Mastering Ethical Interviews for Integrity Professionals
In integrity investigations, your ability to gather reliable testimony depends on more than just asking questions—it requires structure, empathy, and science-backed techniques. Many organizations struggle to create protocols that are both effective and ethical. By adopting frameworks like PEACE, CREATIVE, FETI, and Cognitive Interviewing, you can strengthen investigations while protecting dignity, reducing harm, and building trust.
The PEACE Framework: Structured, Ethical Investigations
PEACE is one of the most widely recommended models for professional interviews. It guides investigators to plan thoroughly, engage ethically, and document carefully, reducing risks of coercion or oversight. The model is designed to support accountability and fairness while helping interviewers collect accurate, comprehensive accounts.
Plan and Prepare: Define objectives, understand context, anticipate needs.
Engage and Explain: Build rapport and clarify purpose, rights, and expectations.
Account: Invite the interviewee’s full narrative before clarifying details.
Closure and Evaluation: Wrap up respectfully, review outcomes, and learn for next time.
By adopting PEACE, organizations show a commitment to professional standards that withstand scrutiny. This framework not only improves outcomes but also reinforces your integrity mandate by ensuring every witness is treated fairly and with respect.
The CREATIVE Model: Building Rapport and Safety
Where PEACE offers structure, CREATIVE places deeper emphasis on human connection and psychological safety. Especially valuable in sensitive cases or culturally diverse settings, it offers guidance on nurturing trust and avoiding common interviewing pitfalls. The model recognizes that ethical interviewing is as much about how we ask as what we ask.
Center rapport and safety: Prioritize the interviewee’s comfort and trust.
Respect perspectives: Avoid assumptions and show genuine interest.
Empathize authentically: Respond with understanding, not judgment.
Invite detail carefully: Use open-ended questions that encourage narrative.
This approach reminds investigators that respectful, culturally aware, and trauma-sensitive engagement is not optional—it’s essential. CREATIVE helps organizations build an environment where people feel heard and willing to share what they know.
FETI: Trauma-Informed Practice for Sensitive Interviews
Forensic Experiential Trauma Interviewing (FETI) is designed for witnesses or victims whose memories may be shaped by trauma. Unlike traditional fact-finding approaches, FETI emphasizes supporting the witness in sharing experiential details without pressure. It acknowledges that trauma can fragment recall, and it trains investigators to listen differently.
Non-linear narratives: Accept and work with fragmented or sensory memories.
Open-ended, sensory prompts: “Tell me what you heard, felt, noticed.”
No judgment or disbelief: Avoid questioning credibility mid-account.
Supportive closure: Help the witness leave the interview feeling respected.
FETI can reduce re-traumatization while improving the depth and reliability of testimony. For organizations investigating safeguarding, sexual exploitation, or violence, embedding FETI can be a critical step in protecting both evidence integrity and witness well-being.
Cognitive Interviewing Techniques: Enhancing Recall
Cognitive Interviewing offers practical, evidence-based tools to improve memory retrieval. Rooted in psychology, it uses structured prompts to help witnesses remember details they might otherwise forget. It is particularly useful for complex events, time-lapsed cases, or reluctant witnesses.
Context reinstatement: Ask witnesses to mentally recreate the environment.
Varied retrieval: Invite different orders or perspectives to jog memory.
Focused retrieval: Encourage slow, careful recall with minimal interruption.
Open prompts: Avoid leading or suggestive questions to preserve accuracy.
These techniques improve both the quantity and quality of information gathered. By training staff in cognitive interviewing, organizations can elevate the rigor of their investigations while reducing unintentional contamination of evidence.
Conclusion
Professional integrity investigations demand more than compliance checklists—they require thoughtful, human-centered approaches grounded in best practice. Adopting frameworks like PEACE, CREATIVE, FETI, and Cognitive Interviewing can transform your investigations into processes that are both effective and ethical.
At STB Integrity, we specialize in helping organizations design, adopt, and operationalize these frameworks to fit their specific contexts. Contact us to learn how we can help your team develop the skills, policies, and protocols needed to conduct interviews that uphold your mission and stand up to scrutiny.
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Hi, I'm Sârra-Tilila!
I help international organizations and NGOs strengthen their integrity frameworks through internal policy development, tailored trainings, misconduct investigations, and dispute resolution. With over a decade of legal and investigative experience, I’ve worked extensively in Africa and collaborated with global giants like the World Bank and the World Food Programme.
My work is driven by a deep passion for tackling fraud and corruption while promoting transparency and accountability in international development. If you’re looking for expert support to achieve your organization’s integrity goals, let’s connect!
© 2022 par Sârra-Tilila Bounfour