Hayley Cleary, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

EXPERTISE

• Police interrogation of juveniles
• Adolescent development in legal contexts
• Juvenile justice policy and practice

EDUCATION

B.A., Psychology and Russian Studies, University of Virginia
M.P.P., Public Policy, Georgetown University Public Policy Institute
Ph.D., Developmental Psychology, Georgetown University

TEACHING

Research methods, juvenile justice, forensic psychology, juvenile law and policy

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Police interrogation, juvenile false confessions, juvenile justice policy, juvenile corrections, adolescent sex offending

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Hayley Cleary's research examines adolescent behavior and decision-making in legal contexts, including police, courts, and corrections. The cornerstone of her research program involves police interrogation of young people. Dr. Cleary is an internationally recognized expert in police interviewing and interrogation of youth. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and Annie E. Casey Foundation and featured in national media outlets, including the New York Times and New Yorker magazine. Dr. Cleary is frequently sought as an expert in disputed confession cases involving adolescent defendants. She has also provided written and live testimony in support of evidence-based legislation in numerous states—for example, prohibiting police use of deception in juvenile interrogations. Dr. Cleary has been invited on numerous occasions to share her work with academic, law enforcement, legal, and public audiences, including the FBI National Academy, the Virginia General Assembly, the International Association of Interviewers, and attorney organizations in several states. 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Bettens, T., & Cleary, H. M. D., & Bull, R. (2024). Humane interrogation strategies are associated with confessions, cooperation, and disclosure: Evidence from a field study of detained individuals in the U.S. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 51(6), 949-969. https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241232068

Davis, D., Blandón-Gitlin, I., Cleary, H. M. D., Costanzo, M., Leo, R. A., & Margolis, S. (2023). Interrogation by proxy: The growing role of lay and undercover interrogators in eliciting criminal confessions. Criminal Law Bulletin, 59(4), 395-479.

Warner, T. C., & Cleary, H. M. D. (2022). Parents’ interrogation knowledge and situational decision-making in hypothetical juvenile interrogations. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 28(1), 78–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000241

Cleary, H. M. D., Guarnera, L. A., Aaron, J., & Crane, M. (fall, 2021). How trauma may magnify risk of involuntary and false confessions among adolescents. Wrongful Conviction Law Review.

Cleary, H. M. D., & Bull, R. (2021). Contextual factors predict self-reported confession decision-making: A field study of suspects’ actual police interrogation experiences. Law and Human Behavior, 45(4), 310–323. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000459

Cleary, H. M. D., & Najdowski, C. J. (2020). Awareness of sex offender registration policies and self-reported sexual offending in a community sample of adolescents. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 17(3), 486-499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-019-00410-3

Blandon-Gitlin, I., Cleary, H. M. D., & Blair, A. (2020). Race and ethnicity as a compound risk factor in police interrogation of youth. In M. Stevenson, B. Bottoms, & K. Burke (eds.), The legacy of race for children: Psychology, public policy, and law (pp. 169-187). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cleary, H. M. D., & Brubaker, S. J. (2019). Therapeutic transformation of juvenile corrections in Virginia: A mixed method analysis of benefits and challenges. Children and Youth Services Review, 105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104444

Cleary, H. M. D.  (2017).  Applying the lessons of developmental psychology to the study of juvenile interrogations: New directions for research, policy, and practice. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 23, 118-130.  doi: 10.1037/law0000120    

Cleary, H. M. D., & Warner, T. C. (2016). Police training in interviewing and interrogation methods: A comparison of techniques used with adult and juvenile suspects. Law and Human Behavior, 40, 270-284. doi: 10.1037/lhb0000175