Hayley Cleary
Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Public Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University
Key Findings
- Sociodemographic and criminological factors did not impact incarcerated individuals’ self-reported confessions.
- Factors that predicted a suspect’s self-reported confessions included signing away of Miranda rights and previous intentions to confess wrongdoing.
- Factors that predicted a suspect’s self-reported denials included police use of physical restraints, perceptions of little evidence against, and previous intentions to deny wrongdoing.
- Undecided suspects were just as likely to confess or deny allegations against them.
Description
In the article, “Contextual Factors Predict Self-Reported Confession Decision-Making: A Field Study of Suspects’ Actual Police Interrogation Experiences,” Hayley Cleary examined the self-reported experiences of interrogation and confession of incarcerated individuals to understand if the sociodemographic, criminological, and contextual factors were associated with decisions to deny, partially admit, or confess to wrongdoing. Cleary and her co-author surveyed nearly 250 incarcerated individuals in local jails across the U.S. about their most recent interrogation experience. The researchers sought information on the interrogation description (location, duration, custody), perceptions of evidence against them, and their considerations for confession before the interrogation. The results indicated that sociodemographic and criminological factors did not impact incarcerated individuals’ self-reported confessions. Factors that predicted a suspect’s self-reported confessions included signing away of Miranda rights and previous intentions to confess wrongdoing. Factors that predicted a suspect’s self-reported denials included police use of physical restraints, perceptions of little evidence against, and previous intentions to deny wrongdoing. Undecided suspects were just as likely to confess or deny allegations against them. In conclusion, the authors note that largely, suspects followed their initial intentions to confess or deny allegations against them and complement the previous body of work in this field and can be used to inform police interrogation training and practice.