Inductive Interview™ Certification Course
Course Duration: 40 hours
Course Description:
Advances in forensic technology have confirmed that overly coercive interviewing tactics and clever psychological tricks can generate false confessions, alienate juries, or lead to a premature termination of the interview due to a psychological or legal "shut down." The Inductive Interview System™ is proven to overcome these limitations of more traditional techniques and produce credible confessions that will withstand court scrutiny.
Easily mastered by any officer, the Inductive Interview System™ creates an environment conducive to full disclosure of the truth while overcoming a subject’s reluctance to reveal evidence of guilt and exposing attempts at deception or suppression. This unique, non-linear, non-confrontational approach is significantly different, more reliable, and considerably more flexible than traditional and more popular interviewing systems.
NOTE: This is a certification course. Graduates will be recognized as a Certified Inductive Interviewer.
Who Should Attend:
In the police profession, every contact is an interview. So, this course was designed for:
• Criminal Investigators
• Drug Enforcement Officers
• Interdiction Teams
• Probation Agents
• Accident Investigators
• Internal Affairs Investigators
• Patrol Officers
• Detention/Corrections Officers
• Mental Health Professionals
• Essentially anyone who interviews others to extract credible and actionable information.
Course Topics:
Why People Lie
There are six primary reasons that a person will lie during a forensic interview: to avoid, to gain, to protect, to impress, to control, and to help. Understanding these motivations is a powerful tool in the hands of the interviewer.
The "Hexaphasic" Inductive Interview Process
The Inductive Interview System is a non-linear approach to forensic interviewing that consists of six phases: Preparation, Rapport, Narrative, Clarification, Induction, and Closure. Each phase is examined in detail along with techniques that are specific to each. Although presented in a specific order, the system allows for, and encourages, non-linear transitions between the six phases as dictated by the needs of the interview. Interviews should follow a natural and conversational flow, not an artificially induced "flow-chart" pattern.
Seven Virtues of an Inductive Interviewer
There are at least seven virtues critical for a successful interviewer to possess: Attentiveness, Patience, Perseverance, Respect, Self-Awareness, Self-Control, and Thoroughness. The definitions of each virtue and their potential impact on the interview are explored.
Legal Issues
The requirements of the Miranda and Garritty decisions are explored to ensure that any confessions and disclosures obtained during an interview meet the legal standards for court admissibility and personnel decision-making.
Building Rapport
Rapport is often over-looked, but cannot be over-emphasized. Building rapport naturally and early are two elements of a successful interview. Specific techniques that build rapport quickly and easily are presented along with case studies.
Behavioral and Verbal Leakage
Cognitive load associated with guilt and/or deception often causes unconscious deviations from a subject's baseline norm. Sensitivity to these behavioral and verbal "leakages" can give the interviewer needed insight into the credibility of the subject's account and provide opportunities to drill down to the truth.
Ten Types of Lies
There are at least ten types of lies that can manifest during a forensic interview: the Lie of Denial, the Lie of Fabrication, the Lie of Omission, the Lie of Minimization, the Lie of Embellishment, the Lie of Reference, the Lie of Evasion, the Lie of Definition, the Lie of the Double Negative, and the Lie of Distortion. Each type of lie is examined in detail and is accompanied by case studies illustrating the characteristics of each.
Specialized Clarification Techniques
If indicators of guilt or signs of deception manifest during the Clarification Phase, students are trained to drill down using specialized questioning techniques.
Managing Denials
Denials are not blocked (at least not initially), they are managed. Denials can be a useful tool to aid in transitioning to an Induction Technique.
Eight Specialized Induction Techniques
Minimizations, Rationalizations, Guilt Transfer, Presumptive Questions, Enticement Questions, Elimination Questions, Restitution Questions, and Divergences are explored during the Induction Phase and accompanied by numerous case studies.
Rationalizations and Minimizations
Minimizations seek to address the behavior while rationalizations seek to address the motivations. Examples highlighting the distinctions between these two Induction Techniques are explored in detail.
Creating Divergences and Trivergences
Divergences are among the most powerful of the eight Induction Techniques presented during the course. Once students have learned how to set up divergences, an even more powerful technique known as a trivergence is presented.
Twelve Signs of Surrender
When an interviewer detects a sign of surrender during the interview, an immediate non-linear transition to an Induction Technique is called for.
Developing Disclosures into Confessions
Truth tends to come incrementally. After gaining an initial disclosure (which may or may not be true) students are trained to build one disclosure on top of another until they arrive at (or near) the truth.
Preventing False Confessions
False Confessions are a real phenomena and occur far more often than we would like to admit. The only thing worse than a jury believing that a true confession is false, is believing that a false confession is true! The genesis of the Inductive Interview System was largely due to the founders' concerns about the reality of these false confessions that have provably been produced by overly-coercive interviewing and interrogation techniques. The underlying psychology that generates false confessions as well as specific techniques to identify and avoid them are presented.
Documenting the Interview
Getting to a confession is just part of the process, not the final phase. Now the interview must be documented, tested for credibility, and prepared for presentation in court.
Dozens of Case Studies of Actual Interviews
The case studies are what really make this course unique, effective, interactive, and fun. The dozens of actual interviews, involving a colorful "cast of characters," are presented and analyzed to reinforce the concepts presented during the course.
NOTE: These case studies are just that, actual forensic interviews of real individuals, many of them quite deviant. The subject matter content is adult in nature and it is assumed that participants will deal with the material in a mature and professional manner. If you are concerned about your ability to do so, it is strongly recommended that you do not register for this course.
The Institute of Police Polygraphy is officially recognized and approved by the American Association of Police Polygraphists (AAPP). This program and its curriculum are also fully recognized and approved by the National Sheriffs' Association, the National Command and Staff College,* and the Justice Clearinghouse*.