Statement Analysis Explained

Statement Analysis is now being used by the FBI, the Secret Service, and many other federal agencies; it is being used by law enforcement agencies and military agencies throughout the U.S., Canada, and Australia; by bank and insurance investigators; and by private industry.

Statement Analysis is a linguistic polygraph.

"Statement Analysis depends entirely upon analyzing written or verbal statements. The basic premise is that the structure and content of a subject's statement will reveal when there is an attempt at deception. We all write in different ways, with different characteristic choices of words, and what we use words for is to define our reality. When we lie, we're trying to juggle two things in our minds at the same time: the real events and the invented or disguised version of them. The language we use reflects that tension -- and when it does, the language we use does not follow our normal patterns." says Donald Bender a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in clinical and forensic statement analysis.

Statement Analysis looks at the words, tense, how the writer refers to themselves and others, to determine the likelihood of a truthful statement.

So often, we are looking for nonverbal behaviors that we do not adequately examine the words that are being said, and how they are being said. Investigators will often have several people in the interview room, each with a specific item they are focusing on for this very reason. It is hard to focus on both the noverbals and the words at the same time.

The author of the above book has a website where you can learn more about this concept at http://www.statementanalysis.com/.

Knowing this is critical to determining truthfulness; this needs to be a skill you develop.◦

Statement Analysis Explained