False accusation

{{Short description|Claim or allegation of wrongdoing that is untrue}} {{Criminal procedure (trial)}} A '''false accusation''' is a claim or allegation of wrongdoing that is untrue or unsubstantiated.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://definitions.uslegal.com/a/accusation/ |title=Accusation Law and Legal Definition |website=uslegal.com |access-date=April 18, 2019 }}</ref> False accusations are also known as '''groundless accusations''', '''unfounded accusations''', '''false allegations''', '''false claims''' or '''unsubstantiated allegations'''. They can occur in everyday life, in quasi-judicial proceedings, and in judicial proceedings.

Making a false accusation is a crime in many jurisdictions. In the United Kingdom, if a person acts in a way that intends or perverts the course of justice, for example by making false accusations to the Metropolitan Police, they are guilty of a criminal offence. This includes making crime reports that contain false allegations, that causes someone to be arrested or even fall under suspicion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Public Justice Offences {{!}} The Crown Prosecution Service |url=https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/public-justice-offences#:~:text=of%20charge%20selection.-,Perverting%20the%20Course%20of%20Justice,or%20are%20about%20to%20start. |access-date=2025-08-27 |website=www.cps.gov.uk}}</ref> Sometimes, the people who are actually guilty of an offence may do this to divert attention away from their own crimes. In certain circumstances, the person wrongly accused of a crime is the victim of a crime which should be investigated.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Policy and procedures related to false allegations |url=https://www.met.police.uk/foi-ai/metropolitan-police/disclosure-2024/may-2024/policy-procedures-related-false-allegations/ |access-date=2025-08-27 |website=www.met.police.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> ==Types== When there is insufficient supporting evidence to determine whether it is true or false, an accusation is described as "unsubstantiated" or "unfounded". Accusations that are determined to be false based on corroborating evidence can be divided into three categories:<ref name="Ney"/> * A completely false allegation, in that the alleged events did not occur. * An allegation that describes events that did occur, but were perpetrated by an individual who is not accused, and in which the accused person is innocent. * An allegation that is false, in that it mixes descriptions of events that actually happened with other events that did not occur.

A false allegation can occur as the result of intentional lying on the part of the accuser;<ref name="mikkel">{{cite journal |vauthors=Mikkelsen EJ, Gutheil TG, Emens M |title=False sexual-abuse allegations by children and adolescents: contextual factors and clinical subtypes |journal=Am J Psychother |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=556–70 |date=October 1992 |pmid=1443285 |doi= 10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1992.46.4.556}}</ref><ref name="Bryant">{{cite book |first=Clifton D. |last=Bryant |title=Deviant Behavior: Readings in the Sociology of Norm Violation |location=New York |publisher=Hemisphere |year=1990 |page=190 |isbn=0-89116-696-3 }}</ref> or unintentionally, due to a confabulation, either arising spontaneously due to mental illness<ref name="mikkel"/> or resulting from deliberate or accidental suggestive questioning, or faulty interviewing techniques.<ref name="Ceci">{{cite book |author1=Maggie Bruck |author2=Ceci, Stephen J |title=Jeopardy in the Courtroom |url=https://archive.org/details/jeopardyincourtr0000ceci |url-access=registration |publisher=Amer Psychological Assn |year=1995 |isbn=1-55798-282-1 }}</ref> In 1997, the researchers Poole and Lindsay suggested that separate labels should be applied to the two concepts, proposing that "false allegations" be used when the accuser is aware that they are lying, and "false suspicions" for the wider range of false accusations in which suggestive questioning may have been involved.<ref name="weiner438">{{cite book |title=Handbook of Psychology |author=Irving B. Weiner |author-link=Irving B. Weiner |author2=Donald K. Freedheim |year= 2003 |pages= [https://books.google.com/books?id=lBXf1slZBDwC&pg=PA438 438] | publisher=John Wiley and Sons |isbn= 0-471-17669-9}}</ref>

When a person is suspected of a wrongdoing for which they are in fact responsible, "false accusation may be used to divert attention from one's own guilt".<ref name="Bryant"/> False accusation may also arise in part from the conduct of the accused, particularly where the accused engages in behaviors consistent with having committed the suspected wrongdoing, either unconsciously or for purposes of appearing guilty.<ref name="Bryant"/>

Additionally, once a false accusation has been made – particularly an emotionally laden one – normal human emotional responses to being falsely accused (such as fear, anger, or denial of the accusation) may be misinterpreted as evidence of guilt.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} Examples would include accusations based on irrational psychotic paranoia. ==Rape== {{Main|False accusation of rape}} A false accusation of rape is the intentional reporting of a rape where no rape has occurred. It is difficult to assess the prevalence of false accusations because they are often conflated with non-prosecuted cases under the designation "unfounded".<ref name="practical">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iV398oA5DdsC |title=Practical Aspects of Rape Investigation |year=2008 |editor-first=Robert R. |editor-last=Hazelwood |editor2-first=Ann Wolbert |editor2-last=Burgess |publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9781420065053 }}</ref><ref name="AAOJ">{{cite web |last=Gross |first=Bruce |date=Spring 2009 |url= |title=False Rape Allegations: An Assault On Justice |work=The Forensic Examiner }}</ref> However, in the United States, the FBI ''Uniform Crime Report'' in 1996 and the United States Department of Justice in 1997 stated 8% of rape accusations in the United States were regarded as unfounded or false.<ref name="fbi.gov">{{cite web |url=https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/1996/96sec2.pdf |work=Crime in the United States 1996: Uniform Crime Statistics |title=Section II: Crime Index Offenses Reported |publisher=FBI |date=1997 }}</ref><ref name = "Forensic276">{{Cite book|title = Forensic Victimology: Examining Violent Crime Victims in Investigative and Legal Contexts|last = Turvey|first = Brent E.|publisher = Academic Press|year = 2013 |isbn =978-0-12-408084-3 |pages = 276–277}}</ref><ref name=rumney>{{cite journal |last=Rumney |first=Philip N. S. |year=2006 |title=False Allegations of Rape |journal=Cambridge Law Journal |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=128–158 |doi=10.1017/S0008197306007069 |s2cid=29279653 }}</ref> Studies in other countries have reported their own rates at anywhere from 1.5% (Denmark) to 10% (Canada).<ref name=rumney />{{rp|140–142}} Due to varying definitions of a "false accusation", the true percentage remains unknown.<ref name = "Forensic276" />

==Child abuse== {{Main|False accusations of child sexual abuse}} A false allegation of child sexual abuse is an accusation that a person committed one or more acts of child sexual abuse when in reality there was no perpetration of abuse by the accused person as alleged. Such accusations can be brought by the victim, or by another person on the alleged victim's behalf. Studies of child abuse allegations suggest that the overall rate of false accusation is under 10%, as approximated based on multiple studies.<ref name="Ney"/><ref name="Hobbs197">{{cite book|title=Child Abuse and Neglect: A Clinician's Handbook |last= Hobbs |first= CJ |author2=Hanks HGI |author3=Wynne JM |publisher= Elsevier Health Sciences |year=1999 |pages= [https://books.google.com/books?id=3w_j-n1tLGcC&pg=PA197 197] |isbn= 0-443-05896-2}}</ref><ref name="Schetky105">{{cite book|title=Child Sexual Abuse: A Handbook for Health Care and Legal Professionals |last= Schetky |first=DH |author2=Green AH |publisher=Psychology Press |year=1988 |pages= [https://books.google.com/books?id=QYyzGgZbllYC&pg=PA105 105] |isbn= 0-87630-495-1}}</ref><ref name="Bolen109">{{cite book|title=Child Sexual Abuse: Its Scope and Our Failure |last= Bolen |first=RM |publisher=Springer |year= 2001 |pages= [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bzd1ytm7nvoC&pg=PA109 109] |isbn= 0-306-46576-0}}</ref> Of the allegations determined to be false, only a small portion originated with the child, the studies showed; most false allegations originated with an adult bringing the accusations on behalf of a child, and of those, a large majority occurred in the context of divorce and child-custody battles.<ref name="Ney">{{cite book|title=True and False Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse: Assessment and Case Management |last=Ney |first=T |publisher=Psychology Press |year=1995 |pages= [https://books.google.com/books?id=BggJjhbBJzwC&pg=PA23 23–33] |isbn= 0-87630-758-6}}</ref><ref name="Robin21">{{cite book|title=Assessing Child Maltreatment Reports: The Problem of False Allegations |last= Robin |first=M |publisher= Haworth Press |year= 1991 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tqBVMUlMPLIC&pg=PA21 21–24] |isbn= 0-86656-931-6}}</ref>

==Workplace bullying== {{Main|Workplace bullying}} According to a 2003 survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute, false accusations of "errors" are among the most common workplace bullying tactics.<ref name=namie>{{cite web|url=http://www.workplacebullying.org:80/top-25/|title=Top 25 workplace bullying tactics|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015011326/http://www.workplacebullying.org:80/top-25/|access-date=24 August 2017|archive-date=2017-10-15}}</ref>

==Workplace mobbing== {{Main|Workplace mobbing}} Workplace mobbing can be considered as a "virus" or a "cancer" that spreads throughout the workplace via gossip, rumour and unfounded accusations.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shallcross |first1=Linda |last2=Ramsay |first2=Sheryl |last3=Barker |first3=Michelle |year=2008 |chapter=Workplace mobbing: Expulsion, exclusion, and transformation |editor-last=Wilson |editor-first=M. |title=Managing in the Pacific Century |series=Proceedings of the 22nd Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management Annual Conference |publisher=Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, Australia |pages=1–22 |chapter-url=https://eprints.qut.edu.au/43896/ }}</ref>

==Münchausen syndrome by proxy== {{Main|Factitious disorder imposed on another}} The case has been made that diagnoses of Münchausen syndrome by proxy, that is harming someone else in order to gain attention for oneself, are often false or highly questionable.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pnc.com.au/~heleneli/paper.htm|title=False Accusations of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. PHD and more presented by Dr. Helen Hayward-Brown.|website=www.pnc.com.au|access-date=24 August 2017|archive-date=3 December 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031203074042/http://www.pnc.com.au/~heleneli/paper.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Stalking== {{Main|False claims of stalking, gang stalking and delusions of persecution}} In 1999, Pathe, Mullen, and Purcell wrote that popular interest in stalking was promoting false claims.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=M. |last1=Pathe |first2=P. E. |last2=Mullen |first3=R. |last3=Purcell |title=Stalking: false claims of victimization |journal=British Journal of Psychiatry |volume=174 |issue=2 |pages=170–172 |year=1999 |doi=10.1192/bjp.174.2.170 |pmid=10211173 |s2cid=13850054 }}</ref> In 2004, Sheridan and Blaauw said that they estimated that 11.5% of claims in a sample of 357 reported claims of stalking were false.<ref name="Sheridan and Blauuw 2004">{{cite journal |first1=L. P. |last1=Sheridan |first2=E. |last2=Blaauw |title=Characteristics of False Stalking Reports |journal=Criminal Justice and Behavior |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=55–72 |year=2004 |doi=10.1177/0093854803259235 |s2cid=11868229 }}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Harassment and bullying Category:Abuse of the legal system Category:Stalking Category:Lying Category:Propaganda techniques