THE EFFECTS OF INTERROGATIVE PRESSURE ON STRATEGIC COPING

In this paper four cases are presented to illustrate how interrogative pressure can result in marked lowering of subjects' suggestible and c ompliant behaviour during interrogation. This means that subjects resp ond to the pressure by becoming less suggestible and less compliant, w hich is in complete opposition to that intended by the interrogator. T his can be interpreted within a two-process theory as an effective dis continuation of reactive behaviour and a sudden activation of strategi c coping. In two of the cases, which involved real-life interrogations , police pressure resulted in a ''boomerang'' reaction and a retractio n of an already made confession to murder. Anger and a sense of injust ice are seen as important components to such a reaction. However, stra tegic coping during interrogation can also be activated by sudden chan ge in critical thinking.