TITLE IX Training Undermines Due Process. ‘At Odds With The Available Science’
As due process advocates and lawyers for accused students challenge the investigative practices in campus sexual misconduct investigations, scientific researchers are questioning the neurobiological claims in training programs for Title IX officials. Iowa State University researchers, including a top Title IX official, concluded that some “trauma-informed” interview techniques taught to administrators with Title IX duties “are at odds with the available science.” Psychology professor Christian Meissner and philosophy lecturer Adrienne Lyles, also senior deputy Title IX coordinator, published their findings. It questions the scientific basis of common training tips. The duo also frowns on presenting evidence of guilt at the start of an interview with accused students and asking leading questions, which can worsen the memory of interview subjects.
The paper joins previous work by neuroscientists and memory experts cited by journalist Emily Yoffe in a 2017 Atlantic article on “junk science” in Title IX investigations. The paper warns that research has shown “investigators are susceptible to various forms of bias” that can manifest in their questions. As they “ask more guilt presumptive and pressure-filled questions,” investigators contaminate the resulting statements and produce false confessions. A guilt-first or biased approach, with “psychologically manipulative interviewing and interrogation,” can also equate to a “fragility of memory,” which is why Meissner and Lyles stress impartiality.
The paper came out shortly before a due process group kicked off a monthlong campaign to “end victim-centered methods in campus adjudications and in the criminal justice system.” Stop Abusive and Violent Environments characterizes the use of these methods, which are related to trauma-informed techniques, as the “Death of Due Process.”
thecollegefix– A. Pease
