What are the three main categories of false confessions proposed by Kassin and Wrightsman (1985)? ...

Voluntary false confessions occur when someone voluntarily confesses to a crime he or she did not commit without any elicitation from the police. Research has indicated that people voluntarily false confess for a variety of reasons. For example, Gudjonsson (1992) suggested that such confessions may arise out of (1) a morbid desire for notoriety, (2) the person being unable to distinguish fact from fantasy, (3) the need to make up for pathological feelings of guilt by receiving punishment, or (4) a desire to protect somebody else from harm (which may be particularly prevalent among juveniles).

Coerced-compliant false confessions are those in which the suspect confesses to a crime, even though the suspect is fully aware that he or she did not commit it. This type of false confession is perhaps the most common ( Gudjonsson & MacKeith, 1988 ). Unlike voluntary false confessions, these confessions are caused by the use of coercive interrogation tactics on the part of the police, such as the maximization techniques described earlier. Specifically, coerced-compliant confessions may be given so the suspect can (1) escape further interrogation, (2) gain a promised benefit, or (3) avoid a threatened punishment ( Gudjonsson, 1992 ).

The third, and perhaps the most bizarre type of false confession proposed by Kassin and Wrightsman (1985 ) is the coerced-internalized false confession . Here, individuals recall and confess to a crime they did not commit, usually after they are exposed to highly suggestible questions, such as the minimization techniques described earlier in the chapter ( Gudjonsson, 2003 ). In contrast to the coerced-compliant false confessor, however, these individuals actually end up believing they are responsible for the crime. According to Gudjonsson (1992) , several vulnerability factors are associated with this type of false confession, including (1) a history of substance abuse or some other interference with brain function, (2) the inability of people to detect discrepancies between what they observed and what has been erroneously suggested to them, and (3) factors associated with mental state, such as severe anxiety, confusion, or feelings of guilt.