2.4 Suggestibility and the Reid technique

One particular method of suspect interrogation, known as the Reid technique, which has been widely used in the US, has been criticised by many researchers for involving coercive techniques very likely to lead to false confessions (e.g. Walsh, O’Callaghan and Milne, 2016). This is particularly the case in more vulnerable suspects through mechanisms such as suggestibility, as well as causing less vulnerable suspects to shut down and stop answering questions. It is, perhaps, fair to add that the company that provides training in the Reid technique states that this criticism mischaracterises the methods involved, and that false confessions arise from officers misapplying their training and using approaches that are not part of the technique.

The Reid technique comprises a three-stage process. Stage 1 is a ‘factual analysis’ involving information on the crime and on the suspect, designed to estimate probable guilt. Stage 2 is based on a relatively short ‘behaviour analysis interview’ to determine the truthfulness of the suspect (by asking ‘behaviour-provoking’ questions and whether to proceed with stage 3, which is a full interrogation. The interrogation that comprises stage 3 involves nine steps. Below is a brief summary of these nine steps based on Connecticut General Assembly (no date):

1. The positive confrontation. The investigator tells the suspect that the evidence demonstrates the person’s guilt.
2. Theme development. The investigator then presents a moral justification, or ‘theme’, for the offence in a sympathetic manner.
3. Handling denials. The investigator should discourage the suspect from making any denials, as this can make it harder for them to tell the truth later. Innocent suspects will not move past step 3.
4. Overcoming objections. The investigator should accept objections that the suspect is innocent as if truthful and use the objection to develop a ‘theme’.
5. Procurement and retention of suspect’s attention. The investigator should make the suspect focus on the ‘theme’ rather than on potential punishment.
6. Handling the suspect’s passive mood. The investigator should continue to display a sympathetic manner and intensify the ‘theme’ and psychological justification of the act.
7. Presenting an alternative question. The investigator should encourage the suspect to choose the more sympathetic explanation offered by the ‘theme’ over an alternative, less justifiable rationale.
8. Having the suspect orally relate various details of the offence. When the suspect admits guilt by choosing the explanation offered in the ‘theme’, the investigator should reinforce this by asking for an overview of the events.
9. Converting an oral confession to a written confession. The investigator converts the oral overview, and thereby confession, into a written confession.

As stated previously, the Reid technique has been heavily and widely criticised by psychological researchers because rather than using interviewing elements designed to elicit accurate evidence, it is instead aimed at pressuring the suspect into confessing, and so is very likely to lead to a false confession. If you would like to find out more about the Reid technique and its potential to lead to false confessions, you might like to read the article by Starr (2013), ‘Do police interrogation techniques produce false confessions?’ [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] , written by a journalist who went on the training course to learn how to use this technique.