False accusation

A false accusation is a claim or allegation of wrongdoing that is untrue and/or otherwise unsupported by facts.^[1] False accusations are also known as groundless accusations or unfounded accusations or false allegations or false claims or unsubstantiated allegations. They can occur in any of the following contexts:

• Informally in everyday life
• Quasi-judicially
• Judicially

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:^[2]

• 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;^[3][4] or unintentionally, due to a confabulation, either arising spontaneously due to mental illness^[3] or resulting from deliberate or accidental suggestive questioning, or faulty interviewing techniques.^[5] In 1997, researchers Poole and Lindsay suggested that separate labels should be applied to the two concepts, proposing that the term "false allegations" be used specifically 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.^[6]

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".^[4] 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.^[4]

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]} Examples would include accusing based off irrational psychotic paranoia. A real life example -- Mr. Psych had a picture knocked off his book shelf by cleaning staff. Cleaning staff did not leave a note about damage and left the damaged picture frame where it had previously resided on Mr. Psych's office shelf. Mr. Psych finds the picture frame broken, and instantly throws a tantrum, screams, threatens and blames innocent co-workers creating a hostile work environment.

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In Japan in 2020, at least 33 people (21 males and 12 females) were arrested for false accusations.^[7]

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".^[8][9] 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.^[10][11][12] Studies in other countries have reported their own rates at anywhere from 1.5% (Denmark) to 10% (Canada).^{[12]: 140–142} Due to varying definitions of a "false accusation", the true percentage remains unknown.^[11]

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.^{[2][13][14][15]} 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.^[2][16]

According to a 2003 survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute, the most common bullying tactics included false attribution of "errors" to an employee, glaring or other hostile body language, dismissive comments, the "silent treatment", and/or making up arbitrary "rules" to ensure that a victim breaks them.^[17]

Workplace mobbing can be considered as a "virus" or a "cancer" that spreads throughout the workplace via gossip, rumour and unfounded accusations.^[18]

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.^[19]

In 1999, Pathe, Mullen, and Purcell wrote that popular interest in stalking was promoting false claims.^[20] 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.^[21]

In the mid 2000, LAPD arrested a young man Juan Catalan after a little girl was shot dead. Catalan was sentenced to death after a witness stated that he looked like the killer. Catalan turned out to be innocent; it was a television show (Curb Your Enthusiasm) which showed him seated at a baseball game, thus exonerating him. A documentary was later produced about the event.^[22][23]