Cumulative Disadvantage: A Psychological Framework for Understanding How Innocence Can Lead to Confession, Wrongful...

Area of Science:

• Psychological Science
• Criminology
• Legal Studies

Background:

• False confessions contribute to a significant portion of DNA exonerations globally.
• Existing research highlights the problem but lacks a comprehensive framework to explain its multifaceted nature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel "cumulative-disadvantage framework" explaining how innocent suspects become wrongfully convicted.
• To detail the psychological and systemic processes leading to false confessions and their pervasive effects.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of psychological science findings.
• Analysis of corroborating naturalistic evidence.
• Review of relevant legal precedents.

Main Results:

• The framework illustrates how initial disadvantages (suspect naivete, interrogator presumption of guilt) trigger a cascade of negative outcomes.
• These disadvantages corrupt evidence, bias forensic analysis, and influence trial outcomes, leading to wrongful convictions or pleas.
• The framework also accounts for enduring disadvantages postconviction and after exoneration.

Conclusions:

• A gestalt approach is needed to address the multistage process of cumulative disadvantage.
• Empirically driven reforms are necessary to mitigate these systemic issues and prevent wrongful convictions.
• Further research should focus on the enduring effects and systemic interventions.