Cover-up

The expression is usually applied to people in positions of authority who abuse power to avoid or silence criticism or to deflect guilt of wrongdoing.

Overview

A cover-up is an attempt, successful or not, to conceal or prevent discovery of information or evidence about a crime, mistake, or unethical actions, often to safeguard reputation. It differs from other unethical behavior as a reaction to earlier questionable behavior.

There are different types of coverup organized by the scale and motive for the cover-up. Personal cover-ups are intended to hide an individual's actions and relational cover-ups occur when someone attempts to conceal another person's actions. There are also institutional or organizational cover-ups where a group is involved, and multiagency where multiple institutions take part in a cover-up. Psychology professor Anthony Montgomery writes that there are "elements that are crucial for the development and maintenance of [organizational] cover-ups: (1) Unwilling, but compliant, participants who are unlikely to be whistleblowers, (2) Suppressing/withholding important information, (3) Proactively engaging the support of related actors/institutions that helps create a critical mass, (4) Owning the narrative, and (5) Moral disengagement."