I just finished Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts, by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson. The authors argue that the need for a positive self-image leads people to twist their beliefs to justify and defend mistakes. Examples come from studies of marriage, examinations of false accusations of sexual abuse, and the justifications offered for prosecution of innocent people, (including some comments from Oregon’s own Josh Marquis, the media-savvy Clatsop County District Attorney).
As someone who regularly deals with people who have made mistakes (the prosecutors who have falsely accused my clients, obviously), I thought Tavris and Aronson had a compelling explanation of some kinds of behavior that I find inexplicable, such as prosecutors resisting post-conviction DNA testing. Their analysis is surely useful in examining your own mistakes, and probably useful in understanding the mistakes that might get one into court and might make it hard to negotiate with opposing counsel or argue to a judge who has rejected similar arguments in the past. As is often the case with pop psychology, Tavris and Aronson’s insights seemed, well, insightful; I didn’t figure it out myself, but as they walked me through it I thought that I might just as well have.
