Interrogations-and-Confessions-Handbook

The Psychological Assessment 319
Royal Commission study (Gudjonsson et al., 1993), extreme fear of being locked
up in a police cell was uncommon (i.e. only one case out of 171), although many
detainees complained that they were distressed about being locked up at the
police station. The most common anxiety was in relation to uncertainties over
their current predicament. Detainees expressed concern over what was going to
happen to them, kept asking the researchers for information about their detention
and wanted to know when they were likely to be interviewed by the police.
Occasionally, detainees are in a state of bereavement when interviewed by
the police due their having lost a loved one, such as a spouse or a child. This
may make them vulnerable to giving unreliable statements because of feelings
of guilt and subjective distress that typically accompanies the condition.
Drug and alcohol intoxication and withdrawal sometimes occur during interviewing
and the effects of this are discussed in detail in Chapter 15.
Medical complaints (e.g. cardiovascular problems, epilepsy, diabetes) can result
in a disturbed or abnormal mental state while the person is interviewed
by the police. This may adversely influence the accuracy and reliability of their
account and the ability to function in a stressful situation.
Intellectual Abilities
Limited intellectual abilities, not amounting to learning disability, can influence
the ability of witnesses and suspects to understand questions, articulate
their answers and appreciate the implications of their answers. As shown in
Chapter 3, many detainees interviewed at police stations are of low intelligence
(Gudjonsson et al., 1993). Nine per cent of the sample in the Royal Commission
study had a prorated IQ score below 70, compared with about 2% of the general
population; one-third (34%) had a prorated IQ score of 75 or below (i.e. bottom
5% of the general population). The findings indicate that the police commonly
interview suspects of low intellectual abilities. It is of interest to note that
the majority of appellants whose convictions have been overturned on the basis
of unreliable confessions have been of borderline or low average intelligence,
similar to those of the average police detainee (Chapter 18).
Personality Characteristics
There are a number of personality characteristics that may be relevant
and important when evaluating the reliability of confession statements. The
three most extensively researched variables are suggestibility, compliance and
acquiescence (Clare & Gudjonsson, 1993; Gudjonsson, 1992a).
More recently confabulation has been investigated in relation to the reliability
of verbal accounts given by witnesses (Clare & Gudjonsson, 1993;
Sigurdsson, Gudjonsson, Kolbeinsson & Petursson, 1994). Extreme confabulation
has been found in some cases of personality disorder, which was evident
in the cases of Judith Ward, Joe Giarratano and John Wille (see Chapters 18
and 21). Persons with mental disorder, such as learning disability and severe
depression, have impaired memory recall for events, but the accuracy of their
accounts is not undermined by a heightened tendency to confabulate (Clare &
Gudjonsson, 1993; Sigurdsson et al., 1994).