative of community ensured through random selection from community
What is impartiality affected by?
Pre existing biases, prejudices, attitudes
Negative pretrial publicity
What is representativeness affected by?
Affected by how the original panel is selected, what % of people turn up, who is disqualified and who can avoid jury duty etc.
How is a jury selected?
Court uses voter lists, phone directories to find eligible people for juries
People are randomly drawn from list and summoned for duty
Pretrial gathering of potential jurors from which jurors are selected
What are the two parts which contribute to how jury is selected in the court?
Peremptory challenges
Challenge for cause
What are peremptory challenges?
Removal of a limited number of prospective jurors without specifying reasons
What is a challenge for cause?
Both parties have unlimited right to challenge with “cause” i.e. for a stated reason
What is jury selection?
Process of choosing and shaping jury through use of peremptory challenges and challenges with causes
Do demographic variables predict juror verdicts?
No they can’t consistently predict it
What is the main determinant of juror verdicts
Evidence > characteristics of jurors are main determinants of juror verdicts
What is scientific jury selection?
It draws correlations between demographics and trial-relevant attitudes.
If prospective jurors have an unfavourable profile, they will use a peremptory challenge to exclude them
What is the problem with using scientific jury selections?
There may be a problem with representativeness of jury of the whole population
What is a good thing with scientific jury selections?
Allows for picking jurors with more refined version than intuition.
What are 4 ways of studying jury behaviours?
Post trial interviews
Archival Records
Simulation Techniques
Field Studies
Explain post trial interviews and the limitations associated with it
Interviews after trials. However, not possible in many countries because jurors cant disclose content of deliberations. However it can be done in the US
Limitations include:
social desirability of responses
Inaccurate recall
Explain archival records and the limitations associated with it
Uses records of trials (e.g. transcripts, police interviews)
Limitations include:
Inability to establish cause and effect
Limited in what questions can be asked by information available for collection
Explain simulation techniques and the limitations associated with it
Mock jurors presented with simulated trial and asked to have a verdict or judgement. Independent variables can be manipulated.
Limitations include:
Can’t be generalised to real life (especially due to no real consequence)
Explain field studies and the limitations associated with it
Research conducted within real trial, and enables researchers to observe processes using ‘shadow juries’. This has high ecological validity
Limitations include:
Obtaining permission from courts is difficult
Variables of interest can’t be controlled
Most research examines US jury systems, with very little consideration of other countries such as Aus
What are the 6 parts to reaching a verdict?
Listening to the evidence
Disregarding inadmissable evidence
Judge’s instructions
Juror decision making
Jury deliberation
The final verdict
What is the ‘listening to evidence’ part of reaching a verdict?
Involves listening to evidence. Research suggests that note taking may help jurors increase memory and understanding of evidence and attention –> note taking can be helpful
Also, jurors can’t always comprehend meaning of statistical evidence and scientific findings, thus jurors can ask witnesses questions via the judge. Research shows that questions increase understanding but dont really help get to the truth
What is the ‘Disregarding inadmissable evidence’ part of reaching a verdict?
During trials, lawyers or witnesses may make inadmissible statements that juries will be instructed to disregard
Jurors may not ignore evidence although they have been instructed to disregard it
In fact, instructions to ignore inadmissible evidence can boomerang–adding to the impact of the testimony
Why is it hard to ignore some evidence?
The instruction draws attention to the controversial evidence
Arouses reactance: The desire to assert one’s sense of freedom
Jurors want to reach the right decision, regardless of legal technicalities
WHat is the ‘Judges’ instructions’ part of reaching a verdict?
Studies suggest that jurors do not remember, understand, or accurately apply judicial instructions
Reforms for judges’ instructions have been proposed (e.g., rewriting instructions, providing a written copy to jurors)
What is the ‘Juror decision making’ part of reaching a verdict? –> what can it be predicted by?
Mathematical and explanation models are used to explain juror decisions
Explain mathematical models used to explain juror decisions
Views jury decision-making as a set of mental calculations
A mathematical weight is assigned to each piece of evidence
Research indicates jurors do not put a value to each piece of evidence
Explain explanation models used to explain juror decisions
Suggests evidence is organized into a coherent whole
E.g., Story model: Involves imposing a story structure to the evidence for each verdict option
Research indicates this is more consistent with how jurors make their decisions
What is the ‘jury deliberation’ part of reaching a verdict?
Involves the jury deliberating on the decision. It can also have other factors playing a part in it, such as the leniency bias, group polarisation and minority deliberation
What is leniency bias?
Tendency for jury deliberation to produce a tilt towards acquittal
What is group polarisation?
Individuals tend to become more extreme in their initial position after group discussion
What is minority deliberation?
Not overly likely in jury situations, but often a minority favouring acquittal stands a better chance than one that favours conviction
What is the ‘The final verdict’ part of reaching a verdict?
Involves coming to the final decision/vedict
Involves the ‘two third majority scheme’ <– predicted by this.
Also, as of 2007, majority verdicts are accepted in NSW (11 to 1) if there is no unanimous verdict, however there cant be a hung jury
WHat is the two thirds majority scheme?
Jury verdict is usually the alternative favoured by 2/3 of jurors
What are 4 common variables which could predict the final verdict?
Demographic
Personality
Attitudes
Defendant characteristics
How could demographics predict the final verdict
Juror demographic characteristics to predict verdicts is often inconsistent and has a small correlation
There may be an interaction between demographics of jury and defendant or nature of offence
Participants more likely to have guilty verdicts and longer sentences for “other race” defendants
When defendant race is made salient, juror racial bias towards black defendants decrease.
How could personality predict the final verdict
Some personality dimensions have been suggested to predict verdict
E.g., Moderate link between an authoritarian personality and rendering a guilty verdict
Some jurors are more persuasive than others (e.g., extroverts, male, tall)
How could attitudes predict the final verdict
Jurors willing to give the death penalty are more likely to render a guilty verdict than those opposed to the death penalty
Research on other attitudes or values is insufficient to reach definitive conclusions
How could defendant characteristics predict the final verdict
Criminal history has been found to impact verdicts
Less attractive defendants found to be guilty when jurors did not deliberate, however the attractive defendant was more likely to be found guilty when jury allowed to deliberate
Similarity - latency hypothesis
Black sheep effect
What is the similarity - latency hypothesis?
Jurors who share characteristics with the defendant will be more lenient
What is the black sheep effect?
Similarity between defendent and jurors predicted leniency, except when there is strong evidence against defendant in which case it was more severe
(may be because of a desire to be dissociated from the person who seems similar)
What are the arguments against jurors?
Being trialed by one’s peers does not guarantee a fair trial
Juries are not always representative of community
Jury does not give reason for decision
Juries can be unpredictable –decisions may not be rational
Jury trials often result in mistrials or hung juries
Juries are expensive and slow
Juries sometimes do not understand or remember evidence
Too important a job to be left to amateurs!
What are the arguments for juries?
