Abstract
Children in the United States are regularly subjected to police interrogations. The modern police interrogation, except in rare circumstances, no longer involves the physical abuse, extreme isolation, and sleep deprivation commonly known as the “third degree” but instead involves more psychologically based interrogation techniques (see Leo, this volume). These techniques, which combine “minimization” techniques like feigning friendship, flattery and false sympathy, with “maximization” techniques like lying about or exaggerating the strength of the evidence, are designed with one purpose in mind: to get the suspect to confess guilt. The leading interrogation manual, Criminal Interrogations and Confessions (2001) by Inbau, Reid, Buckley, and Jayne instructs police officers to use these same techniques with children and adults.
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Drizin, S.A., Colgan, B.A. (2004). Tales from the Juvenile Confession Front. In: Lassiter, G.D. (eds) Interrogations, Confessions, and Entrapment. Perspectives in Law & Psychology, vol 20. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-38598-3_6
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