Understanding Deception

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. John 10:10a NKJV Satan is the god of this world (see 2 Corinthians 4:4 and 1 John 5:19), is the “father of lies” (see John 8:44), and his job description is to “steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” In order to achieve his aims, he most often lies to us and deceives us. Satan often disguises his forces to make them look like natural problems so you’ll fight them with natural weapons. But you cannot fight a spiritual foe with natural weapons but with spiritual weapons, i.e. speaking God’s word to the devil and his demons. Unfortunately satan can disguise himself as an “angel of light,” so it is possible to be deceived by an innocent and apparently correct Christian teaching (see Matthew 24:4, 24:5; Mark 13:5, 13:6; and Luke 21:8). Often these inaccurate or incomplete teachings focus on God’s love and blessings (thus appealing to our flesh and so lead us astray (see Mark 13:22 and 1 Timothy 4:1) and do not mention His greatness, or our need to obey Him and have a reverential fear of Him. This book aims to help reveal satan’s lie and deception strategies and so empower Christians to live the Christian life that God intended. “Great book, interesting and well written based on solid evidence, documented, and not on flights of fancy or fanciful digressions or comforting in a fantastic book where you can find and discover the birth of the religion best known to the world. Through the dialogue structure, the reading is easier even if the terminology is researched and complex. At first glance it may seem pedantic, but you will be fascinated by the events described that so well dot the book.” -- Kalyan Panja , Booktica - Book Reviews

This volume explores the concept of deception from a multidisciplinary perspective, reflecting how deception is considered across numerous fields ranging from literature and historical cases to psychological science.

This book considers the role of deception during adolescence, and explores the factors which underpin adolescents’ choice to deceive, whether these deceptions will be successful, and the ways in which such lies could be detected. While deception is considered to be antisocial or even pathological in some circumstances, the central argument of this book is that lying can be a skilled behaviour which is necessary to allow adolescents to establish autonomy. Deception builds on the recent influential developmental challenge model (Hendry and Kloep, 2002, 2009), exploring how it can provide a useful explanatory framework for the development of the skill of deception in adolescence. Interpersonal and forensic settings for deceptive behaviour are referred to, and illustrated with reference to both published research and new data obtained from a variety of different interviews and focus groups with young people. It also considers how the choice to communicate truthfully is as important as the choice to communicate deceptively in illuminating the developmental process. It concludes with a discussion of how adolescents’ deceptions could be detected and presents a range of strategies to maximize the effectiveness of interpersonal interactions with suspected deceivers. By considering everyday, forensic and clinical deception situations, this book is ideal for academic researchers, practitioners working with children and young people, as well as parents. The observations, interviews and focus groups provide a unique insight into the factors influencing young people’s communication choices, and integrate research from developmental, social and forensic psychology.

This accessible book provides a foundational understanding of the science of deception and lie detection. Focusing on core issues for the field, it discusses classic and current psychological research into lying as well as theoretical approaches to understanding human lie detection. This book explores engaging questions around how people lie, how people make decisions about believing others, and how we can detect deception. Each chapter is clearly structured to support students of all levels by summarising content, presenting key research, and systematically evaluating findings. Chapters explore topics including some of the most promising current lie detection techniques, how and why people lie, how lying develops in children, and whether unconscious thinking can boost lie detection accuracy. Providing an overview of key issues in deception, this book will be of great interest to students and lecturers in the field of deception and lie detection, as well as anyone generally interested in this fascinating field of research.

A scrupulous account that overturns many commonplace notions about how we can best detect lies and falsehoods From the advent of fake news to climate-science denial and Bernie Madoff's appeal to investors, people can be astonishingly gullible. Some people appear authentic and sincere even when the facts discredit them, and many people fall victim to conspiracy theories and economic scams that should be dismissed as obviously ludicrous. This happens because of a near-universal human tendency to operate within a mindset that can be characterized as a "truth-default." We uncritically accept most of the messages we receive as "honest." We all are perceptually blind to deception. We are hardwired to be duped. The question is, can anything be done to militate against our vulnerability to deception without further eroding the trust in people and social institutions that we so desperately need in civil society? Timothy R. Levine's Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and Deception recounts a decades-long program of empirical research that culminates in a new theory of deception--truth-default theory. This theory holds that the content of incoming communication is typically and uncritically accepted as true, and most of the time, this is good. Truth-default allows humans to function socially. Further, because most deception is enacted by a few prolific liars, the so called "truth-bias" is not really a bias after all. Passive belief makes us right most of the time, but the catch is that it also makes us vulnerable to occasional deceit. Levine's research on lie detection and truth-bias has produced many provocative new findings over the years. He has uncovered what makes some people more believable than others and has discovered several ways to improve lie-detection accuracy. In Duped, Levine details where these ideas came from, how they were tested, and how the findings combine to produce a coherent new understanding of human deception and deception detection.

Bridging the divide between theory and practice, Deception: Counterdeception and Counterintelligence provides a thorough overview of the principles of deception and its uses in intelligence operations. This masterful guide focuses on practical training in deception for both operational planners and intelligence analysts using a case-based approach. Authors Robert M. Clark and William L. Mitchell draw from years of professional experience to offer a fresh approach to the roles played by information technologies such as social media. By reading and working through the exercises in this text, operations planners will learn how to build and conduct a deception campaign, and intelligence analysts will develop the ability to recognize deception and support deception campaigns. Key Features New channels for deception, such as social media, are explored to show you how to conduct and detect deception activities through information technology. Multichannel deception across the political, military, economic, social, infrastructure, and information domains provides you with insight into the variety of ways deception can be used as an instrument for gaining advantage in conflict. Contemporary and historical cases simulate real-world raw intelligence and provide you with opportunities to use theory to create a successful deception operation. A series of practical exercises encourages you to think critically about each situation. The exercises have several possible answers, and conflicting raw material is designed to lead readers to different answers depending on how the reader evaluates the material. Individual and team assignments offer you the flexibility to proceed through the exercises in any order and assign exercises based on what works best for the classroom setup.

Detecting Malingering and Deception: Forensic Distortion Analysis (FDA-5), Third Edition maintains the tradition of the prior two editions, following the Forensic Distortion Analysis (FDA) model. Fully updated since the last edition nearly 20 years ago, the book continues to serve as a comprehensive volume on deception and distortion in forensic, clinical and several specialized contexts. As with the previous editions, the book presents a model of deception intended to be utilized and applied by the qualified evaluator. The proposed model covers targets of the faker, response styles shown, and methods to detect the deception. The goal is to summarize the historical and latest information on distortion detection, to present guidelines for detecting deception that include variable accuracy rates based on different detection techniques, and to stimulate further research of effective methods of deception detection. Recommendations and guidelines for the practicing clinician are offered throughout the book, including real-world cases to inform and enlighten, particularly in unique cases or those in which the certain outcomes are unexpected. Key Features: Outlines the role of the forensic professional in applying and integrating methods assessment in deception and distortion Provides base-rates for deception-related behavior and events, especially useful in report writing or courtroom testimony as an expert witness Presents the latest advances in methodology and technology to assist in the search for ground truth in applied settings and situations Applies forensic distortion analysis to evaluate the deception-related findings and statements of other professionals involved in a particular case New coverage includes sections on deception analysis for collectivities, including media groups, contemporary politics, cross-national corporations, conflict, and terrorism Detecting Malingering and Deception incorporates the latest research, providing practical application to utilize information and evaluative methods as they pertain to deception-related settings and situations. Sample reports and extensive graphs, tables, charts, and histograms are provided, and every chapter has been updated with new studies and investigations. The Third Edition boasts several new chapters and updated working appendices of coverage to expand the exploration of deception addressing advances in the field, and our current understanding of the phenomenon.