False Confessions

A false confession is a term used within the criminal justice system to describe a situation in which an individual admits to committing an act that they actually did not commit. These confessions are problematic because innocent people are often sentenced to prison or jail as the result of their statements. There are three types of false confessions: voluntary false confessions, coerced-compliant false confessions and coerced-internalized confessions. Each can be elicited by law enforcement officials in a variety of ways.

As many as 6,000 individuals are wrongfully convicted each year on the basis of false confessions. Some have been historically notable; for example, when Charles Lindbergh's baby was kidnapped, more than 600 people admitted to the crime. In the late 1940s, Elizabeth Short, an aspiring actress, was murdered in Los Angeles, and the case became known as the “Black Dahlia.” More than 30 people confessed to the crime, which remains unsolved to this day.

Studies show that people can be coerced into admitting to doing things they did not actually do. One research study asked 79 students to participate in an experiment on a computer involving time reaction. The students were told that the computer would crash if they touched a specific key. During the experiment, the computer crashed, regardless of whether the student touched the key. Half the participants were told that they had been seen touching the key by one of the researchers. The students were then asked to sign a confession stating that they had caused the computer to crash by hitting the key. All students who were told that they had been seen hitting the key signed the confession. Overall, 69% of the students signed the confession, 28% began to believe that they had actually touched the key, and 9% created details that supported their false beliefs.

Individuals provide false confessions for a number of reasons. One explanation, which stems from a psychoanalytic approach to psychology, suggests that a false confession stems from one's unconscious compulsion to confess. The characteristics of an individual also contribute to the likelihood that he or she will offer a false confession. People with below-average intelligence are more vulnerable to suggestion, as are people who are categorized as introverts. Individuals with low self-esteem, a lack of assertiveness, or high levels of anxiety are also more easily influenced.

Such factors, combined with the procedures used by law enforcement officials in interrogation, can lead to false confessions. Law enforcement officials are trained to rely on various methods to encourage suspects to admit to being guilty without their realizing it. An investigator may place the suspect in a soundproof and minimally furnished room, blame the victim or an accomplice, use feigned sympathy and friendship, or present exaggerated claims about the evidence, all in an attempt to gain an admission of guilt from the individual. Other techniques include wearing the suspect down with a long interview process, having the investigator over- or under-state the seriousness of the offense and the magnitude of the charges, and making appeals to God or religion to arouse a sense of guilt in the individual.

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