Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36186325›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychology2022

Police-suspect interactions and confession rates are affected by suspects' alcohol and drug use status in low-stakes crime interrogations.

Angelica V Hagsand, Hanna Zajac, Lovisa Lidell, Christopher E Kelly, Nadja Schreiber Compo, Jacqueline R Evans

Abstract read
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Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. False Confessions: A Study Space Analysis.Behavioral sciences & the law
    Article
4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Angelica V HagsandDepartment of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Hanna ZajacDepartment of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Lovisa LidellDepartment of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Christopher E KellyDepartment of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Nadja Schreiber CompoDepartment of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States.
Jacqueline R EvansDepartment of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Low-stakes crimes related to alcohol and/or drugs are common around the world, but research is lacking on police-suspect interactions of such crimes. A large proportion of these suspects are intoxicated during interrogations, and many may have substance use disorder, making them potentially vulnerable to interrogative pressure. Methods: To address this lack of knowledge, the taxonomy of interrogation methods framework (i.e., 60+ interrogation techniques classified into five domains) and a common classification of question types (appropriate vs. inappropriate) were applied in the coding of written police interrogations. Two archival studies, one pilot (Study 1, Results: For both Study 1 and 2, suspects showed signs of alcohol and/or drug intoxication, hangover or withdrawal in more than 50% of all interrogations. In Study 2, additional coding indicated that suspects displayed signs of substance use disorder in 57% of the interrogations. The main results from both studies revealed a large number of direct questions asked by the police across all interrogations, and relatively little use of the strategic interrogation techniques from the taxonomy of interrogation methods framework. In fact, when it came to interrogation techniques, law enforcement used more confrontational techniques in their interactions with intoxicated suspects compared to sober suspects. Furthermore, suspects displaying signs of substance use disorder were significantly more cooperative and prone to confess than suspects without indicators of substance use disorder. Conclusion: As the first novel study on low-stakes crime interrogations related to alcohol and/or drugs, the present study provides useful information about current Swedish interrogation practices and areas for improvement. The study results indicate that suspects displaying signs of intoxication or substance use disorder may be more vulnerable during police interrogations. This may in turn have the potential to inform the development of new interrogation policies. Due to the novelty of this research, more studies are needed, both on a national and international level, to examine interrogations in low-stakes crimes further.

Indexed as

alcohol and drug-related crimesinterrogationslow-stakes crimespolicesuspectsSwedentaxonomy of interrogation methods framework

Identifiers

PMID36186325
PMCPMC9521503

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.