BACKGROUND

Title: Coercive Interrogations

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INTRODUCTION

Definition

Crime

crime is a term that describes unlawful harmful acts to an individual, group or the public and is punishable by law by imprisonment, fine or at some extremes, death. violence, robbery, murder, assault and many others are some of the known crimes in the globe known to exist. age, gender, race are among some of the most commonly known factors that influence crime but beside them as well exist some psychological and sociological factors, (Aquinas, 1988).

In modern world, crime is everywhere and is being committed by just anyone and as a result is harmful to the society and is hence the work of the law to enforce peace and order and perform justice on behalf of the society.

INTRODUCTION CONT…

LAW

law, can be described a body of official rules and regulations, that are mostly located in a constitutions, legislation, judicial opinions, that are used to govern and control the society and the behavior of its members, (Souper, 2008).

The law helps counter crime and has several bodies who enforce it and help maintain it in the society.

However, despite it being enforced, crime is still out there and it is upon this enforcers to commence it and there exist different ways to do so. Such include ;interrogation, (Perri & Lichtenwald, 2008).

INTERROGATION

DEFINITION:

Interrogation can be defined as the act of interviewing an individual as commonly known to be done by law enforcement officers, military personnel, and intelligence agencies, (Perri & Lichtenwald, interrogation, 2008).

AIM:

The main aim of interrogation is usually to get or extract eliciting useful information from and individual or group for a specific purpose.

NB; interrogation is a useful act as it helps provide or extract useful information especially in matters of security and crime. However, in some instances, it can provide false information that is not helpful at all cost or even lead one to a trap, not fully reliable, (sakihara, 2014).

Types of interrogations

1. The traditional method

The traditional method of interrogation, commonly regarded as, we will beat the truth out of you method, is a brutal method of interrogation that involves beating the offender to confession. It involves hard ways of getting information like depriving the subject of food, water and sleep, applying physical discomfort, beating them up with rubber hose in-order not to leave marks and even threats and intimidate them and eventually they broke and caused the subject to accept whatever story they are being fed just to escape the abuse.

2. The Reid technique

The Reid technique, commonly known as, “we can tell year lyin’ by the way ya blink yer eyes”. it is most famous as it is an interrogation technique that has been taught in most police academies since the 70s. It mainly relies on a careful  build-up of rapport, tests for reliability on known answers in-order to control questions, and as well to observe the body language so as to identify anxiety, which, according to Reid, is a signal for lying.

Types of interrogations

3. The good cop, bad cop method

This is a tactical interrogation method, regarded in the streets as, “Hey buddy, you can trust me”. This is a technique that involves two parties playing on opposite angles, one is usually so nurturing, while the other party is angry and threatening. In most cases, when the subject is under high pressure situation, they mostly end up opening up to the one offering compassion, and even go along with suggestions and cooperation hoping to secure their protection from the presumably nice person.

4. The PEACE method.

The peace method is a new interviewing technique that is in its way to gaining acceptance as an effective and harmless way to discover the truth without creating false witnesses. The PEACE (Preparation and Planning, Engage and Explain, Account, Closure and Evaluate) resembles a journalistic approach, and appears to be very straightforward. It assumes that a liar despite how good he might be, will build up a series of false explanations, and the more the subject lies, the more he has to juggle in his mind and eventually, an inconsistent detail will break out and break down the whole fabrication, (Team, 2014).

False confession

In a crime case, interrogation is crucial so as to obtain necessary information to perform justice on those involved. However not all forms of interrogations are appropriate, some of this techniques of interrogations such as; the traditional method, and the Reid technique, lead the subject to provide false confession.

DEFINITION: FALSE CONFESSION

A false confession can be defined as an admission of guilt for a crime for which the subject is not responsible for. It is an act that can be induced through coercion or by the incompetency of the accused, ((Kenneth Padowitz, 2007).

Types of false confessions

1. Voluntary false confessions

Voluntary false confessions are done from free will without any interrogation. In some cases, the individual just wants to be in the public spotlight and hence comes out as a witness with false information or confession. One good example of such voluntary false confession was experienced in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping of 1932; according to reports, its said that over 200 people falsely confessed to the kidnapping.

2. Coerced false confessions

Coerced false confession is categorized into two;

a. Coerced-compliant confession

This is a type of false confession whereby the innocent suspect knowingly gives a false confession so as to end the interrogation, probably out of fear, or just because someone promised something, probably the police, for giving a confession. These individuals privately know of their innocence, but still choose to give a confession for various reasons.

Types of false confessions

b. Coerced-internalized confessions

This is a false confession where the innocent individual confesses to a crime, and then later on comes to believe that they actually did in fact commit the crime. In most cases, stress and how one manages it and pressure of the one been interrogated from their interrogator makes the subject confused and end up confessing falsely, (Kenneth Padowitz, 2013).

Characteristics of people more at risk of coercive interrogation tactics

1. Innocent

2. Mentally challenged

3. Incompetent

4. Uncooperative

5. poor appearance e.g dressing

6. Poor presentation

7. arrogant

Personality assessment

Personality assessment, can be described as the measure of personal characteristics, (Sarason, 2015).

The characteristics of a subject determine the type of interrogation they are doomed to face. However, innocents at time are also and mostly in the mix of coercive interrogations, thereby only a judge can determine the characteristic of the subject and with his knowledge, weigh the confessions made and evaluate the type of interrogation applied on the subject to determine whether they are really guilty or not.

Hence if the attorney general is able to convince that they patient is innocent or in any case if they are mentally unstable, prove that as well as explain the type of interrogation technique used, then the judge and jury may be swayed towards the side of the subjects innocence in the matter accused of.

 

Personality assessment tool

1. Myers-briggs type indicator

The myers-briggs type indicator is a personality assessment tool that helps evaluate the nature of ones thinking, their nature of decision making, their attentions, their judgment and how they perceive different situations. It evaluates ones ability to solve conflicts and manage stress, hence providing a detailed information about the personality traits of an individual, (CPP, 2009).

Hence, the attorney would be encourage to make use of such a personality assessment tool to prove the innocence of their client, their judgment and perception that would make them less suspects of the crime at hand.

Psychological test

As well, its essential to prove the mental state and psychological nature of the client to assure that he made the decision of their right mind and not from depression, anxiety, stress, threats or from a mental disorder. Hence, performing a psychological test on the client and availing the results would help secure their innocence.

Some of the most applicable psychological tests include;

1. Personality test

Determine and prove the character traits of the subject

2. Neuropsychological test

This test is used to detect cognitive impairment mainly as a result of brain damage due to pressure, depression and stress, (Williams, 2010).

interview

Based on a clients response to police interrogation, it would be necessary for their attorney general to maintain the following;

1. Avoid Complicating questions that will make the client not sure what to say

2. Avoid giving pressure towards the client

3. Avoid implicating questions

4. Avoid being the police and avoid using their methods

5. Show the client you understand no matter what.

references

(Kenneth Padowitz, 2. (2007). false confession. CPP. (2009). myers-briggs type indicator. Kenneth Padowitz, P. (2013). Kinds of False Confessions. Perry, F. S., & Lichtenwald, T. G. (2008). interrogation. Perry, F. S., & Lichtenwald, T. G. (2008). interrogation. sakihara, a. (2014). pros and cons of interrogation. Sarason, I. G. (2015). personality assessment. Team, T. F. (2014). Police Interrogation Techniques . Williams, Y. (2010). psychological tests.

Aquinas, T. (1988). law and crime

Souper, M. (2008). law.