Multi-dimensions of a suspects's confession

Abstract

In addition to its legal aspect, confession also has broader and multiple social and psychological dimensions. Psychoanalysis, as a science with its own research methods, explores the impact of a person's words on himself and on another person. Due to the power of censorship over the sub-conscious, a confession made to an analyst by a person being analysed is always susceptible to serving other motives. The truth has to be sought therefore in a reluctance to speak, i.e., in the unspeakable. The starting point of this method is transfer, which can also be developed outside psychoanalytic experience, for example in the police interrogation of a suspect. In modern criminal procedure, a confession must be voluntary, but the voluntary concept of applies only to circumstances in which a confession has been made and not to the form of the confession. However, it is likely to be overlooked that an involuntary confession is already latently present in the relation between a suspect and interrogator who encourages creative speech. This speech can be activated by very complicated layers of guilt, shame, contempt, need for punishment, atonement etc.