Les chercheurs s’étant penchés sur les facteurs influençant la décision du suspect de confesser son crime ont mis en évidence que deux facteurs sont principalement influents : la force de la preuve (Des Lauriers-Varin et St-Yves, 2006; Moston et al., 1992) et la conduite de l’enquêteur (Holmberg et Christianson, 2002; Kebell et al., 2005). Par contre, les contradictions entre ces études ont apporté davantage de confusion que de réponses à la pratique. Cette étude vise donc à explorer l’incidence de ces deux facteurs sur l’inclination du suspect à confesser son crime et les possibles interactions entre eux. Pour ce faire, 50 enregistrements vidéo d’interrogatoires d’homicide furent visionnés et les données furent soumises à des analyses statistiques et qualitatives. Les résultats d’une régression logistique démontrent que la conduite de l’enquêteur est le facteur prédominant pour prédire l’obtention d’aveux du suspect en contrôlant pour l’effet des variables statiques et de la preuve. Également, les résultats mettent en évidence qu’en augmentant les attitudes et comportements associés à une conduite « positive », l’enquêteur augmentait les probabilités d’aveux du suspect. De plus, les résultats indiquent que l’augmentation du nombre d’éléments de preuves est associée à une plus grande démonstration de « rapport de force » de la part de l’enquêteur. Les résultats sont discutés en relation à l’effet des principaux facteurs sur les schémas et dynamiques prenant place entre l’enquêteur et le suspect. / The studiess on factors influencing a suspect’s decision to confess his crime during a police questioning, reveal that the strength of evidence (Moston et al., 1992 and Des Lauriers-Varin and St-Yves, 2006) and the detective’s behaviour (Holmberg et Christianson, 2002 et Kebell et al., 2005) are considered key factors. However, past studies show notable contradictions. The present work focuses on the role of the two aforementioned factors, in the suspect’s decision to confess a crime and the potential interaction effect among them. The data were obtained by visioning and analyzing 50 questionings of a suspect linked to a homicide investigation. The logistic regression’s results show that the detective’s behaviour is the predominant factor in obtaining a confession from a suspect. Theses results are maintained when both the characteristic of the suspect and the weight of evidence are controlled for. Moreover, our results suggest that a “positive” attitude from the detective’s part is associated with a greater propensity toward confessing. Also, the results indicate that the greater available evidence to support the case, will translate into more “dominant” style of questioning from the detectives. The results are discussed in relation to the effects of the different dynamics taking place between the detective and the suspect during the questioning.

With criminal cases continuing to be exonerated across the United States, research must be done on the subject to advance current practices to reduce its occurrence in the future. This study combines county population data with the National Registry of Exonerations to analyze the contributing factors to wrongful convictions and the possible effect of population on their frequency. The objective of this study was to identify specific policy changes based on the five contributing factors to wrongful convictions that could be applied to population specific areas. The results yielded multiple patterns that are discussed thoroughly. These findings allowed the introduction of policy changes and proposals for future research.

Millions of custodial suspects waive their rights each year without the benefit of legal counsel. The question posed to psychologists in disputed Miranda waivers is whether this waiver decision was, knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. Mental health professionals must be aware of potential barriers to Miranda comprehension to provide expert opinions regarding a defendant's competency to waive rights. The current study examined how Miranda warning reading level, length, and method of administration affects Miranda comprehension. Recently arrested detainees at Grayson County Jail were administered oral and written Miranda warnings from the Miranda Statements Scale (MSS; Rogers, 2005) to measure their comprehension of the warnings. Surprisingly low levels of Miranda comprehension were found for most warnings. For all warnings at or above 8th grade, a substantial minority (27.1% - 39.6%) of defendants exhibited failed (i.e., < 50% understanding) Miranda comprehension. Regardless of other variables, oral administrations resulted in a substantially larger number of defendants with failed Miranda comprehension. Implications for public policy and clinical practice are discussed.

The theme of this work is to compare the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession and the Evangelical Methodist Church in Slovakia, the basic issues of faith and liturgical emphases, focusing on the contribution of the ecumenical environment to refer first to the historical and theological background and then the difference in understanding Christian worship and its liturgical expression, in further outline the importance of sacramentology, spirituality, religious dogmatic. We also attempt to compare the emphasis in the understanding of doctrine and traditions of individual churches. Both Churches with its Protestant character bear the common name "Evangelical Church" and that is the reason why to deal and examine the differences and look for the content of unity. We have considered that in spite of historical and liturgical divergences combines both these churches the fundamental reformation principle of "Sola Scriptura", which means that in practice it is possible creating mutual ecumenical cooperation not only at the Ecumenical Council of Churches (ERC) in Slovakia, but also at the level of inter-mission activities of the churches and parishes.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse certain aspects connecting religion and narration (which is understood here as a common human faculty to think and express oneself in the form of narratives). The first part of the thesis is concerned with methodology; first of all, the issues of defining narrative are introduced and a more elaborate definition is presented. A complete methodology is then formulated with a help of several authors (mainly James W. Pennebaker and Mary Douglas) in order to distinguish particularities and functions of creating narratives in religious contexts. Two main points are stressed here: that the content of the narratives is often concerned with problematic aspects of experience and that the expression of these narratives is beneficial for their creators. The second part focuses on several religious institutions concerned with creation of narratives which are interpreted with the outlined methodology. In this manner, the act of confession in Catholicism, prayer in Christianity and certain healing rituals are described and interpreted. Conclusions of this thesis should help the reader get a basic idea of the way created narratives in religious contexts affect their authors.

Post-apartheid writing has been characterized by an ardent search for a voice that truly depicts the painful apartheid past. The establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) promoted a confessional mode of writing as a means to obtaining healing, hence reconstitution. Such a paradigm shift in writing necessitated imagined characters to re-invent and re-align themselves with the new post-apartheid dispensation if they were to remain relevant to South African readership. Reinvention of characters is made possible through several means and various organs of reconstitution such as history, narration, possession of one’s landscape and a disavowal of belonging as depicted in The Native Commissioner. This study seeks to examine the process of self-constitution undergone by the co-protagonist and surrogate narrator, Sam Jameson, following his failure to function as an individual and father in post-apartheid South Africa. To this end, a close reading of the novel is done, to better understand the context of Sam’s trauma. The study traces the self-reconstitutive process of Sam from the moment he decides to re-visit his father’s past, to the moment when he finds release from the trauma. I argue that an investigation of his father’s life, as well as his, ultimately gives him agency over his own. Sam’s identity shifts from his childhood past, in which apartheid exerts primary influence, to that of an adult who lives in the post-apartheid moment, having come to terms with his past. Telling his story, to him becomes an act of re-creation and self-invention and the means by which he formulates his own identity. At the end of the story, it is a totally liberated individual that the reader witnesses. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

The aim of this essay is first and foremost to clarify which kind of different answers there are to identify within an evangelical-lutheran tradition considering what a person should confess and take responsibility for as their sin and guilt. Secondly this essay aims to suggest the most plausible one. This essay thematically present four different figures of ideas that answers to the question of what a person should confess as their sin and guilt. These figures are: 1) To confess the ontological state of guilt 2) To confess the subjective sin and guilt 3) To confess the objective sin and guilt 4) To confess participation in the structural sin and guilt. These four different views of what to confess have been tested through three different criterias: a criteria of theology - by testing the coherence with an evangelical-lutheran tradition, a criteria of pastoral psychology - by testing the correspondence with theories in pastoral psychology and a criteria of good consequences - to see if the views of what to confess have a liberating effect on an individual and collective level. After testing these different views of what to confess my conclusion is that the most valid one is “ to confess our objective sin and guilt” because it expresses the violation of the “relation”. Some of the other views may serve as a good explanation for the human “situation”, but are not appropriate to confess as guilt.

This thesis examines the use of form and spatial language in confessional fiction by men to elucidate how they conceptualise and negotiate material, corporeal, and psychological boundaries amidst the shifting social and political landscape of the United States since the Second World War. In light of increasingly urgent calls to address gender and racial discrimination in the United States, this study offers timely insight into an identity that, while culturally dominant, often escapes examination: white, heterosexual masculinity. Focusing on the representation of forms and spatial imagery, the chapters explore how five formally experimental novelists-Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph McElroy, Harry Mathews, William H. Gass, and Peter Dimock- employ the confessional genre to illustrate the way men perceive themselves as spatially and temporally circumscribed, and to look at the way they reinforce or transgress the boundaries of masculine identity. The post-war period in the United States witnessed a proliferation of confessional writing that coincided with the popularisation of Freudian psychoanalysis, the cold war rhetoric of suspicion, and the rise of second-wave feminism. As a result, the concept of the self increasingly becomes a repository for fantasies of potential discovery and hidden danger that rely, significantly, on metaphors of surface and depth. It is within, and often against, this cultural preoccupation with the self that these writers address, both directly and indirectly, the status of white masculinity. Drawing on innovative theories of forms and spatiality, this study examines the diverse language and imagery men use to describe their sense of selfhood as well as the bonds they form with others. The works considered in this study demonstrate a common preoccupation with the boundaries that separate interior from exterior and private from public. In response to pressures both intimate and impersonal, the narrators of the texts discussed in this thesis turn to confessional practices of written self-examination to locate themselves within networks of fluctuating relations and obligations. The question that this thesis seeks to resolve is whether the forms and spatial language the narrators employ enable or obstruct their efforts to negotiate the competing demands of ethical responsibilities to others and the desire to preserve a stable sense of self.

A confissão é um importante meio de prova, na medida em que traz uma maior certeza ao julgador, afasta a possibilidade de uma condenação injusta e possibilita ao acusado benefícios como a atenuação da pena. Na parte teórica são estudados os sistemas de colheita da prova (acusatório, inquisitivo e misto), os sistemas de avaliação (prova legal, livre convicção e persuasão racional), os princípios do devido processo legal, contraditório e ampla defesa, o direito ao silêncio e à não auto-incriminação. Em seguida, são estudadas as características do interrogatório e da confissão, os requisitos para que ela seja considerada válida e seus efeitos na aplicação da pena, bem como a disciplina destes institutos em outros países (Itália, Portugal, Espanha, EUA e Inglaterra). Na segunda parte são examinadas sentenças criminais, a fim de identificar quais os motivos que levam à confissão, em quais situações ela pode ser levada em conta e quais seus efeitos na aplicação das penas. É analisado ainda se a lei nº 11.719/2008, ao deslocar o interrogatório para após a colheita das provas em juízo, aumentou, diminuiu ou manteve o percentual de confissões judiciais. Ao final, é realizada uma análise crítica do procedimento brasileiro atual, propondo-se que o interrogatório volte a ser realizado no início da instrução e mantendo-se a possibilidade do réu ser ouvido novamente ao final. Propõe-se, ainda, a adoção de um sistema semelhante ao pattegiamento do direito italiano e ao plea bargaining anglo-americano, para os casos de réus primários e crimes cometidos sem violência ou grave ameaça, cabendo ao Ministério Público propor a aplicação imediata de penas restritivas de direitos ou multa e ao juiz verificar sua regularidade, legalidade e voluntariedade. / Confession is an important piece of evidence, which brings greater certainty to the judge, rule out the possibility of a wrongful conviction and enables to the accused benefits such as mitigation of the penalty. In the theoretical part are studied the criminal procedures (adversarial, inquisitorial and mixed), evaluation systems (legal proof, free conviction and rational persuasion), the principles of due process of law, contradictory and full defense, the right to silence and non-self-incrimination. Then, are studied the characteristics of the interrogation and confession, the requirements for it to be considered valid and its effects on application of the penalty, as well as the discipline of these institutions in other countries (Italy, Portugal, Spain, USA and England). In the second part, some criminal sentences are examined, in order to identify the reasons that lead to confession, in which situations it can be considered and its effects on the application of penalties. It is also analyzed if the Brazilian law nº 11.719/2008, by moving the interrogation to after the taking of evidence in court, increased, decreased or maintained the percentage of judicial confessions. Finally, a critical analysis of the current Brazilian procedure is performed, proposing that the interrogation returns to the beginning of instruction and maintaining the possibility of the defendant be heard again at the end. It is also proposed the adoption of a similar system to the Italian pattegiamento and the Anglo-American plea bargaining system, for cases of first-time offenders and crimes without violence or serious threat, leaving to the prosecutors propose the immediate application of penalties and to the judge verify its regularity, legality and voluntariness.

Há leis que instituem programas de parcelamento tributário, concedendo benefícios fiscais e exigindo contrapartidas por parte dos contribuintes, a fim de encerrar os litígios fiscais pendentes e de promover a arrecadação tributária. As exigências mais comuns são a confissão irrevogável e irretratável dos débitos parcelados, a desistência de processos administrativos e judiciais que discutam esses débitos e a renúncia às alegações de direito sobre as quais se fundamentam esses processos. Nesse contexto, o objetivo deste trabalho é verificar a validade e a eficácia dessas cláusulas, a partir de sua conformidade com o sistema constitucional tributário. As condições para adesão aos programas de parcelamento tributário serão analisadas por meio da investigação dos efeitos da manifestação de vontade do sujeito passivo na instituição da obrigação tributária à luz da legalidade e por meio da averiguação da compatibilidade das imposições legais com os direitos fundamentais e com as normas estruturantes do Estado de Direito. Para tanto, analisam-se as leis federais, estaduais e municipais que instituíram os principais programas de parcelamento tributário, com o objetivo de identificar os benefícios fiscais concedidos pelo Poder Público e os requisitos impostos aos contribuintes que quiserem aderir aos programas. Em seguida, passa-se ao exame da legalidade tributária e do papel que a manifestação de vontade do sujeito passivo pode assumir frente a essa norma estruturante do Estado de Direito. A partir das conclusões alcançadas na investigação sobre o papel da manifestação de vontade do sujeito passivo no Direito Tributário, estuda-se a validade e os efeitos da cláusula de confissão irrevogável e irretratável do débito parcelado. Por fim, analisam-se as cláusulas de desistência e de renúncia tendo em vista os limites às restrições de direitos fundamentais no Estado de Direito. Ao final, pretende-se encontrar uma forma de compatibilizar as exigências para ingresso no programa de parcelamento fiscal com o caráter ex lege da obrigação tributária e com os direitos fundamentais dos contribuintes. / Some statutes establish tax installment programs, granting tax reductions and requiring counterparts from taxpayers, in order to terminate tax disputes and promote tax collection. The most common requirements are irrevocable and irreversible confession of the debt inserted in the tax installment program, withdrawal of administrative and judicial procedures against this debt, and waiver of the rights that substantiate these procedures. In this context, the aim of this dissertation is to verify the validity and effectiveness of these clauses, from the point of view of their compliance with the Brazilian constitutional tax system. The conditions to adhere to the tax installment programs will be analyzed by investigating the effects of taxpayers consent in the institution of tax obligation, considering the legality principle, and the compatibility of the legal requirements with fundamental individual rights and the Rule of Law principles. To achieve this objective, federal, state and municipal statutes which established tax installment programs will be analyzed, in order to identify the tax reductions usually granted and the requirements imposed to the taxpayers who want to subscribe to these programs. Subsequently, the tax legality principle will be scrutinized and the role of taxpayers consent will be analyzed considering this Rule of Laws principle. From the conclusions reached in the investigation of the role of taxpayers consent in Tax Law, the validity and effectiveness of the irrevocable and irreversible confession clause will be studied. Finally, the withdrawal and waiver clauses will be analyzed in view of the limits imposed to restriction of fundamental individual rights in the Rule of Law. At the end point, this essay aims to find a way to reconcile the requirements imposed for the subscription to tax installment programs with the tax obligations ex lege character and with taxpayers fundamental rights.