Researcher ORCID Identifier

0009-0009-7457-0077

Graduation Year

2024

Date of Submission

12-2024

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

Reader 1

Mark Costanzo

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2024 Richard Bershtein

Abstract

Police interrogations are a core part of the American justice system. Gaining evidence through interrogation is paramount to navigating crime-solving throughout America and the world because it allows investigators to gain evidence and perspective from people at the crime scene. Despite interrogations being a part of the world's justice practice for centuries, it is up for debate about whether current interrogation practices are effective, ethical, and empirically supported. The Reid Method, the most widely known interrogation practice, is not empirically supported. (Kassin et al 2024) This begs the question: if the most famous interrogation practice is not empirically supported, is any practice backed by science or in line with psychological theory? The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast relevant interrogation with empirically supported theories of persuasion. Persuasion research is the most relevant when looking at interrogation techniques because persuasion is centered around convincing someone to believe a few that they initially are against. In the case of interrogations, investigators are trying to persuade suspects to confess that they committed a crime that they do not want to confess to. While the Reid Method, on the whole, is not empirically supported, some aspects of the Reid Method, as well as other relevant persuasion techniques, are in line with and have mechanisms that can be supported by psychological persuasion theory. Furthermore, there are other persuasion techniques and strategies that are worth examining. The aim of this paper is to discuss the psychological and ethical implications of modern persuasion techniques.

This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

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