Delusions of Innocence

Delusions of Innocence
Author: Michael O'Connell
Publisher: Waterside Press
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2017-09-04
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1909976466

The case of Stefan Kiszko casts a dark shadow over British justice. Totally unconnected to the murder of which he was convicted—that of a young girl Lesley Molseed—he spent 16 years in prison tormented as a sex-offender and suffering from what one expert described as ‘delusions of innocence’. As author Michael O’Connell explains, it was in fact the system by which he was ensnared which was suffering from ‘delusions of guilt’. Kiszko could not have been Lesley’s attacker as subsequently established by DNA and the medical fact that he could not produce sperm. But a false confession written for him by a corrupt police officer set in train proceedings from which he was never to recover, dying only a short time after his eventual release. In this book, Michael O’Connell investigates every small detail of the case with especial reference to the foibles of the lawyers, investigators and scientists involved, all of whom either missed or ignored the signs that should have pointed to an early discharge from a misguided prosecution. The book includes the participation of a prosecutor who went on to become Lord Chief Justice and a leading defence barrister who became Home Secretary before his elevation to the House of Lords. Everyone seems to have become caught up in the momentum originally fuelled by policing methods that are hopefully now long gone. The most detailed treatment available. Contains Kiszko’s original confession and retraction. Explains the points at which the case went wrong. Looks at the motivations of those involved.

The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs

The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs
Author: Lisa Bortolotti
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2020-06-25
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0198863985

In an ideal world, our beliefs would satisfy norms of truth and rationality, as well as foster the acquisition, retention, and use of other relevant information. In reality, we have limited cognitive capacities and are subject to motivational biases on an everyday basis. We may also experience impairments in perception, memory, learning, and reasoning in the course of our lives. Such limitations and impairments give rise to distorted memory beliefs, confabulated explanations, and beliefs that are elaborated delusional, motivated delusional, or optimistically biased. In this book, Lisa Bortolotti argues that some irrational beliefs qualify as epistemically innocent, where, in some contexts, the adoption, maintenance, or reporting of the beliefs delivers significant epistemic benefits that could not be easily attained otherwise. Epistemic innocence does not imply that the epistemic benefits of the irrational belief outweigh its epistemic costs, yet it clarifies the relationship between the epistemic and psychological effects of irrational beliefs on agency. It is misleading to assume that epistemic rationality and psychological adaptiveness always go hand-in-hand, but also that there is a straight-forward trade-off between them. Rather, epistemic irrationality can lead to psychological adaptiveness, which in turn can support the attainment of epistemic goals. Recognising the circumstances in which irrational beliefs enhance or restore epistemic performance informs our mutual interactions and enables us to take measures to reduce their irrationality without undermining the conditions for epistemic success.

Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs

Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs
Author: Lisa Bortolotti
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2010
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0199206163

The book is an interdisciplinary exploration of the nature of delusions. It brings together recent work in philosophy of mind, cognitive psychology and psychiatry, offering a comprehensive review of the philosophical issues raised by the psychology of normal and abnormal cognition.

The Cardiff Five

The Cardiff Five
Author: Satish Sekar
Publisher: Waterside Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2017-11-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1909976520

This fresh edition of Satish Sekar’s classic work brings events up to date as at 2017 and includes matters that the author was prevented from publishing sooner. Among other things it deals with the collapse of the 2011 trial of police officers and others concerning the original miscarriage of justice in this case and in a new Epilogue calls for a Truth and Justice Commission. The author shows how this extreme miscarriage of justice destroyed families, divided communities and undermined confidence in the criminal justice system. The book takes the reader from the sadistic killing of Lynette White in Cardiff in 1988, via the subsequent investigation and trial to the aftermath of the folding of the 2011 trial over ‘lost’ documents that later materialised. But above all it deals with the hard scientific facts of the first vindication case of the DNA-age.

Three False Convictions, Many Lessons

Three False Convictions, Many Lessons
Author: David C Anderson
Publisher: Waterside Press
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2016-09-21
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1909976350

A new perspective on the roles of psychopathology, confirmation bias, false confessions, the media and internet (amongst other causes) of unjust accusations. Putting lack of empathy at the fore in terms of police, prosecutors and others, it considers a wide range of other psychopathological aspects of miscarriages of justice. By looking at three high profile cases, those of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito (Italy), Stefan Kiszko (UK) and Darlie Routier (USA)—the authors show that motive forces are a mind-set in which psychopathy (what they term ‘constitutional negative empathy’) may be present and the need to reinforce existing supposition or lose face plays a large part.

The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs

The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs
Author: Lisa Bortolotti
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2020-06-11
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0192609432

In an ideal world, our beliefs would satisfy norms of truth and rationality, as well as foster the acquisition, retention, and use of other relevant information. In reality, we have limited cognitive capacities and are subject to motivational biases on an everyday basis. We may also experience impairments in perception, memory, learning, and reasoning in the course of our lives. Such limitations and impairments give rise to distorted memory beliefs, confabulated explanations, and beliefs that are elaborated delusional, motivated delusional, or optimistically biased. In this book, Lisa Bortolotti argues that some irrational beliefs qualify as epistemically innocent, where, in some contexts, the adoption, maintenance, or reporting of the beliefs delivers significant epistemic benefits that could not be easily attained otherwise. Epistemic innocence does not imply that the epistemic benefits of the irrational belief outweigh its epistemic costs, yet it clarifies the relationship between the epistemic and psychological effects of irrational beliefs on agency. It is misleading to assume that epistemic rationality and psychological adaptiveness always go hand-in-hand, but also that there is a straight-forward trade-off between them. Rather, epistemic irrationality can lead to psychological adaptiveness, which in turn can support the attainment of epistemic goals. Recognising the circumstances in which irrational beliefs enhance or restore epistemic performance informs our mutual interactions and enables us to take measures to reduce their irrationality without undermining the conditions for epistemic success.

A Dangerous Obsession

A Dangerous Obsession
Author: Alice Frank
Publisher: Memoirs Publishing
Total Pages: 182
Release: 2012-04-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1908223790

For more than two years, Rose Elders and her daughter Elizabeth were hounded, bullied and intimidated almost to the point of madness, all because certain junior public servants misused their power, while senior ones who could have stopped it failed to use theirs as they should have. It all started when Elizabeth found she was being stalked by a well-known local misfit who was clearly trying to gain power over the women in order to get his hands on their money. He made a trumped-up claim to the local Social Services mental health team that Elizabeth was abusing her mother, and when Elizabeth complained that he was stalking her he accused her of libel. Then the social worker who had appointed herself to handle the case, for perverted reasons of her own, decided to take the stalker’s side and set out to have Elizabeth certified. Fortunately, her attempts were thwarted by doctors who knew better, but this did not prevent her from making the Elders’ life hell for two years.The author has written A Dangerous Obsession, based on a true story, to show how open to abuse UK mental health legislation is.

Delusions

Delusions
Author: Amy Crandall
Publisher: Limitless Publishing, LLC
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2018-08-29
Genre:
ISBN: 9781640344273

As she waits to give her statement in one of the interrogation rooms of Arcata Police Department, Abigale recites the same line over and over inside her head. I did not kill anyone. I did not kill anyone. But there's a trail of bodies, and it leads straight to her. The events that brought her to this very moment all point to one thing...her guilt. She must convince Detective Collins of her innocence, but how can she explain her ties to the victims, and the evidence that has her name written all over it? Then there's the mysterious Facebook profile. DarkHeart434. Who is DarkHeart434? And why does it seem like this person has all the answers, including the identity of the real murderer? As pieces of the puzzle start to come together, everything about Abigale's life begins to unravel-her past, her present...and even her self-proclaimed innocence.