Psychology 2032A/B Chapter 3: The Psychology of Police Investigations

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2032A/B
• Professor: Peter Hoaken

Document Summary

Police interrogation: a process whereby the police interview a suspect for the purpose of gathering evidence and obtaining a confession: main goal: obtain a confession of guilt from the suspect. Confession evidence often viewed as a prosecutor"s most potent weapon. Those who confess are more likely to be convicted and prosecuted vs. those who don"t. Old interrogation techniques (torture etc. ) have been replaced with more subtle, psychologically based interrogation techniques i. e. lying about evidence, promising lenient treatment, etc. Steps: suspect is confronted with his/her guilt. Model is based on the idea that people make choices that they think will maximize their well- being given the constraints they face . Assumed during the accusatory phase of the interrogation that the suspects" fear of confessing outweighs their anxiety caused by remaining deceptive about their involvement in the crime. The use of the reid model in actual interrogations. Potential problems with the reid model of interrogation.