confessions

However, more recent research on interrogation methods and human psychology have shown this tactic can prove flawed, especially when used on young or vulnerable people, and lead to false confessions.

Thirty years ago, a journalist in the Indian state of Bihar filmed a series of shocking confessions: midwives admitting they routinely murdered new-born baby girls.

Within days, police had obtained confessions from the teenagers — ages 14 to 16 — through methods considered today, at best, controversial.

Relying on evidence including the defendants’ own confessions, as well as travel and financial records and chat logs, the court found the six defendants guilty.

Paul Scheer’s memoir, “Joyful Recollections of Trauma,” is not just a collection of harrowing — and often humorous — confessions but also a reminder that to persevere, we must strive to maintain our passions.