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Influence Of Sentencing Practices On False Confessions Essay

¶ … substances, alcohol and marijuana, which one do you believe can most likely impact the reliability of a statement given by a subject under its influence? Why? Considering the impact of the two substances, alcohol and marijuana, it seems that the reliability of a statement given by a subject under the influence would be most impacted by consumption of alcohol. Alcohol and marijuana are both know to reduce inhibition and judgment. Naturally, the impact that marijuana or alcohol has on social perception is related to the degree of exposure to or consumption of the drug.

However, a person under the influence of alcohol is less likely to be able to accurately assess how others perceive what they say than a person under the influence of marijuana, and thereby have less concern about exaggeration or misrepresentation when making a statement.

Which personality disorder would most likely provide the least reliable information during an interview?

If intelligence is controlled for when considering vulnerability to succumb to police interrogation and make a false confession, than individuals who exhibit excessively compliant personalities or suffer from anxiety disorders are particularly prone to providing less reliable information during...

Dr. Gisli Gudjonsson, professor of forensic psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, developed the suggestibility scale that is used to evaluate self-incriminating statements, and is fundamentally the gold standard around the globe for this type of assessment. While disordered thinking -- such as that commonly found in people with mental illness or cognitive processes damaged by chronic substance abuse -- can certainly lead to the occurrence of false confessions, Gudjonsson adds an important caveat to the challenge. While personality disorders have been found to be associated with false confession, Gudjonsson cautions: "A drug addict may not be particularly suggestible but may have a strong desire to get back out on the street" (Woffinden, 2002, p. 1). Moreover, Gudjonsson is also concerned that "false confessions today are less of a problem than false allegations…There is accumulating research evidence that it is much easier for people to make up false allegations, even serious allegations, than the courts realize" (Woffinden, 2002, p. 1).
Why do you believe that making a false confession…

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References

Pearse, J., Gudjonsson, G.H., Clare, I.C., and Rutter, S. (1998). Police interviewing and psychological vulnerabilities: Predicting the likelihood of a confession. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 8(1), 1-21.

Sigurdsson, J.F. And Gudjonsson, G.H. (2001). False confessions: The relative importance of psychological, criminological, and substance abuse variables. Psychology, Crime, & Law, 7, 275-289.

Woffinden, B. (2002, December 16). Confessions of a forensic psychologist. The Guardian. [Website]. Retreived http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/dec/17/law.ukcrime
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