After a lengthy interrogation and presentation of false evidence by police, Travis comes to believe he has committed the crime as accused and provides a false confession. Which type of false confession is Travis likely to have provided?
(A) Coerced-internalized
(B) Voluntary-instrumental
(C) Voluntary-internalized
(D) Coerced-compliant
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is (A) Coerced-internalized.
A coerced-internalized false confession occurs when an individual, due to intense psychological pressure, believes they have committed a crime, even though they have not. In this scenario, Travis has undergone a lengthy interrogation where false evidence was presented to him. The pressure from this environment, combined with the false evidence, led him to accept the belief that he committed the crime. This type of confession involves the person internalizing the false belief of guilt, often due to the persistent, manipulative tactics used by law enforcement.
False confessions like this can occur when suspects, especially under stressful interrogation tactics such as prolonged questioning, misrepresentation of evidence, or threats, begin to doubt their own recollections or understanding of events. They may come to believe that they have committed the crime, even when they haven’t. This phenomenon is linked to the phenomenon of suggestibility, where an individual’s memory and perceptions can be distorted by external influences, including the authority figures conducting the interrogation.
Travis’s situation fits this description because, after the interrogation, he provides a confession based on the internalization of the false evidence presented to him, not just the coercion to confess for a specific reason (which would characterize coerced-compliant confessions). In coerced-internalized confessions, the person may later believe that they are guilty, even without consciously realizing they were manipulated into that belief.
In contrast, coerced-compliant confessions occur when someone admits guilt to escape the interrogation, even though they know they haven’t committed the crime. Voluntary confessions, either instrumental or internalized, would be given without external pressure, typically due to personal motivations.