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Unmaking a murderer: behaviour sequence analysis of false confessions
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Unmaking a murderer: behaviour sequence analysis of false confessions

D.A. Keatley, A. Marono and D.D. Clarke
Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, Vol.25(3), pp.425-436
2018
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Abstract

The causes of false confessions are an important issue in legal studies and forensics. Recent advances in DNA testing have increased the number of proven false confessions; however, there are probably many cases without scientific evidence to refute the guilty verdict. The current research provides a novel approach to understand the structure and process of police interrogation techniques, in the United States behaviour sequence analysis. This method allows complex interactions in interrogations to be broken down and the progression of techniques analysed clearly. A case study is provided of an individual who confessed to a series of very serious crimes. The results show that several psychological techniques, such as leading statements, pressure, empathy, and inducements, are used, in increasing frequency, which resulted in the suspect's confession. This research provides support for behaviour sequence analysis as a new method to understand the structure of police interrogations and how psychological techniques may be used to gain false confessions.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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#16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Source: InCites

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
1 Clinical & Life Sciences
1.7 Neuroscanning
1.7.2100 Deception Detection
Web Of Science research areas
Criminology & Penology
Law
Psychiatry
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
ESI research areas
Psychiatry/Psychology
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