The Psychology And Power Of False Confessions Summary

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I chose the article “The Psychology and Power of False Confessions” in this article the author is explaining how people can give false confessions for a crime they did not commit but yet they still believe that they did indeed commit this crime. The main case in this article is the rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Boske, her neighbor Danial Williams was brought in for questioning by the police and after an eight-hour interrogation Williams confessed to the rape and murder. However, the police believed that Williams did not commit this crime alone but instead had help from three other people. One of them was Joseph Dick who was Williams roommate, he also confessed to the crime and even publically apologized to the family of the victim. Eight years later Dick says that he actually did not commit the crime and is eventually released for parole.
The biggest argument made by the author was that jurors stand no chance against someone who has confessed to a crime, no matter if the person was incoherent or not at the time of the confession because it is so hard to tell if it is actually real or fake. Kassin and coworker Katherine Neumann conducted an
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During his interrogation he was asked multiple questions he could not answer on his own but the police would tell him what he did and then he would repeat it as if he was confessing to the crime. Some of the things that can contribute to a false confession during an interrogation are, duress, mental impairment, fear of violence, the threat of a harsh sentence, intoxication, and hypnosis. These factors can have a huge impact on a person who is being questioned. So much so that the person actually starts to believe it is true and then finally confesses to the