Criminology, Law and Society researcher studies impact of high school principal-led interrogations

Wrongful convictions upend lives, particularly those of youth, and can result in students becoming part of the school-to-prison pipeline. Talley Bettens, a doctoral candidate in George Mason University’s Department of Criminology, Law and Society, seeks to trace this issue to its roots: adolescent behavior and the school environment.  

Bettens has received a graduate research fellowship from the National Institute of Justice to support her dissertation titled “Schoolhouse Interrogations and Confessions: Perspectives from Principals and Students.” Her research will advance the understanding of school disciplinary practices and provide important insights into the factors that may contribute to wrongful convictions of youth. Allison Redlich, Distinguished University Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, is the chair of Bettens’s dissertation committee. 

“This research will help us learn more about how principals investigate misconduct before deciding to discipline students. It will hopefully lead to the development of tools that improve the system and ensure that innocent youth are protected,” Bettens said. 

Bettens will examine how high school principals interrogate students about potential misconduct and how these interrogation practices may influence the likelihood of coerced or false confessions from students. Bettens's study has two major phases. The first phase involves a survey of high school principals across the United States. Participants will be asked about the interrogation methods they use when questioning students and their knowledge of adolescents’ vulnerabilities when being interrogated.  

The second phase involves direct work with students in Northern Virginia high schools. This phase involves a hypothetical interrogation scenario between the principal and a student. This will lead to more insight into how likely students are to confess under these circumstances. It also examines the problems faced by students in interrogations. 

“We aim to gain information from both sides of the interrogation: from the principals and from the students,” Bettens said. “The use of guilt-presumptive, confession-driven interrogation methods when questioning students could increase the chance that students, even innocent ones, fall into the school to prison pipeline. By addressing the root of the issue from both sides, we can better understand how to prevent these numbers from increasing.” 

The interdisciplinary approach combines criminal justice studies and psychological studies, finding common ground in how the school-to-prison pipeline may be initiated in these interrogations. Bettens said she takes a special interest in innocence, given an apparent lack of presumption of innocence for students at school, which may affect their view of themselves and their surroundings. This impact could play a large role in the students’ futures. which leads to the question Bettens aims to explore: How do we improve the tools for these educators who investigate misconduct while simultaneously protecting students?