Interrogations-and-Confessions-Handbook

The Psychology of False Confession: Research and Theoretical Issues 203
of little interest to psychiatrists. They are nevertheless an important group,
which I believe is of interest to psychologists (Sigurdsson & Gudjonsson,
1996).
Ofshe and Leo (1997a, 1997b) express three main criticisms of the Kassin–
Wrightsman typology.
1. True and false confessions involve similar underlying processes of the police
interrogation. There is no need for a separate distinction between the
processes involved.
2. The threefold typology fails to encompass the police-induced confessions
that do not involve coercion (e.g. there may be no threats or inducements
offered by the police). This criticism is similar to that identified by Davison
and Forshaw (1993).
3. The classification misrepresents the concept of internalization. Internalization
is a psychological process whereby people come to accept beliefs
and values that are stable over time and across situations. Ofshe and
Leo (1997b) argue that no such stability exists with regard to false confessions.
In other words, the police persuasion is only temporary and the
suspect is never fully convinced of the belief in his guilt. ‘His inability
to retrieve actual memories of the crime explains his inability to achieve
complete certainty of his guilt. The tactic of claiming overwhelming evidence
of culpability prevents him from remaining certain of his innocence’
(p. 209).
In order to overcome the conceptual weaknesses in the threefold typology and
build on it, Ofshe and Leo (1997a, 1997b) have developed their own classification
of confessions, which they argue apply equally to true and false confessions.
THE OFSHE–LEO MODEL OF CONFESSIONS
The Ofshe–Leo classification of confessions is shown in Table 8.1. Here there
are five levels of confessions, categorized into two groups: true or false. Each
type of confession can be either true or false, depending on the circumstances
of the individual case.
First, there are voluntary confessions. If true they are considered reliable,
if false they are unreliable. Voluntary false confessions have already been extensively
discussed in this chapter and it is difficult to see how they can be
Table 8.1. The Ofshe–Leo type of confession and its legal implications
Type of confession True confession False confession
1. Voluntary Voluntary/reliable Voluntary/unreliable
2. Stress–compliant Involuntary/reliable Involuntary/unreliable
3. Coerced–compliant Involuntary/reliable Involuntary/unreliable
4. Non-coerced–persuaded Impossible Voluntary/unreliable
5. Coerced–persuaded Impossible Involuntary/unreliable