subject: Detecting Deception in Investigation Interviews [print this page] In general, we are programmed to believe that people are good and honest. In reality, one's honestycan be incredibly questionable. Determining if someone is lying to you takes skill and experience- it's not an easy task.Each investigation is different- the people you interview are different and their tendencies and actions vary when telling a lie. At the post conference portion of the SCCE Compliance and Ethics Institute, Meric Bloch is the Vice President Compliance and Corporate Investigations atAdecco Group North America, gave a tremendously insightful presentation about how to detect deception during investigation interviews.
Here are my notes from the session:
I Can Read You Like a Book: Detecting Deception in Workplace Interviews, presented by Meric Craig Bloch
Meric Bloch has dealt with people lying to him during investigations, and in his career, has conducted over 500 workplace investigations. Always remember that the purpose of any investigation is to find out what happened. Determining statement credible is similar to quality control and getting better facts. Lying is hard, telling the truth is easy.
A word to investigators: don't get so wrapped up in note taking that you can't pay attention to physical indicators. Have a second person in the room who can take notes. Bloch recommends not using an interview script because then you'll be focusing on your own questions rather than focusing on the answers and actions of the interviewee. One sign, even multiple signs of deception, doesn't always make a person a liar. Bloch stresses that all of the indicators mentioned below are simply indicators or "red flags" to look for during investigation interviews. Always judge people's character. Honest people are concerned about their reputation. A liar is more interested in persuading you to let them off the hook. Take a holistic approach to investigation interviews- look at the whole picture.
Types of Lies
A lie is intentional, can't be done by accident. There are 5 types of lies:
1. Direct Denial- encountered the least because it doesn't offer an alternative explanation.
2. Lie of Omission- leaving out key details.
3. Lie of Exaggeration- lie isn't necessarily made up, but the truth is stretched.
4. Lie of Fabrication- the whole story is made up of lies.
5. Lie of Minimization- admits to doing something wrong, but that something is usually smaller than the larger issue being investigated.
Detecting Deception is Possible
Telling the truth is easy, lying is hard, our bodies are programmed for fight or flight.
The truth is logical and makes sense. When people aren't telling you the truth, their story lacks emotion and additional details about events- times, unique encounters, etc.
Caution!
Techniques only give you a statistical advantage.
Dump the misconceptions- people demonstrate nervous habits when both lying and telling the truth.
Some liars are too convincing to be detected.
Always consider a person's culture- in some cultures, certain actions are considered respectful and disrespectful- for example, looking someone directly in the eye is disrespectful in some cultures, while in others, it demonstrates honestly and attention. Investigators, beware of your body language as well.
Honest people experience stress for many reasons.
Your own personal factors influence your ability.
Detecting Deception is a Comparative Process
You know what someone sounds like when everything is ok. Baselining, is similar, because different people act in different ways, demonstrating indicators that something isn't right. The speaker tells a story about a person that had the habit of yelling when they were lying to someone.
Communication is more than just words. 55% of the way we communicate comes from body language, 38%comes from voice inflection and 7%comes from our actual spoken words.
Someone who is honest will want the interview to be short and sweet, as they want to get out of there for a number of reasons. Sometimes these people are paranoid, they know they did nothing wrong and
When someone is telling a lie, they want to interview to drag on in hopes that they can persuade you to belive their story and that they are telling the truth. Sometimes lies are rehearsed. When someone is lying, they might whip through the story quickly because they have gone over it so many times prior to the interview.
Body Language
Emotional gestures and contradictions- this is similar to the stories where a husband or wife goes missing for days and the partner doesn't seem to be too concerned. If someone is lying, the way the react to news is going to be an indicator.
Watch toseeif the timing of gestures and words match- when the two don't match, it usually signals that someone is lying.
Anchor movements- when someone is lying, they usually have poor posture and are slumped over, head hanging.
Someone who puts their hand over their nose can't handle to smell of their own lies.
Some people's natural habits may be the same as indicators that signal that someone might be lying. Beware of making this mistake through baselining.
2. Emphasis- people who are telling the truth emphasize their speech with hand movements, pointing, etc. Liars don't think about emphasis, they just think about the words to say.
3. Synchrony- harmony between the words body language. Time and space synchronicity when recalling events.
