Interrogations are a crucial part of every investigation. The main objective of an interrogation is to get a presumably guilty suspect out of denial and to admission (Kassin, Leo, Meissner, Richman & Colwell, 2007). With this goal, interrogation techniques are designed to break down a suspect’s resistance and elicit a confession. There are a number of manuals for interrogations that are used, but generally interrogations can be broken down into a two-step process. The investigator first seeks to convince the suspect that there are no other options, and then must convince the suspect that the benefits of giving a confession outweigh the cost. Studies have shown that interrogations lead to a confession 46-68% of the time. However, there is recent
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With this technique, the interrogator does an interview with the suspect to determine if they display any verbal or nonverbal signs of guilt (Frantzen, 2010). If the interrogator is confident in the presence of guilt, the aim shifts to obtain a confession (Dixon, 2010). Here the tactics used are designed to minimize guilt and put emphasis on any available evidence and the suspects need for cooperation (Frantzen, 2010). Psychological pressure is put onto the suspect in order to build anxiety and push them to give up the truth. It is then up to the interrogator to read the body language of the suspect and sift through for the truth (Dixon, 2010). The Reid technique is widely used, some researchers believe that all interrogation tactics can be broken up into two categories, minimization and maximization. Minimization refers to when the interrogator displays sympathy and provides the suspect with moral justification for the crime committed, in a gently and subtle for of persuasion (Chapman, 2013; Narchet, Meissner, & Russano, 2011). Maximization, on the other hand, is more aggressive as the interrogator displays a solid belief in the suspect’s guilt and tries to assert that any attempt to deny guilt will fail (Chapman, 2013). Research has shown that use of minimization and maximization, as well as other manipulative techniques, can increase the chance of a false confession being obtained (Narchet et al.,
With this technique, the interrogator does an interview with the suspect to determine if they display any verbal or nonverbal signs of guilt (Frantzen, 2010). If the interrogator is confident in the presence of guilt, the aim shifts to obtain a confession (Dixon, 2010). Here the tactics used are designed to minimize guilt and put emphasis on any available evidence and the suspects need for cooperation (Frantzen, 2010). Psychological pressure is put onto the suspect in order to build anxiety and push them to give up the truth. It is then up to the interrogator to read the body language of the suspect and sift through for the truth (Dixon, 2010). The Reid technique is widely used, some researchers believe that all interrogation tactics can be broken up into two categories, minimization and maximization. Minimization refers to when the interrogator displays sympathy and provides the suspect with moral justification for the crime committed, in a gently and subtle for of persuasion (Chapman, 2013; Narchet, Meissner, & Russano, 2011). Maximization, on the other hand, is more aggressive as the interrogator displays a solid belief in the suspect’s guilt and tries to assert that any attempt to deny guilt will fail (Chapman, 2013). Research has shown that use of minimization and maximization, as well as other manipulative techniques, can increase the chance of a false confession being obtained (Narchet et al.,