Running head: INTERROGATION AND CONFESSION IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM 1
Interrogation and confession in the legal system
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INTERROGATION AND CONFESSION IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM 2
Interrogation and confession in the legal system
Interrogation remains one of the most secretive and essential processes in the justice
system. Police carry out interrogations to unearth the truth about a crime. The justice system
together with society expects guilty individuals to confess and the innocent one to resist. This
paper discusses the process of interrogation and confession in the legal system, the Christian
perspective and the evolution of interrogation in the justice system.
Application of confessions to psychology and justice system
The stakes of confession are high because they are more powerful compared to eye
witnessing in a criminal trial. A confession increases the chances of guilty verdicts even when
the confession is coerced using threats and promises. On many occasions, people have been
coerced to confess falsely thus leading mistaken verdicts creating the need for psychologists in
the interrogation process.
According to Vrij, Meissner, Fisher, Kassin, Morgan III, & Kleinman (2017), various
factors enhance the likelihood of true or false confessions, for instance, the physical structure of
the interrogation room is a vital factor in determining the outcomes of the interrogation process.
Bryan (2019) states that convicted defendants both guilty and innocent usually maintain their
innocence, therefore, making it difficult to evaluate the guilt in an absolute sense. It is sometimes
difficult to comprehend the reasons innocent individuals confess. However, some of them do so
when they think that the benefits of confession outweigh the costs for instance if they feel that
they cannot escape conviction and thereby confessing might reduce their punishment. This
questions if true or false confessions present few challenges if the impact of the confessions on
the juries is not so great. The issues, however, are complicated when the biases and beliefs of the
INTERROGATION AND CONFESSION IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM 3
interrogators play a part in the process. The input of psychologists is therefore important in legal
interrogations to ensure that the right environment is set and the right procedure followed to
derive true results from the interrogations.
Legal interrogation and confession from a Christian perspective
Christians believe in following the rule of law as prescribed by God and one of the major
steps of getting forgiveness from God is through confession of sins. Fejes (2013) argues that
people might sometimes avoid confessing their sins due to the fear of what people might think of
them, fear of certain people's lack of knowledge on the need for confession. The Christian
perspective of confession is acknowledging oneself as a sinner before God, telling God where
one has gone wrong and asking for God's grace. Unlike legal confession, the Christian
confession lacks interrogation since one is expected to present himself before God, confess and
ask for forgiveness. The Christian perspective of confession has no room for false confession;
this is because God is all-knowing and already knows the sins of a person.
As discussed earlier in this paper, the majority of interrogators believe that the suspects
are guilty and therefore they might use coercion tactics to make the suspect confess. Many a
time, coercion leads to falls confession leading to unwarranted convictions. The result for
confession in the Christian perspective is forgiveness and grace, unlike the legal confession
where conviction and punishment are part of the result. Christians view confession as a voluntary
act that is used to gain the grace of God. The legal system, however, perceives confession during
interrogation as a civil action which the person under interrogation must fulfill. Fejes(2013)
highlights that Christian confessions can be done in private or public with the main aim of
honoring Christ. Legal interrogations, on the other hand, are mostly done in private to unearth
the truth; the interrogation process, however, determines the results. Christians would, therefore,
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view legal interrogation and confession process as a skewed one since it takes away the
voluntary part of confession. It, therefore, erodes the real meaning of confession since it takes the
initiative of the interrogator to make a person confess his or her actions.
Evolution of interrogation techniques
Interrogation techniques have evolved over time. These changes are mainly to ensure that
people give true confessions and reduce the rates of false confessions. Kelly, Miller & Redlich
(2016) argue that at the center of the legal system is an accusatorial system that assumes that
suspects are guilty. This model is replicated in all law enforcement levels and naturally led to an
accusatory method of interrogation.
Previously, interrogators used torture to make suspects confess and to verify the
interrogator's theory of guilt. In 1936 the court realized that violence could make people confess
to anything and thus such confessions were unreliable. This led to more lenient methods of
coercion which included less visible marks of torture, for instance, twisting arms, sleep
deprivation, verbal abuse and threats to a suspect's close family. In the 1960s, the Reid
Technique of Interrogation which entails isolation, confrontation, and reduction of culpability
and consequences was introduced (Kelly et al, 2016). The interrogator uses lies about the
evidence which supposedly proves that the suspect is guilty. The Reid technique is based on the
interrogator's ability to tell whether the suspect is lying or not. A new method devised in 2009
and used by a few law enforcement agencies called High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group
(HIG) tries to conduct non-coercive interrogations.
Conclusion
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In conclusion, the legal system uses interrogation to derive the truth from suspects and on
many occasions, the methods used to coerce the suspects to confess. This has led to suspects
giving false confessions sometimes in anticipation of reduced conviction. Christians believe that
confessions should be voluntary and therefore coercive methods used erodes the meaning of
confession. The current methods used allow interrogators to lie to get the truth from the suspect.
It also assumes that the interrogator can tell whether the suspect is telling the truth or lying.
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References
Bryan, I. (2019). Interrogation and confession: A study of progress, process and practice.
Routledge.
Fejes, A. (2013). Foucault, confession and refl ective practices. In Social Theory and Education
Research (pp. 64-78). Routledge.
Kelly, C. E., Miller, J. C., & Redlich, A. D. (2016). The dynamic nature of interrogation. Law
and Human Behavior, 40(3), 295.
Vrij, A., Meissner, C. A., Fisher, R. P., Kassin, S. M., Morgan III, C. A., & Kleinman, S. M.
(2017). Psychological perspectives on interrogation. Perspectives on Psychological
Science, 12(6), 927-955.
