Whay is the psychology behind the "good cop, bad cop" routine? And why do so many of the accused agree

Question

speak to detectives when they can call a lawyer instead of futher incriminating themselves?

Answer 1

The bad cop yells and screams and tries to intimidate you. He wants you to be scared and nervous. Then the good cop comes in and is on your side. If you just tell him what happened, he can help you. Haha. That's what they want you to think anyway. The good cop is supposed to seem nice and friendly and somebody who will get the other guy to lay off and help you. Also, people confess because they feel guilty I guess.

Answer 2

I bet there is a lot of the Milgram effect involved, regarding obedience to authority.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

In brief, people tend to obey authority figures and instead of acting in their own best interests, they become an agent of the authority figure itself.

Somewhere there is a very subtle change that might be brought on by the bad/good cop routine, if it hasn't already happened.

Note how often in cop dramas (and I believe for real) one or both cops will be appealing, on the basis of their authority, for the accused to testify against his best interests in order for justice to be done for the victim, or for a similar reason.

One the accused is working for justice, instead of for his own interests, the change has occured.

I am simplifying, but if you read up on Milgram (and his acutal book, which is in print)

Note that depending on if there is more then one suspect, this may be happeing within the context of the Prisoner's Dillemma too...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemma

Now, if you wnat to know why a man or woman subverts what are their own daily principles of life to become a cop that would do such a thing, which your question might also be intrpreted as:

Milgram might also be the reason - the cops love the structure and authority, and see themselves as agents of something over them rather then as individuals responsible for their own actions.

This is also an active area of research, and Philip Zimbardo is the key figure to look for as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbardo

But I don't want to go too far into Zimbardo here....the way you worded your question, I think Milgram applies more then Zimbardo.

Hope this helps - it is not obvious and is not the usual answer, but it should provide you some serious insight into a very good question.

Answer 3

When you are in that room you have no friends, the bad cop reminds you of that to the extreme, he is symbolic of society and justice. The good cop represents your family and friends. You can open up to him, by telling him what happened he'll talk to the courts on your behalf, because he is your friend but he has as much power and influence as the other guy that is trying to fry you, and he may just be able to get you out of it. Plus since he is your "friend" he may be more susceptible to any little deciet you may try, like how your friends want to believe you aren't a bad guy.
That is how it works, that is why it works, one sets you up the other knocks you down. Very effective with a kid. As for asking for a lawer makes you look guilty, I'd like a cop to say that to me, I'd get a case thrown out on that.

Answer 4

Guilt. They want to get it off their chest. A suprising number of people just do blurt out the truth to the police. Later, they regret it, and try to get the confession thrown out of court.

I knew this guy on death row in Indiana. He killed 2 women working at a bar, in a robbery. Two days later the police called him in for questioning, because they knew he had been there. He spilled his guts. Later, he tried to have the confession thrown out and he failed (of course).

Some people apparently find it very tempting to talk to the police and confess.

Answer 5

It will be the relief of having a sympathetic ear after a very stressful period with bad cop

Answer 6

Saying you need a lawyer makes you look guilty.

The good cop is the one that testifies against you in court.