ERIC Number: EJ780093
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 31
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0145-2134
EISSN: N/A
A Structured Forensic Interview Protocol Improves the Quality and Informativeness of Investigative Interviews with Children: A Review of Research Using the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol
Lamb, Michael; Orbach, Yael; Hershkowitz, Irit; Esplin, Phillip W.; Horowitz, Dvora
Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, v31 n11-12 p1201-1231 Nov-Dec 2007
Objective: To show how the results of research on children's memory, communicative skills, social knowledge, and social tendencies can be translated into guidelines that improve the quality of forensic interviews of children. Method: We review studies designed to evaluate children's capacities as witnesses, explain the development of the structured NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol, and discuss studies designed to assess whether use of the Protocol enhances the quality of investigative interviews. Results: Controlled studies have repeatedly shown that the quality of interviewing reliably and dramatically improves when interviewers employ the NICHD Protocol. No other technique has been proven to be similarly effective. Conclusions: Use of the structured NICHD Protocol improves the quality of information obtained from alleged victims by investigators, thereby increasing the likelihood that interventions will be appropriate.
Descriptors: Persuasive Discourse, Sexual Abuse, Interviews, Crime, Children, Evaluation Methods, Memory, Intervention, Guidelines, Court Litigation, Questioning Techniques
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Publication Type: Information Analyses; Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A