I only want the truth from you”: a pragmatic discourse analysis of Jeffrey Dahmer’s honest confession to the FBI

Abstract

Police interrogations constitute a significant and extensively explored domain within forensic linguistics, with a focal point being the examination of coerced and false confessions (Leo & Ofshe, 1998, Shuy, 1998, Coulthard et al., 2017). This study, in contrast, centres on a contrary form of confession—the honest confession. Specifically, it conducts an in-depth analysis of various characteristics intrinsic to confessions, using the case of the cannibal serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, as a primary subject. The analysis of Jeffrey Dahmer’s honest confession is grounded in the taxonomy for questions and responses introduced by Chandia et al. (2020), which originated from the examination of two coerced confessions. Our study employs an analysis based on discussion topics from the confession, motivating our first objective of identifying differences and similarities between the established question and response types in both coerced and non-coerced interrogations through a contrast between the two. Aiming to illustrate the distinctive features arising from the power dynamics in the honest confession setting, as well as to characterise and compare the established question and response types proposed for both coerced and non-coerced confessions. Likewise, in the scenario of an honest confession, another research question of ours aims to characterise the power dynamics with a focus on the topic management and turn-taking in the confessional process. Thus, resistance and cooperation will be taking paramount importance in the analysis of the different phenomena happening in the confession. For the analysis it was taken into account the cooperative principle (Grice, 1975), resistance (Butler, 1991, as cited in Raby, 2005), and power dynamics (Haworth, 2006; Rock, 2015), which are fundamental aspects of comparison between the different types of confessions, and therefore analysed along the study. Notably, power asymmetry becomes a key element when considering the way it manifests in a conventional communication setting as opposed to the one present in an institutionalised context. During interrogations, this inherent power asymmetry typically anticipates or commonly results in the accused displaying resistance and providing direct answers to establish their innocence (Shuy, 1998; Taranilla, 2011; Haworth, 2013; Rock, 2015; Coulthard et al., 2017; Mason & Rock, 2020). This dynamic often emphasises an opposition between the roles of the interrogator and the accused, a phenomenon extensively explored in the context of coerced confessions. The characterization of an honest confession was based on an examination of one of Jeffrey Dahmer’s initial interrogations conducted by the FBI. The main results found when applying Chandia’s taxonomy for coerced confessions in Jeffrey Dahmer’s honest confession were mainly the different use of grammatical questions formulated by the interrogator. At the same time, some of the types of questions and responses proposed in Chandía’s taxonomy were not found in an honest confession. The dynamics of questions and responses, as well as the nature of the cooperative interaction, deviated from those observed in coerced confessions. In this instance, the subject exhibited a cooperative demeanour, providing an elaborate and detailed account of their past crimes. Importantly, the interrogator(s) actively encouraged the individual to continue their narrative without introducing potentially incriminating information—a departure from the conventional dynamics typically encountered in this type of interaction and in coerced confessions.