Statement content analysis (SCAN) was first created by Avinoam Sapir, the current director of the Laboratory for Scientific Interrogation. It is a powerful tool for analysing speech or written statements to direct investigations or detect areas of deception.
Statement content analysis is a development of similar previous statement analysis techniques. These include statement veracity analysis (SVA), criteria based content analysis (CBCA) and theoretical verbal analysis (TVA).
Why use SCAN?
Statement content analysis is used worldwide by many police investigators, well known organisations such as the FBI & CIA as well as by many in the corporate world. People such as lawyers and HR professionals also find it useful. This is because it allows the practitioner to identify areas of a story or interview which show signs of deception. Therefore can be used to direct questioning lines for further information gathering. There is a particular way that we as humans relate a truthful story whether it be verbally or in written form. The below would be that standard. Deviations from this standard create clues to a trained practitioner as to where the subject may be lying.
Statement content analysis focuses specifically on changes in pronoun use, tenses and content structure. These become obvious compared to a truthfully told story and help to identify these areas of potential deception. Word choices and changes, introduction of characters and simply the length of certain sections of a statement are just some of the things to look our for. Once learned, the SCAN basics are almost impossible to ‘turn off’. Hence, it a valuable technique for not just investigators but also business professionals and civilians alike.
Extra certification.
For any students undertaking our Masters course, there is included a free three day workshop as part of the practical. This covers the basics of kinesics, facial expressions and also SCAN. Each masters student will also receive a certification for their SCAN module in addition to their masters certification.
