PSYC 375 Chapter 7: Evaluating Criminal Suspects PDF

Chapter 7 Evaluating Criminal Suspects Criminal Profiling  Criminal Profiling Criminal profiling o Identifies certain behavioral and personality features related to the crime Profilers typically must have criminal investigation experience. o FBI suggests 8-10 years of invest...

Chapter 7 Evaluating Criminal Suspects Criminal Profiling  Criminal Profiling Criminal profiling o Identifies certain behavioral and personality features related to the crime Profilers typically must have criminal investigation experience. o FBI suggests 8-10 years of investigative experience Only 10% of psychologists and psychiatrists have profiling experience.  Criminal Profiling The FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit was the main source of research and development of criminal profiles. o Functioning from 1970s-2014 Historically, the focus of the BSU was on violent offenders, particularly bizarre or repeat crimes Who Does Profiling Now? FBI Behavioral Analysis Units (BAUs) o BAU Unit 1 – Counterterrorism, Arson, Bombings o BAU Unit 2 – Threats, Cyber Crime, Public Corruption o BAU Unit 3 – Crimes Against Children o BAU Unit 4 – Crimes Against Adults, ViCAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program) o BAU Unit 5 – Research, Strategy, Instruction This unit is now handling the development of profiles/criminal investigative analysis  How Do You Make a Profile? Profilers have interviewed those who have committed a specific type of offense in order to learn: o How they select and approach their victims o How they react to their crimes o What demographic or family characteristics they share o What personality features might predominate among them.  Profiling: Science or Intuition? Limited research has found o Sometimes profilers are better than detectives and psychologist (Pinizzotto & Finkel, 1990; Kocsis, 2013) o Other times profilers are no more accurate compared to untrained control groups, (Bennell, Jones, Taylor, & Snook, 2006; Pinizzotto & Finkel, 1990). o When doing empirical analyses of 100 actual stranger rape cases, there was no correlation between any of the offenders enough to build an actual profile (Mokoros & Alison, 2002) o Average accuracy of profilers: 50%  Profiling: Science or Intuition? Why is accuracy so low? Leaps of intuition common in profiles o 260,000/1 million men are unfaithful o 240/1 million men kill their wives o 240/260,000 =.09% of unfaithful men kill their wives. Tunnel vision is a major concern I Want to be An FBI Profiler Advice from Mary Ellen O’Toole, PhD (retired FBI profiler) o Visit the FBI website to see the job requirement to be an FBI Agent o You need, at minimum, a 4 –year college degree (any major) o Must be willing to relocate wherever they send you o Between 7-15 years of field experience before applying to the BAU o It take 3 years of training with the BAU before becoming a profiler. o Work as a profiler includes: analysis, interviewing, writing, public speaking, and assessing individual and group behavior. Classifying Homicide Offenders  Classifying Homicide Offenders Multiple homicides o the slaying of four or more victims, simultaneously or sequentially, by one or a few individuals. Two main types of multiple homicides o mass murders o serial murders  Mass Murders Four or more victims at one event/at one time. Prevalence o Rare Mass murderers make up.2% of homicides per year and 1% of homicide victims per year (Duwe, 2015). From 1976-2018 there were, on average, 3.7 per year (Duwe, 2020) o Issues with false positives Prevalence Data (Fox & Levin, 2022) Victim Data (Fox & Levin, 2022)  Deadliest Mass Killings in US Between 1982 and 2024 Las Vegas Pulse Nightclub Virginia Tech Sandy Hook Sutherland (2017) (2016) (2007) (2012) Springs (2017) 49 dead 58 dead 32 dead 27 dead 26 dead Luby’s El Paso (2019) San Ysidro Uvalde, TX Lewiston, ME Massacre (1991) McDonald’s (2022) (2023) (1984) 24 dead 23 dead 22 dead 21 dead 18 dead  Mass Murders Common Characteristics o No Severe Mental illness o Know the victims o Often driven by revenge Other motivations include domination, fame (Fox & Levin, 2022) o Typically act alone o Preoccupation with weapons and violence (Meloy et al., 2004) The typical assailant is killed at the location of the crime, commits suicide, or surrenders to police.  Mass Shootings Mass Shootings: mass murder committed entirely with firearms o Mass Public Shooting Mass Murder with firearms in a public setting o Familicide Mass Shooting Mass murder where the majority of victims were family members of the offender o Other Felony Mass Shooting Mass murder attributed to some underlying criminal activity. (Krouse & Richardson, 2015) o Incidence was highest in the 1990s, but in the last 10 years the severity of the shootings has increased. (Duwe, 2020) Mass Killing Trends by Type (Fox & Levin, 2022)  Spree Killers Special form of mass murder Attacker kills victims at two or more different locations with no “cooling off” interval between the murders Constitutes a single event  Serial Killers Kill four or more victims, each on separate occasions Usually select a certain type of victim There are cooling off periods Difficult to apprehend John Wayne Gacy  Characteristics of Serial Killers Mostly white males in their early 30s Typically employed at time of the offense Approximately 1/3 were married Average offender had an 11th grade education Victims were most often white females in their early to mid-30s who were strangers to their killers Characteristics of Serial Killers Sexually motivated* o Around 50%* “Hands on” methods Souvenirs Not typically psychotic, o Though many have personality disorders Often revel in the publicity of their crimes Ed Gein Detecting Deception  Detecting Deception How do psychologists study people’s ability to detect deception? o Instruct some participants to lie and others to tell the truth. o Videotape these stories and show them to observers who then judge the truthfulness of those statements  In-Class Activity Going to play Two Truths, One Lie. 2-3 Volunteers who are willing to come up with 2 true facts about themselves and one lie. Tell the class the three facts without indicating the false one. Everyone guess which is a lie.  Deception Detection Accuracy People are correct only 54% of the time (Bond & DePaulo, 2006) o More recent research suggests 67% of the time (Hartwig & Bond, 2014) People generally have a truth bias o Except police and parole officers, who tend to have a lie bias Subjects overall correctly classified 61% of truthful statements as nondeceptive but only 47% of lies as deceptive.  Deception Detection Accuracy o Trained observers are only slightly better than untrained observers. Trained observers were correct 58% of the time Untrained observers were correct 53% of the time.  Arousal Based Testing Polygraph test. The Control Question Test (CQT) is composed of: o relevant questions which inquire about the crime under investigation o comparison questions meant to induce an emotional reaction because they cover common misdeeds Overall accuracy of 65% Note: Not admissible at trial  Arousal Based Testing Concealed Information Test (CIT) o Meant to detect response to concealed information, not lying. o Police ask questions only the culprit should know Cannot include info made public o Measure physiologic arousal to those questions. o Note: not admissible at trial  Issues of Arousal Based Techniques Assumptions about behavioral response to lying such as liars are o More fidgety o Lack eye contact o Greater anger/negative emotions to questioning Except these aren’t true o Innocence and anger o Culture norms of behavior Eye contact Pitch of voice  Cognitive Techniques Cognitive load interviews o mentally tax a person during an interview o Makes it difficult to maintain a lie Techniques o Asking unanticipated questions o Reverse story telling o Time-sharing Increased lie detection from 54% to 71% (Vrij et al., 2015) Brain-Based Lie Detection Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measured blood flow and oxygen utilization Different patterns of brain activation have been shown to be associated with truth-telling and lying. The accuracy of this method ranges from 76% to 90%. Brain-Based Lie Detection Brain fingerprinting o uses an EEG to record the brain’s electrical activity. Evaluates neural activity response to crime scene details known only to the perpetrator. 85-95% accuracy in distinguishing liars from truth-tellers in lab o near chance levels in field  Legal Issues of Brain- Based Lie Detection Some argue that these techniques fall under the 4th Amendment Search and Seizure prohibition. o Particularly when conducted against the wishes of the person being scanned. Many scientists are urging judges to resist admitting this evidence until more conclusive data is available. Confessions Importance of Confession When the police capture suspects, one of their first acts is to encourage a confession A confession permits the DA or grand jury to bring charges. o Even if the confession is later recanted There is evidence of false confessions (e.g. Drizin & Leo, 2004) but the true number is still in contention. o Between 13-25% of exonerations included a false confession (Kassin, 2017)  Voluntariness Until 1966, the traditional test for admissibility of a confession was voluntariness. A voluntary confession is one given without o Overt inducements E.g. appealing to morality o Threats e.g. If you don’t talk, we’ll get you more charges o Promises e.g. If you confess, you can go home. o Physical harm  Miranda v. Arizona In 1966, SCOTUS held that a confession resulting in-custody interrogation was admissible in court only if: o 1. It was voluntary o 2. It had been obtained after the police had informed the suspect of their right to not self- incriminate (Miranda warnings) Miranda rights were then extended to juveniles in 1967  What Happens When Miranda is Waived? Many suspects (around 80%) choose to waive their Miranda rights. Once a suspect voluntarily enters an interrogation room, investigators can use various tactics to obtain a confession. 90% of juveniles waive their Miranda rights.  Whittling Away at Miranda Though upholding Miranda in 2000. SCOTUS has weakened the Miranda requirements. o Harris v. New York (1971) Confessions that violated Miranda can still be used at trial for other purposes. o Berkemer v. McCarty (1984) Miranda doesn’t apply unless the suspect is in police custody. o RI v. Innis (1980) Miranda doesn’t apply unless the defendant is being interrogated. Interrogations Techniques and False Confessions  Validity of Confession Evidence Two types of erroneous confession outcomes False denials: guilty suspects proclaims they are innocent False confessions: innocent suspects confess to alleged crimes  Proving a False Confession There are four ways to be certain that a confession is false: o 1. A suspect could confess to a crime that never happened. o 2. It was physically impossible for the suspect to commit the crime. o 3. The actual perpetrator is identified with guilt objectively established o 4. There is evidence (e.g. DNA) that definitively established the defendant’s innocence.  False Confessions Kassin and Wrightsman (1985) devised a taxonomy of false confessions. 1. Voluntary False Confession 2. Compliant False Confession 3. Internalized False Confession Common Interrogation Techniques Two main training manuals are used today o Criminal Interrogation and Confessions (aka the Reid technique) o The Investigator Anthology Both encourage the use of psychological coercion to get a confession  Pre-Interrogation Pre-interrogation – “Softening Up” the suspect o May try to soften up suspect with flattery, ingratiation, and rapport building/pleasant small talk. Circumventing Miranda o Telling suspect they are not under arrest and free to go o Minimize importance of Miranda by describing them as a mere formality. Innocent people are more likely to waive Miranda rights than guilty people  During Interrogation After the suspect has implicitly or explicitly agreed to talk, the interrogation often becomes accusatorial. Police use: o Negative incentives o Positive Inducements  Negative Incentives Tactics meant to break down a defendant’s defenses, lower resistance to questioning, and instill fear/despair/powerlessness into the suspect Tactics include: o Accusations of guilt o Denials of claimed innocence o Deliberate introduction of important crime details o Use of fabricated evidence  Positive Inducements Tactics meant to motivate the suspect to see that an admission is in their best interest. Includes: o Providing justifications for criminal actions o Promising a deal in exchange for a confession o Imply suspects can go home after a confession o Minimization Downplaying the seriousness of the crime  Empirical Look at Interrogation Tactics Behavioral Confirmation (Meissner & Kassin, 2004; McNatt, 2000; Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968) o The detective’s presumption of guilt can lead the detective to actively seek out information that verifies that belief.  Behavioral Confirmation Study done by Hill, Memon, and McGeorge (2008) Part 1: o Innocent Condition v. Guilty Condition o Participants form interrogation questions. o Belief in guilt led to more guilt presumptive questions Part 2 o Observers listen to interviews of “suspects” o Guilt presumptive questions v. neutral questions. o Suspects questioned with guilt presumptive questions considered more nervous, defensive, less plausible, and guiltier.  Evidence Ploys Completely legal to lie about the existence of evidence linking a person to a crime. Nash and Wade (2009) o Participants presented with a doctored video of falsely accused cheating were more likely to confess without resistance and confabulate further details, than those simply told there was video. Confessions at Trial How Confession Evidence is Evaluated Many prosecutors assume only guilty suspects confess o Leads to harsher treatment of confessing suspects (e.g. requesting higher bail). Even defense attorneys assume people who confess are guilty. o Leads to them pushing plea bargaining as opposed to risking trial. How Confession Evidence is Evaluated Disputed confessions typically lead to the judge viewing the confession as voluntary and thus admissible. If the jury convicts a defendant who claims it was a false confession, judges are likely to sentence more harshly. o Punishes them for wasting resources and failing to show remorse or apologize.  Juror Views of Confessions Very influenced by confessions. Jurors are more likely to convict defendants who have confessed. Fundamental Attribution Error o Jurors rarely focus on the external factors of an interrogation.  Reforming Interrogations Chapter 7  Reforming the System Record all police interrogations 25 states have legislation requiring recording of some (but not all) crimes o Crimes that warrant recorded interrogation are up to each state’s discretion A growing number of jurisdictions voluntarily record interrogations.  Research on Recorded Interrogations Lassiter et al (2009): When camera is focused on the suspect, people view the confession as voluntarily, as compared to other camera angles. Illusory Causation: attributing causation to a stimulus because it is more conspicuous than others.  Reforming the System Another reform would re-conceptualize the fundamental nature of police interrogations. Non-confrontational interrogations produce fewer false confessions and more true confessions than accusatory interrogations.  Non-Confrontational Interrogation Canada’s PEACE technique o Preparation and planning Interviewer creates a written plan of interview o Engage and explain Active listening and rapport building o Account Short, non-leading questions o Closure Summarize what suspect said and allow suspect to offer clarifications o Evaluate Evaluate interview afterwards