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Interrogation and the Minority Suspect: Pathways to True and False Confession

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Advances in Psychology and Law

Part of the book series: Advances in Psychology and Law ((APL,volume 1))

Abstract

This chapter considers six sources of vulnerability to interrogation-induced confession among racial minorities: (1) stereotypes associating racial minorities with crime, (2) stereotype threat, (3) language barriers, (4) enhanced power differentials between minorities and law enforcement, (5) perceptions of legal rights, law enforcement and the justice system, and (6) associations between race and established risk factors for false confession. We consider mechanisms through which these factors can affect the interrogator’s presumption of guilt, interrogation effort, and selection of tactics. We further consider specific mechanisms through which the six factors affect minorities’ vulnerability in interrogation. Finally, we consider difficulties faced by those judging the voluntariness or truthfulness of minority suspect confessions. We conclude that minorities suffer enhanced vulnerability to true and false confession. We further suggest that minorities’ vulnerabilities are unlikely to be recognized. Instead, stereotypes associating race with criminality tend to lead minority confessions to be viewed as more voluntary and true.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Muniz (2014) for discussion of the impact of “gang injunctions” that define neighborhoods in criminal terms, affecting police suspicion and treatment of innocent residents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Ph.D. Program, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 89557, USA

    J. Guillermo Villalobos

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 89557, USA

    Deborah Davis

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  1. J. Guillermo Villalobos
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  2. Deborah Davis
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Correspondence to J. Guillermo Villalobos .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. PhD Program, Univ. of Nevada, Criminal Just.Dept.&Interdiscip.Soc.Psyc, Reno, Nevada, USA

    Monica K. Miller

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

    Brian H. Bornstein

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Villalobos, J.G., Davis, D. (2016). Interrogation and the Minority Suspect: Pathways to True and False Confession. In: Miller, M., Bornstein, B. (eds) Advances in Psychology and Law. Advances in Psychology and Law, vol 1. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29406-3_1

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