Interrogations-and-Confessions-Handbook

60 A Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions
errors to a minimum, although this was at the risk of producing some false negative
errors (i.e. not identifying vulnerabilities when they were present).
After the interview schedule was completed a number of psychological tests,
including the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS 2; Gudjonsson, 1987a), the
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised (WAIS-R; Wechsler, 1981; in view
of the time restriction allowed for the overall assessment, only the vocabulary,
comprehension and picture completion subtests were administered), the
Schonell Graded Word Reading Test (Schonell & Goodacre, 1974) and the State–
Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch & Lushene, 1970).
The duration of the psychological assessment varied considerably across detainees,
but most of the sessions lasted between 45 minutes and 1 hour.
Results
General Background
Out of 197 participants who were approached for their consent to cooperate with
the study, 24 (12%) refused to take part, all of whom were male. Therefore, 173
assessments commenced, consisting of 144 (83%) males and 29 (17%) females,
with mean ages of 28 and 29 years, respectively. In nine cases the detainee
did not complete all the tests or answer all the questions asked. In a further
eight cases the detainee was not subsequently interviewed by the police as originally
planned. The majority (74%) of the detainees were Caucasian and 25%
were Afro-Caribbean. The main offences under investigation were property offences
(N = 102, 59%), violent offences (N = 23, 13%), and drug related offences
(N = 18, 10%).
At the time of the study, 120 (70%) of the detainees were reported to be
unemployed, 121 (71%) had previous criminal convictions, 61 (36%) had served
a previous prison sentence, 56 (33%) had consumed alcoholic beverages within
24 hours of arrest and 37 (22%) reported having taken illicit drugs during the
previous 24 hours. The alcohol consumption consisted mainly of having had a
few beers prior to arrest, whereas the use of illicit drugs consisted mainly of
smoking cannabis, or taking heroin or methadone.
Nineteen detainees (12%) said they had suffered from a nervous disorder
and/or depression during the previous one year. Few sought treatment for their
problem, claiming that their condition was not sufficiently serious to warrant
treatment.
Mental State Prior to Arrest
The detainees were asked about their mental state during the seven days prior
their arrest. The researchers only endorsed each item if there was clear indication
from the detainees’ replies that these ‘problems’ had been present.
Feeling low in mood was the most commonly reported symptom. It was reported
in 74 (43%) of cases. The most common explanations given for the low
mood were that the detainee had no job, no money and no sense of purpose. Low
mood was followed by marked sleep disturbance, which was present in 65 (38%)
of cases. It involved having problems getting to sleep, waking up earlier than