Factors Influencing Jail Inmates’ Interrogation and Confession Decision Making: Results from an American Study

• In Event: Policing Research Using Large Datasets

Abstract

Surprisingly few studies have examined police interrogation strategies from suspects’ perspectives, yet assessing suspects’ views about interviewer approaches could provide important insights into confession decision making. Of the few suspect-focused studies published, most employed convicted prisoner samples, whose interrogation experiences were years prior, and virtually all were conducted outside the US, where legal systems and police practices differ. This study explored US jail inmates’ (N = 418) perspectives about how police should conduct criminal interrogations. This presentation first reports results of a factor analysis of 26 survey items pertaining to various interrogation tactics. Four factors emerged associated with Dominance/Control, Humanity/Integrity, Sympathy/Perspective-Taking, and Rapport. Respondents most strongly endorsed Rapport strategies and were unsupportive of approaches involving Dominance/Control. Additionally, we assessed the interrogation experiences of a subset of the sample (n = 249) who had been custodially interrogated in connection with their current charge. Twenty-one percent of respondents fully confessed, 23%partially confessed, and 51% denied allegations (50.6%). Group differences according to demographic factors, criminological factors, and contextual factors were assessed, and confession groups differed most for contextual factors (e.g., perceived strength of evidence, a priori confession decision). Finally, we assessed the relative influence of these factors on suspects' confession decision making.

Authors

• Hayley Cleary, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Ray Bull, University of Derby