NICHD Protocol
Definition
A structured child investigative interview protocol developed by Michael Lamb and colleagues, with an extended rapport and narrative-practice phase followed by a questioning hierarchy from open invitations through directive to option-posing questions. Field-validated in more than a dozen countries.
- Developer
- Michael Lamb and colleagues
- Structure
- Rapport and narrative-practice phase, then question hierarchy
- Question order
- Open invitations to directive to option-posing
- Validation
- Field-validated in more than a dozen countries
Common questions
Why does the protocol emphasise open invitations before more directive questions?+
Open-ended prompts such as 'tell me what happened' elicit longer, more accurate free-recall accounts with fewer suggestibility risks, and the interviewer only moves to more directive or option-posing questions when necessary, since those question types carry higher risk of contaminating the child's account.
What is the purpose of the narrative-practice phase before substantive questioning?+
It has the child describe a neutral recent event in detail, training them on the open-ended response style the interviewer wants before any allegation is discussed, which improves the quality and completeness of the subsequent substantive account.
How does this protocol differ from an unstructured interview?+
An unstructured interview leaves question phrasing and sequencing to interviewer discretion, while the NICHD protocol scripts a specific escalation from least to most leading question types, which has been shown to reduce suggestive questioning and increase informative detail.
Related terms
- Achieving Best Evidence (ABE)
- UK guidance (most recent revision 2022) on interviewing vulnerable witnesses including children. Embedded within the YJCEA 1999 special measures framework; ABE interviews...
- Acquiescence Bias
- The tendency to agree with questions regardless of their content, elevated in young children and persons with intellectual disabilities. A major source...
- Cognitive Interview (CI)
- An evidence-based interview technique developed by Fisher and Geiselman that uses memory-enhancement strategies including mental reinstatement of context, free recall, temporal variation,...
- Intermediary
- A communication specialist (YJCEA 1999 s 29) who attends an ABE interview and trial to ensure that questions are put to vulnerable...
- Interrogative Suggestibility
- The measurable tendency of an individual to accept misleading suggestions and change responses under pressure, assessed by the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales (GSS-1,...
- POCSO § 35
- The Indian Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 provision requiring Special Courts to record a child's evidence within 30 days...
- Special Measures (YJCEA 1999)
- Provisions under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 allowing vulnerable witnesses (including all children in sexual or violent cases) to...