Interrogations-and-Confessions-Handbook

430 A Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions
spite of the fact that there was no significant difference in free memory recall.
The findings were slightly different for the AA members in that the AA
members have superior memory on the GSS 1 to that of the in-patients and
no significant difference was noted with regard to Yield 1. However, as for the
follow-up group, significant differences emerged with regard to Yield 2, Shift
and Total Suggestibility.
The state and trait anxiety scores were considerably higher among the inpatients
than among the other two groups. Therefore, during alcohol withdrawal
both state and trait anxiety is markedly higher than it is once the
individual has managed to stop drinking for a few months. This strongly suggests
that alcohol withdrawal is associated with increased anxiety symptoms.
Interestingly, both the state and trait anxiety scores are affected.
What can we make of these findings? The findings clearly indicate that persons
who are in a state of alcohol withdrawal are psychologically vulnerable in
that they are significantly cognitively impaired, their ability to cope with interrogative
pressure is impaired and their state and trait anxiety scores are significantly
elevated. There are of course marked individual differences, with the
great majority of the participants having suggestibility scores that fell within
normal limits (Gudjonsson et al., 2002a). What we do not know is how long
after withdrawing from alcohol suggestibility returns to normal. The follow-up
patients were re-tested between 7 and 14 months after their discharge from
hospital, and the time the AA members had last consumed alcohol ranged between
4 and 17 months. By the time they were tested their level of suggestibility
was well within normal limits. Indeed, the suggestibility scores of the follow-up
patients and the AA members are similar to the British norms for the GSS 1
and GSS 2, whereas the scores obtained during alcohol withdrawal are highly
elevated when compared with the British norms for the general population. For
example, among the 127 in-patients in the Gudjonsson et al. (in press) study,
38 (30%) patients had a Shift score that exceeded 8, which falls in the fifth percentile
rank for persons in the general population. In contrast, the Yield 1 score
was very similar to that found in the British norms, and 13% of the in-patients
had a Yield 2 score that exceeded the 95th percentile rank. What these findings
tell us is that alcohol withdrawal most significantly impairs the ability of people
to cope with interrogative pressure. When pressured during questioning almost
one-third become abnormally suggestible with regard to Shift. This finding has
implications for police interviewing. Are patients who are at the peak of their
alcohol withdrawal fit to be interviewed by the police? Certainly, the findings
suggest that many are potentially ‘at risk’ of giving misleading accounts to the
police if pressured during questioning. However, issues about fitness to be interviewed
and the ‘reliability of testimony’ are complicated and were discussed
in Chapter 10.
FALSE CONFESSIONS TO MURDER BY A HEROIN ADDICT
In Chapter 3 it was shown that having taken illicit drugs 24 hours prior to being
detained in custody was the single most important psychological variable which
predicted the likelihood of a confession. Although the research did not suggest