False Reports in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases

Abstract

A false report is a claim about an event that is partially or wholly fabricated. Partial fabrications may be about a crime that did occur where the wrong person is accused or the claimed location of the crime may be false, among other features. They are the subject of much contention and debate, with some believing that they shouldn’t even be discussed because of their impact on the plight of real victims. False reports occur with some frequency; though this will depend on the type of false report, it is generally accepted that the widely cited 2% rate is incorrect. The actual rate of false reports among child complainants has not been widely studied, though there is some research that is discussed in this chapter.