TRAINING FOR TitleIX Investigators Focus More On Avoiding Litigation, Than Effective Interview Techniques
Iowa State
University researchers Christian Meissner and Adrienne Lyles evaluated the available Title IX training programs for investigators and identified techniques at odds with science-based interviewing strategies.
Some of the training programs Lyles and Meissner examined suggest that investigators can determine the veracity of a Title IX complaint by watching the behavior of the respondent during the interview. The researchers say there is no evidence to support the effectiveness of such an approach. They also found no scientific evidence that victims and perpetrators have different neurobiological responses to the same event, as some programs claimed. “The goal of any investigative interview, regardless of who you are interviewing, is to gather a complete and accurate recollection from a subject in a manner that will move an investigation forward,” Meissner said.
“The training is not comprehensive. Many of the programs I attended were offered by for-profit companies and law firms,” Lyles said. “The law firms focused on how to avoid litigation and the for-profit companies were very generic and not evidence- or research-based practice.”
