Can Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment Help Us Distinguish between True and False Confessions?
Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, Vol. 9, p. 231, 2011
23 Pages Posted: 14 Mar 2012
Date Written: March 13, 2012
Abstract
Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment is also a story about confessions. Raskolnikov, who committed a double murder, and Nikolay, an innocent suspect, each confesses to the same crime. An analysis of Raskolnikov’s and Nikolay's confession demonstrates the complexity of motives that drive the guilty and the innocent alike to confess and points to the distinction between true and false confessions. Finally this novel supports the conclusion that the accused should be required to provide significant details of the crime as a requirement for relying on his or her confession.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation