A Proven Case of False Confession: Psychological Aspects of the Coerced-Compliant Type

Abstract

This paper describes the case of a 17-year-old youth who falsely confessed to two murders during police interrogation while not legally represented. He again confessed during a second interview in the presence of a duty solicitor, and later made further misleading admissions to prison staff and another inmate while at the beginning of his remand. The confession elicited by the police appeared very detailed and apparently convincing. The confession subsequently by chance proved to be false. It appears to have resulted from persistent pressure and psychological manipulation of a man who was at the time distressed and susceptible to interrogative pressure. Following the withdrawal of the charges by the prosecution and the conviction of somebody else for the offense, a detailed psychological assessment indicated a clear improvement in the man's ability to assert himself and to cope with interrogative pressure. The youth was of average intelligence, suffered from no mental illness and his personality was not obviously abnormal.

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