False Confessions, Interrogation, and Investigative Interviewing

On August 8, 2019 NACOLE welcomed Melissa Russano, Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Justice Studies at Roger Williams University, to discuss false confessions, interrogations, and investigative interviewing. Included in this discussion were the various types of false confessions, such as voluntary false confessions, coerced-compliant false confessions, and coerced-internalized false confessions, as well as individual and situational risk factors for false confessions. Dr. Russano also discussed how to mitigate these risk factors, including the use of science-based interview practices (e.g., rapport-based information-gathering approaches, good questioning tactics, and strategic use of evidence).

Presenter: Melissan Russano, Ph.D.