False Confessions Don't Happen in a Vacuum

False Confessions Don’t Happen in a Vacuum examines the conditions that can increase the risk of unreliable statements and false confessions. The article explains how contamination, confirmation bias, coercive questioning, presumption of guilt, and confession-driven interview practices can shape the information obtained during an investigation.

It argues that false confessions are rarely caused by a single question or technique. Instead, they often develop through a sequence of investigative decisions that narrow the interview, introduce facts, reward agreement, and place pressure on the subject to accept the investigator’s version of events.

The article also traces early concepts that later contributed to the development of the Cognitive Reliability Framework™, an evidence-based approach focused on statement reliability, contamination control, narrative development, and courtroom-defensible analysis.

Originally published by the Legal and Liability Risk Management Institute. This archival edition preserves the original work for scholarly citation and long-term reference.Keeping creative