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76 Deception at Work

Again, such communication will be at an emotional level and you must remain patient, adopt
the role of a nurturing parent and help him get the monkeys off his back. We will return to
this point in Chapter 7, page [xref].

CONFESSION: THE DEEP TRUTH

It is one of the great ironies of life that most religious orders see confession as a positive,
natural and healing process, whereas lawyers and smelly socks19 seem to assume that they
can only be obtained through improper means. In a tough interview, the suspect definitely
finds confession cathartic.

Over the years we have tried to find what caused suspects to confess. We did this after the
deep truth had been revealed, empathetic relationships established and a bond of mutual trust
formed with the suspect, by simply asking them.20 People said they confessed because at the
time they were convinced that:

• The truth would emerge regardless.
• They could not cope with the anxiety created by their own deception.
• They had lost confidence in their ability to succeed with lies.
• They believed that telling the truth might be beneficial to:

– gain an advantage,
– minimize punishment,
– start life again,
– feel better,
– clear the position for colleagues,
– avoid disadvantages,
– avoid the involvement of family,
– terminate the investigation,
– prevent matters becoming worse,
– avoid their home being searched,
– avoid the involvement of police,
– avoid dismissal,
– avoid publicity for the case.
• They were able to internally excuse their own behaviour and save face with their family and
colleagues, both in defending the transgression and their admission of it.

They also said they believed that the immediate consequences of confession were tolerable
and that they could rebuild their lives. It should be noted that very few showed any genuine
signs of remorse.

PROJECTION AND REVENGE

The relationship between a suspect, who has confessed, and the interviewer is usually very
close, often based on a child-to-child transactional relationship. Most suspects are relieved

19 ‘Smelly socks’ is a generic term relating to people who live in a dream world, believe in Father Christmas and the
tooth fairy, and think that the Data Protection Act achieves any useful purpose for honest humans
20 40 years later we still get Christmas cards and emails from people who have confessed