False Confessions: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study
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Authors
Hall, Sara E.
Issue Date
2017
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
"false confessions","qualitative research","phenomenology","interrogation"
Alternative Title
Abstract
This study utilized a descriptive phenomenological methodology to investigate the lived experience of falsely confessing to a crime. Data was collected through in-depth, non-directive interviews. The sample comprised four (n=4) participants who self-reported having falsely confessed and were legally exonerated of any guilt related to the crime. There were three main findings. First, false confessors experienced their youth and inexperience with police procedures as being an important factor in the reason they falsely confessed. Secondly, false confessors revealed that their decision to falsely confess was a conscious, deliberate one based on their beliefs about the possible consequences if they did or did not confess. Finally, the false confessors' narratives' high similarity suggested that police interrogation may be best explained as a strong situation: a situation in which the individual differences and personality styles of the participants mattered less, as the interrogation was highly structured and contained clear constraints on the available options and expectations of how participants were expected to respond to those. The findings were consistent with much of the existing literature and suggest that the experience of falsely confessing is a complex decision-making process that depends on several situational factors.