Rationalisation
Definition
In the context of the fraud triangle, the mental justification a perpetrator uses to excuse fraudulent conduct. In interviewing, rationalisation is used as a technique: the interviewer acknowledges the pressures or circumstances the subject faced, lowering psychological resistance and making disclosure feel more acceptable.
- Framework
- Third leg of the fraud triangle
- Other two legs
- Pressure and opportunity
- Interview use
- Lowers resistance to encourage disclosure
- Sub-field
- Forensic accounting, fraud examination
Common questions
How does an interviewer use rationalisation without appearing to condone the offence?+
The interviewer frames the conduct in terms of circumstances or pressures the subject faced, such as financial strain, without stating agreement that the act was justified, which makes admitting involvement feel less confrontational.
Why is rationalisation considered necessary alongside pressure and opportunity for fraud to occur?+
The fraud triangle theory holds that most offenders need a self-justifying narrative, such as viewing the act as borrowing or as deserved compensation, to reconcile the act with seeing themselves as an otherwise honest person.
Does documenting a suspect's rationalisation have evidentiary value?+
Statements showing rationalisation can support intent or knowledge in a fraud case, since they indicate the subject understood the conduct required justification, which is relevant to establishing mens rea.
Related terms
- Cognitive Interview
- A structured witness interview technique developed by Geiselman and Fisher that uses four retrieval aids: mental reinstatement of context, reporting everything without...
- Fraud Diamond
- Wolfe and Hermanson's 2004 extension of the fraud triangle that adds capability as a fourth condition. The model holds that pressure, opportunity,...
- Fraud Triangle
- A model, developed by criminologist Donald Cressey, proposing that occupational fraud requires three converging conditions: pressure (financial need or incentive), opportunity (a...
- Miranda Warning (US)
- The required pre-interrogation caution under US constitutional law (Miranda v. Arizona, 1966), notifying a person in custodial police interrogation of the right...
- Non-Shareable Financial Problem
- Cressey's original term for the pressure element. The problem need not be objectively severe; what matters is that the perpetrator perceives it...
- Occupational Fraud
- The ACFE defines occupational fraud as the use of one's occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the...
- PEACE Model
- A structured interview framework used by UK law enforcement and increasingly by private investigators: Preparation and Planning, Engage and Explain, Account, Closure,...
- Predication
- The reasonable basis that justifies opening a fraud examination. The ACFE holds that no examination should begin without adequate predication, meaning a...
- Voluntary Admission
- A statement made by a subject of their own free will, without coercion, inducement, or improper promise. Voluntary admissions are legally significant:...
- Wicklander-Zulawski (WZ) Technique
- A non-confrontational interview method widely used in private-sector fraud investigations. The interviewer builds rapport, presents the evidence indirectly, rationalises the subject's behaviour,...
Explained in these topics
- Interviewing Suspects and Witnesses in Fraud Examinations
- The Fraud Triangle: Pressure, Opportunity, and RationalisationThe cognitive mechanism by which a fraud perpetrator reframes a dishonest act as acceptable, justified, temporary, or victimless. Common rationalisations inclu...