VOLUNTARY FALSE CONFESSION
Wrong convictions have been said to be a rising case that is seeking the attention of the media both in North America and Britain. Though it is considered that such cases are very unusual, discharges of convicted individuals are happening at an increasing rate which is not estimated by the criminal justice system. Cases of false confession are seen as a major cause for these wrongful convictions. A false confession is admitting willingly that one has committed a crime, though the person is not responsible. False confessions can be extracted with the help of force or made by a person suffering from a mental disability or problem. However, voluntary false confessions to a crime happen when a suspect falsely confesses because of personal or any other reasons with no incidents of being pressurized to do so. (Kassin and Gudjonsson, 2005) This paper intends to explore the factors behind voluntary false confessions, and the reasons for which people commit crimes that they didn’t do.
Protect the accused – A study suggests that the intention of shielding someone from punishment or conviction is the major reason that induces a confessor to give a voluntary false confession. (Kassin and Gudjonsson, 2005) Those voluntarily coming out and confessing might be close to the main accused. In such cases, they voluntarily take up the blame on themselves to protect the guilty from harsh punishments or consequences. Most of the time, these are found to be the parents of the accused, who want to protect their child from the judicial system. In other cases, it has been found that a person is being coerced by the accused or his family, to take the blame for the crime committed on themselves. The people confessing to the crime are mostly paid handsomely in such scenarios so that they diligently take the blame and serve the term on behalf of the accused. Such scenarios are very common in cases of high-profile crimes. (Townsend, 2017)
Gain notoriety – In high-profile cases of crime, it has been evident that there are false confessions given voluntarily by people who didn’t commit the crime themselves. These have been implicated to be done with the motive of becoming famous. Upon investigations, it has been found that people confess to this crime of a pathological need for fame or notoriety, resulting from low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy. ‘It is not rare for multiple innocent people to tell the police they are guilty. More than 200 people, for example, confessed to the 1932 kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's infant son.’ (Alfano, 2006) In most cases, these actions indicate a desire for attention. People doing such false confessions believe the two-minute fame will change their not so happening life, and bring momentarily fame which they have been struggling to get for a long.
Vulnerability of the suspect – Most of the cases of voluntary false confession observed have suggested that suspects may give into the confession to avoid the severity of the investigative situation (e.g., physical force or psychological intimidation). They believe that if they come forward and confess, they will be treated leniently by the police and law. They anticipate that they will be allowed to meet their family, make a call or rest, etc. ‘They might have a fear of detention and think that if they confess they will get out more quickly and hope that their lawyer will sort it all out.’ (Kassin, 2008) However, in such cases, the suspect only considers the short-term consequences such as evading the interrogation process and doesn’t weigh in long-term repercussions of the confession. In other instances, the suspect might also realise that there seems to be no way of proving his/her innocence and confesses in order to gain a reduced sentence.
Juvenile confessions - The research done on societal conditions indicates that youths are most likely to give voluntary false confessions. Most of the growth characteristics that describe developmental incompetency also apply to young children and adolescents. Several juveniles are submissive. As per research done by Steven A. Drizin and Richard A. Leo, it was found that 125 false confession cases were registered between 1971 and 2002, with 40 convicted juveniles. (Leo, 2009) The submissive nature of this young population, easily gives in to pressure, whether internal or external, and confesses to crimes, even though they have not committed the same. In fact, the young confessors give in readily to police interrogation, and coercive investigations, fearing for any harsh treatment and procedures. (Kassin and Gudjonsson, 2004)
Cognitive or Intellectual Disability – In the past few years, there have been several records of false confessions from the developmentally impaired. Research done indicated that out of 1,249 cases of mentally impaired, 274 convicted are those who confessed to crimes which they did not do. (Kassin and Gudjonsson, 2004) Several incidences of false confession happen because of cognitive incapability and incompetency to manage behaviors. The mentally impaired are most likely to become easily stressed. They are devoid of the psychiatric competency to endure the similar burden, suffering, and worry as those with normal mental capabilities. Thus, they are seen to evade scenarios involving any kind of conflict. They might consider low levels of stress, which are far away from the ones witnessed during police investigations, as troubling. Such suspects are most likely to crumble before police questioning and give in to their pressures, even if it leads to committing a false confession. The moment of such confessors is the point wherein they give in to what the interviewer wants to hear so as to avoid an aggressive interrogation. The levels in which they break are often much below levels lower compared to that of a mentally competent person. (Shaw, & Porter, 2015)
Personality Disorders– People suffering from depression are often seen to voluntarily confess to crimes, as they want to feel relieved of any guilt they have involving a real or imaginary incident of wrongdoing in the past. In recent years, there has been numerous study conducted which suggests that impairments like depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increases the chances of a confessor to commit to crimes he or she didn’t do. The magnitude of such incidence is witnessed as being diverse and wide. Research done on 90 male prisoners in Iceland showed the increased threat of false confessions prevalent among offenders identified with ADHD. Out of the sample of 90 convicts, 31 % percent of which were characterised with characterised sample. Among this group of ADHD characterised sample, 41 % testified of making a false confession to the police. However, for the same survey involving non-ADHD characterised sample, only 18% confessed to false confessions, which is a much lower figure than that of the ADHD sample. Thus, the researchers concluded that confessors with ADHD symptoms are susceptible to confessing to crimes that they are not likely to commit. (Russano and Meissner, 2003)
To conclude, social researchers have recognized numerous factors which indicate that a suspect is likely to confess to a crime that he did not commit. Voluntary false confessions are justified as the state of an internal psychological need or incompetence of the confessor or by external pressure induced upon him by someone other than the police. Majority of the voluntary false confessions occur due to an internal mental disorder or psychiatric syndrome. It has been witnessed by scholars and psychiatrists that non-guilty people are likely to voluntarily give false confessions for varied reasons, comprising of a pathological wish for notoriety, a desire for punishing themselves arising from any past guilt of wrongdoings, incompetency to distinct the reality from false evidence due to psychology disorder, or the intent of shielding the real culprit.
References
Alfano, S. (2006). False Confessions Are No Rarity. Cbsnews.com. Retrieved 23 March 2017
Kassin, S. (2008). False Confessions: Causes, Consequences, and Implications for Reform. Current Directions In Psychological Science, 17(4), 249-253.
Kassin, S., & Gudjonsson, G. (2004). The Psychology of Confessions: A Review of the Literature and Issues. Psychological Science In The Public Interest, 5(2).
Kassin, S., & Gudjonsson, G. (2005). True Crimes, False Confessions. Scientific American Mind, 16(2), 24-31.
Leo, R. (2009). False Confessions: Causes, Consequences, and Implications. Journal Of The American Academy Of Psychiatry And The Law Online, 37(3), 332-343.
Russano, M., & Meissner, C. (2003). The Psychology of Interrogations and False Confessions: Research and Recommendations. THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF POLICE & SECURITY SERVICES, 1(1).
Shaw, J., & Porter, S. (2015). Constructing Rich False Memories of Committing Crime. Psychological Science, 26(3), 291-301.
Townsend, M. (2017). Police warned about rising risk of false confessions. the Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2017
