Types of coerced false confession:
(1) compliant, in which the person wants to avoid further stress or injury at any cost
(2) internalized, in which the person is confused or cannot remember exactly what happened, and so agrees to whatever the authorities want
(3) mixed
Risk factors for a person making a compliant confession:
(1) unable to tolerate the pressures of an interrogation
(2) ignorance about police and interrogation methods
(3) phobia of being confined
(4) significant physical distress (discomfort, exhaustion, pain, etc)
(5) significant emotional distress
(6) failure to consider the long-term consequences of making a confession
(7) willingness to do anything to get out of being interrogated
A person who has made a compliant confession will often take back the confession once he or she no longer feels threatened.
Risk factors for a person making an internalized confession:
(1) disorder of brain function (previous head injury, mental retardation, substance abuse)
(2) inability to detect or react to a discrepancy between personal memories and the events given by the interrogators (faulty discrepancy detection)
(3) emotional distress (severe anxiety, guilt, sorrow, confusion)
