NCJ Number
139396
Journal
Security Management Volume: 36 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1992) Pages: 64-66,69-72
Date Published
1992
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The psychologically sophisticated interrogation techniques increasingly being used are encountering legal challenges regarding their legitimacy as a means of obtaining a confession, but these techniques are not only proper but are also often essential in discovering the facts.
Abstract
These techniques are nonthreatening and involve no risks to the suspects. Unfortunately, many judges do not understand either the extent to which interrogators must use these techniques or the ability of both innocent and guilty suspects to resist these techniques without confessing. Interrogations have three main goals: (1) to determine the probability that the suspect is or is not the offender; (2) to eliminate the innocent by eliciting information, evidence, or behavior symptoms indicating that fact; and (3) to obtain a confession from the guilty or information regarding the involvement of other persons. Obtaining a confession is psychologically accomplished through the processes of reducing the suspect's resistance to confess and increasing the desire to tell the truth. Challenges to these techniques usually involve arguments that they used brainwashing, hypnosis, coercion, compulsive tactics, or undue duress. However, proper interrogation techniques allow the suspect to terminate an interrogation at any time and do not cause innocent people to confess to crimes.