SCAN Case Study : Graham Capill

In 2005, Graham Capill, a police prosecutor and former leader of the Christian Heritage Party, pleaded guilty to multiple sex crimes against three girls. He was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for raping a girl under 12, indecent assault and unlawful sexual connection. At the conclusion of his sentencing Capill released the following statement:

“I am ashamed and greatly regret my past actions. Most appalling is the fact I've hurt those closest to me. I know many people look to me as a campaigner for moral values. I recognise the utter hypocrisy between what I said in public and did privately. I apologise unreservedly to the people of New Zealand for that. What I said publicly is what I believed and still do. I pray that God will have mercy on me and forgive me. I also pray for healing and God's help and love to surround my family whom I've hurt and let down so badly”.

SCAN analysis

The subject said: “I am ashamed and greatly regret my past actions”.

“…past actions…” – not current actions.
“actions” – not “behaviour”.
Actions is a surgical term and is an attempt to minimise the event.
“…and greatly regret…” – there is no “I” (e.g. “and I greatly regret”) This indicates lack of commitment.

The subject said: “Most appalling is the fact I've hurt those closest to me”.
1. “Most appalling…”
  Indicates the subject has different degrees of “appalling”
2. “those closest to me”
  We don’t know who “those closest to me” are, they could be the subject’s family, colleagues, friends or someone else.
  
  He does not say he is close to them, this is a strong signal of a poor relationship with his family.
  
  Please note, he does not say he is appalled at having hurt his victims.

The subject said: “I recognise the utter hypocrisy between what I said in public and did privately. I apologise unreservedly to the people of New Zealand for that.”

“I recognise the utter hypocrisy”.
The subject does not admit to the “utter hypocrisy”, only that he
recognises it.

“…the utter hypocrisy…” – not “my utter hypocrisy ”.
All the preceding sentences in the statement included possessive pronouns. Usually, changing the language from "my" to "the" is an indication that the subject is detaching himself/herself from the statement. By doing so, the subject runs away from commitment to this part of the statement.

Please note, the subject does not specify what he is apologising for, is the apology for what he said in public, or for what he did in private?

The subject said “I pray that God will have mercy on me and forgive me. I also pray for healing and God's help and love to surround my family whom I've hurt and let down so badly”.

Please note, the subject prays for mercy and forgiveness for himself and then, prays for healing. The order reflects the subject’s priorities, mercy for himself is more important to him than having God’s help and love for his family.

“my family”.
In line two the subject wrote “those closest to me”.
This suggests the subject’s family are not those closest to him.

“let down so badly” – not “let down”.
The subject is attributing a value as to how much he has let down his family. Question: Is it possible the subject has let down his family before, but not as badly?

Principal Findings

The subject is being truthful when he says he is ashamed, but only in relation to past actions, not his current actions.

The subject apologises to his family and the people of New Zealand, but he does not specify whether he is apologising for what he said in public, or what he did in private.

The subject does not apologise to his victims.