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Parental interference in custody variation proceedings: a forensic psychology perspective
Abstract
Parental interference in judicial proceedings for variation of custody arrangements is a phenomenon that profoundly impacts family dynamics and the well-being of children. This article addresses this issue from the perspective of forensic psychological assessment, highlighting the critical importance of a thorough and rigorous analysis in these contexts. Custody variation, whether physical or legal, often generates tension and conflict between parents, which can lead to parental interference behaviors. These interferences can manifest themselves in a variety of ways, including emotional manipulation of children, denigration of the other parent, and obstruction of parenting time. The relevance of this article lies in the need to understand how these interferences affect both the children and the adults involved, and the importance of having accurate and objective psychological assessments to inform court decision-making. The work of the forensic psychologist is essential in these processes, providing an unbiased assessment based on standardized techniques and tools to identify harmful family dynamics and their impact on the psychological well-being of children. Throughout this article, the importance of early intervention and the implementation of effective strategies to mitigate parental interference is highlighted. In addition, recommendations for courts and other legal professionals on how to appropriately integrate findings from psychological evaluations into judicial decision making are highlighted. Ultimately, this approach seeks to promote the well-being of children and ensure that custody decisions are based on the best interests of the child, informed by rigorous and detailed forensic psychological evaluations.
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Se toma como referencia la modificación de la Ley 15/2005 en el Código Civil español, donde se introduce el concepto de guarda y custodia compartida por primera vez en España. El objetivo del presente trabajo es establecer si existe una relación entre los resultados de las investigaciones con base empírica y las decisiones judiciales acerca de los efectos que producen en menores la guarda y custodia compartidas. Para ello se ha realizado un análisis cualitativo de las investigaciones relativas a las consecuencias de la custodia compartida, tanto a nivel nacional como internacional. Posteriormente, se han comparado los resultados de las investigaciones con las decisiones de los magistrados, obtenidas tras realizar un análisis de la jurisprudencia de las sentencias del Tribunal Supremo desde el año 2005 hasta el año 2015.
Guidance is offered to attorneys preparing to cross-examine mental health experts in child custody litigation. The author provides information concerning the review of an expert's curriculum vitae and agreement with the parties; responsiveness to professional standards; evaluative procedures; use of collateral source information; selection of assessment instruments and utilization of computer-generated interpretive reports; and the degree to which opinions offered are supported by the data. Emphasis is placed upon the critical examination of an evaluator's specialized education and training and the significance (or lack thereof) of board certifications. Also examined in depth is the means by which to utilize an evaluator's contemporaneously taken notes in the development of areas of inquiry during cross-examination.
This article reviews recent research on child custody evaluations in intimate partner violence (IPV) cases. Specifically, it covers assessment methods, evaluator selection, evaluator education, guidelines, differential assessment, and state policies. Special attention is given to new methods of bias reduction, the need to focus on coercive and controlling abuse, and the need to interpret psychological tests within a trauma framework. Recommendations are made in each area reviewed.
False beliefs about the genesis of parental alienation and about appropriate remedies shape opinions and decisions that fail to meet children’s needs. This article examines 10 mistaken assumptions: (a) children never unreasonably reject the parent with whom they spend the most time, (b) children never unreasonably reject mothers, (c) each parent contributes equally to a child’s alienation, (d) alienation is a child’s transient, short-lived response to the parents’ separation, (e) rejecting a parent is a short-term healthy coping mechanism, (f) young children living with an alienating parent need no intervention, (g) alienated adolescents’ stated preferences should dominate custody decisions, (h) children who appear to function well outside the family need no intervention, (i) severely alienated children are best treated with traditional therapy techniques while living primarily with their favored parent, and (j) separating children from an alienating parent is traumatic. Reliance on false beliefs compromises investigations and undermines adequate consideration of alternative explanations for the causes of a child’s alienation. Most critical, fallacies about parental alienation shortchange children and parents by supporting outcomes that fail to provide effective relief to those who experience this problem.
Ethics is the application of values and moral rules to human activities. Bioethics is a subsection of ethics, actually a part of applied ethics, that uses ethical principles and decision making to solve actual or anticipated dilemmas in medicine and biology. This article focuses on the primary principles of biomedical ethics and their implications for physicians in the ED.
Child custody evaluations can have a significant impact on the adjustment and well-being of children and family members. Custody evaluators must be qualified and held to the highest professional standards. The authors of this article review custody evaluations and often witness inadequate and unprofessional evaluations. In this article, ethical mistakes seen regularly are highlighted. Many mistakes occur when cases are complex and include allegations of child maltreatment or intimate partner violence. Therefore, it is important that custody evaluators be trained in family and child psychology, attachment dynamics, psychological assessment, child abuse, and intimate partner violence. Child custody work needs to be monitored closely to ensure that mistakes can be eliminated in order to avoid unnecessary harm to children and families.
Allegations of family violence, child abuse, and alienation often occur in the same contested child custody case. Custody eval-uators often are poorly trained in forensic assessment of allegations of domestic violence and allegations of alienation. The authors of this article suggest language that is designed to differentiate between cases in which the term alienation is appropriate, as in non-abuse cases, and when it is best to use other language such as estrangementsabotaging, and counter productive protective parenting in cases where there is abuse. This article describes a decision tree that is designed to assist evaluators in identifying the causes of multiple allegations of maltreatment and abuse.
This paper offers a critique of existing typologies of domestic violence and an alternative based upon fundamental sociological concepts. It argues that the etiology and trajectory of domestic violence is fundamentally different depending on contextual aspects of the intimate relationship. The three fundamental dimensions of context are relationship order, power structure and legitimacy. Four questions are used to classify violent acts: 1) Are there relationship norms? 2) Is power more or less shared or unequal? 3) If unequal, is the violent act by the subordinate or superordinate partner? 4) What is the relationship of the violent act to the relationship norms (Legitimacy)? Based on these four questions, acts of domestic violence are classified into Anarchic Acts, Acts of Violent Conflict, Acts of Insurrection, Acts of Retaliation, Acts of Inconsistent Control and Acts of Consistent Control. Knowledge of the classification of a particular violent act is a necessary but insufficient condition for classifying a type of domestic violence. Based on prevailing patterns of violent acts and which violent acts are present, five types of domestic violence are identified. The five types are: 1) Anarchic Type, 2) Violent Conflict, 3) Tolerant Dictatorship, 4) Despotic Dictatorship and 5) Totalitarian Dictatorship.
There has been considerable interest among forensic practitioners in the proposals that parental alienation be included in the next editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Diseases (DSM) and The International Classification of Diseases (ICD). However, there has also been a great deal of misunderstanding about the proposals, and misinformation has been expressed in professional meetings, on websites, and in journal articles. In this article we address four common misunderstandings regarding parental alienation: that there is a lack of research to support it as a diagnosis; that adopting parental alienation as a diagnosis will lead to serious adverse consequences; that the advocates of parental alienation are driven by self-serving or malevolent motives; and that Richard Gardner should be criticized for self-publishing his description of parental alienation syndrome.
An Internet survey was conducted to examine the views of mental health and legal professionals about parental alienation (PA) in child custody cases. Findings from 448 respondents revealed much awareness about the PA concept and controversies, along with the need for further research in the field. In general, respondents were cautious and conservative/moderate in their view of PA and very reluctant to support the concept of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS). Also, they did not view PAS as meeting admissibility standards. Respondents viewed domestic violence (DV) as an important issue to assess, although they did not usually find/suspect DV in such cases. Further, respondents varied according to professional role (evaluators, trial attorneys/judges, and court facilitators) on the relative importance attributed to various assessment factors. Moreover, evaluators' assessment procedures and the frequency of recommended interventions by trial attorneys/judges and evaluators closely paralleled those typically used in child custody cases. Results are compared to past literature in the field, with hopes of clarifying misconceptions.
W. G. Keilin and L. J. Bloom (1986) explored 70 issues related to child custody evaluation practices. The current study replicates Keilin and Bloom’s study and looks at an additional 42 items. Two hundred and one psychologists from 39 states were surveyed about 112 aspects of child custody evaluation practices. The analysis was divided into evaluation practices, sole–joint custody decision making, and recommendations. Comparisons between the findings of this study and those of Keilin and Bloom are made. The current practice of child custody evaluations is reported.
Ongoing or impending litigation may have a substantial impact on treatment, affecting parents' and children's interactions with the therapist and the structure and content of treatment. Psychologists must be prepared to think forensically as well as clinically and have the requisite expertise to support children's needs, accomplish interventions, and, if appropriate, provide information to the forensic evaluator or the court. S. Greenberg and D. Shuman's (1997) conceptualization of the treating expert is expanded and applied to the child custody or dependency case, with an emphasis on role boundaries, standards of expertise, and suggestions for professional practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
RESUMEN. En este estudio teórico se hace una revisión sobre los nuevos desarrollos para el uso efectivo de la evaluación psicológica en la práctica forense, adaptando la terminología psicológica al lenguaje jurídico, a la vez que se resaltan las diferencias más notables entre la evaluación clínica y la evaluación pericial. Se analizan algunos instru-mentos específicos de evaluación surgidos en el contexto forense, como las escalas de predicción del riesgo de violencia y el procedimiento de validez del testimonio en los casos de abuso sexual infantil. Asimismo se aborda el problema del control de la simulación y de la detección del engaño, uno de los principales obstáculos a los que se ha de hacer frente en el ámbito forense. Se presta una atención específica a los problemas técnicos planteados por los dictámenes periciales, así como a los aspectos éticos referidos a ellos. Por último, se señalan propuestas prácticas de aplicación y se comentan las implicaciones de este estudio para investigaciones futuras. ABSTRACT. The main aims of this theoretical study were to review and identify some developments that have a bearing on the effective use of psychological assessment in the court intervention, to adapt psychological terminology to the legal language, and to highlight the most relevant differences between the psychological clinical assessment and the forensic evaluation. The article deals with some assessment methods specific 1 Correspondencia: Facultad de Psicología. Universidad del País Vasco. Avda. de Tolosa 70. 20018 San Sebastián (España).
Ongoing or impending litigation may have a substantial impact on treatment, affecting parents' and children's interactions with the therapist and the structure and content of treatment. Psychologists must be prepared to think forensically as well as clinically and have the requisite expertise to support children's needs, accomplish interventions, and, if appropriate, provide information to the forensic evaluator or the court. S.(.)Greenberg and D. Shuman's (1997) conceptualization of the treating expert is expanded and applied to the child custody or dependency case, with an emphasis on role boundaries, standards of expertise, and suggestions for professional practice.
A qualitative retrospective study was conducted on 38 adults who experienced parental alienation as a child. Individuals partic-ipated in one-hour semi-structured interviews. Audiotapes were transcribed verbatim, and submitted to a content analysis for pri-mary themes and patterns. Findings pertaining to the long-term effects of parental alienation were analyzed for this article. Results revealed seven major areas of impact: (1) low self-esteem, (2) de-pression, (3) drug/alcohol abuse, (4) lack of trust, (5) alienation from own children, (6) divorce, and (7) other. These seven themes are discussed at length to provide the first glimpse into the lives of adult children of parental alienation. Every year one million marriages end in divorce, resulting in more than 100,000 couples battling over the custody and visitation of their children (Turkat, 2000). Children whose parents divorce suffer emotionally and psy-chologically, especially when the divorce is contentious and the children are exposed to ongoing conflict between their parents (e.g., Amato, 1994; Johnston, 1994, Wallerstein & Blakeslee, 1996). One specific form of post-divorce conflict has been relatively overlooked in the empirical divorce literature: parental alienation, when one parent turns the child against the other parent through powerful emotional manipulation techniques designed to bind the child to them at the exclusion of the other parent (Darnall, 1998; Gardner, 1998; Wallerstein & Blakeslee, 1996; Warshak, 2001). These parents create a "cult of parenthood" and, like cult leaders, they undermine the independent thinking skills of their children and cultivate an unhealthy dependency designed to satisfy the emotional needs of the adult Address correspondence to Amy J. L.
The best interests of the child doctrine is at once the most heralded, derided and relied upon standard in family law today. It is heralded because it espouses the best and highest standard; it is derided because it is necessarily subjective; and it is relied upon because there is nothing better. And in every case, a judge must decide what is “best” for any child at any time under any particular circumstance. This standard, so central to family law, is of critical importance, yet surrounded by a muddled legal haze of judicial confusion over just how to determine what “the best” really is. Discerning the roots of the legal standard applied to children in literally every early American case, this article thoroughly analyzes the English roots of common law and case law which established legal principle in family sovereignty. Impressions of judicial review of the standard begs for assistance in the proper use of judicial discretion in cases involving children, yielding a more appropriate analysis of the most suitable application of the best interests standard. The article demonstrates that the best interest of the child doctrine is as old as the American colonies and can be traced to America’s earliest case law foundations, concluding that though scattered in and out of English law, the best interests of the child doctrine is uniquely American in its development. This strong base has in turn caused a near global adoption of the concept. The doctrine, however it may be derided or heralded, is the American legacy America to global family law. The article argues, nonetheless, that the application of this standard has turned toward near pure judicial discretion in contemporary judging causing litigators and advocates to have no rule of law to rely upon. While setting out the basis for the doctrine, this article calls for a rebuilding of the legal foundations of the best interests of the child standard not only in America and in western tradition, but worldwide.
In this article, controversies and problems with parental alienation syndrome are discussed. A reformulation focusing on the alienated child is proposed, and these children are clearly distinguished from other children who resist or refuse contact with a parent following separation or divorce for a variety of normal, expectable reasons, including estrangement. A systemic array of contributing factors are described that can create and/or consolidate alienation in children, including intense marital conflict, a humiliating separation, parental personalities and behaviors, protracted litigation, and professional mismanagement. These factors are understood in the context of the child's capacities and vulnerabilities.
This study simultaneously assessed the inter‐rater reliability of the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Axis I (SCID I) and Axis II disorders (SCID II) in a mixed sample of n = 151 inpatients and outpatients, and non‐patient controls. Audiotaped interviews were assessed by independent second raters blind for the first raters' scores and diagnoses. Categorical inter‐rater reliability was assessed for 12 Axis I disorders of SCID I, while both categorical and dimensional inter‐rater reliability was tested for all Axis II disorders. Results revealed moderate to excellent inter‐rater agreement of the Axis I disorders, while most categorically and dimensionally measured personality disorders showed excellent inter‐rater agreement. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Key Practitioner Message:
• Elaborate training in administration of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM disorders (SCID) is a crucial ingredient for valid use of the SCID.
• The more dimensionally the SCID II pathology is indexed, the higher inter‐rater reliability.
• Structural assessment of Axis I and Axis II pathology by means of SCID I and II is an essential ingredient for valid and reliable pathology assessment in clinical practice and in research.
The emotional distress of parents during court proceedings to change custody is crucial in forensic psychology.
Whether they directly preside over such matters or not, all judges are aware that child custody cases are among the most contentious, nerve-wracking, and costly proceedings in our entire legal system. The most aggrieved and well-heeled of litigants are likely to up the ante by enlisting psychologists as expert witnesses—even when the Court has already found it necessary to do so on its own. American Psychological Association (APA) Guidelines exist to encourage best practices for these witnesses, and to help them to avoid commonly encountered pitfalls. This article addresses how the Court can best access, interpret, and reinforce the latest revision of these Guidelines for the benefit of parties, counsel, and judges alike.
This special edition of the classic text includes a new introduction from Professor Arlene Vetere exploring its continuing influence on contemporary practice. One of family therapy's foundational texts, Families and Family Therapy is as relevant today as it has ever been. Examining the therapist's role, Dr. Minuchin presents the views and strategies of a master clinician in a clear and practical form. Transcripts of actual family sessions-both with families meeting their problems fairly successfully and those seeking help-are accompanied by a running interpretation of what is taking place. The book constructs a model of an effectively functioning family and defining the boundaries around its different subsystems, whether parental, spouse, or sibling. It then explores the ways in which families adapt to stress from within and without, as they seek to survive and grow. Combining vivid clinical examples, specific details of technique, and mature perspectives on both effectively functioning families and those seeking therapy, this is an important text for all those interesting in the theory and practice of family therapy. This book can be used on courses such as Family Therapy, Family Interventions, Systemic Practice, and Systemic Counselling within departments of Psychology, Mental Health, and Counselling; and by undergraduate students on Social Work qualifying courses. Salvador Minuchin is a renowned and influential child psychiatrist and family therapist, most famous for developing Structural Family Therapy, a method of psychotherapy which addresses problems in functioning within a family.
Think Good -Feel Good is an exciting and pioneering new practical resource in print and on the internet for undertaking CBT with children and young people. The materials have been developed by the author and trialled extensively in clinical work with children and young people presenting with a range of psychological problems. Paul Stallard introduces his resource by covering the basic theory and rationale behind CBT and how the workbook should be used. An attractive and lively workbook follows which covers the core elements used in CBT programmes but conveys these ideas to children and young people in an understandable way and uses real life examples familiar to them. The concepts introduced to the children can be applied to their own unique set of problems through the series of practical exercises and worksheets. • 10 modules can be used as a complete programme, or adapted for individual use • Little else available for this age range • Can be used as homework or self-help material Available in print and as a downloadable resource on the internet.
Family Therapy: An Introduction to Process, Practice and Theory is a primer for students, professionals, and trainees to understand how family therapists conceptualize the problems people bring to therapy, utilize basic therapeutic skills to engage clients in the therapeutic process, and navigate the predominant models of family therapy. This text walks readers through each of these main areas via a straightforward writing style where they are provided with exercises and questions to help them develop the basic concepts and tools of being a family therapist. Upon finishing this book, students will have the foundational skills and knowledge needed to work relationally and systemically with clients.
This volume, a sequel to The Psychology of Interrogations, Confessions and Testimony which is widely acclaimed by both scientists and practitioners, brings the field completely up-to-date and focuses in particular on aspects of vulnerability, confabulation and false confessions. The is an unrivalled integration of scientific knowledge of the psychological processes and research relating to interrogation, with the practical investigative and legal issues that bear upon obtaining, and using in court, evidence from interrogations of suspects. Accessible style which will appeal to academics, students and practitioners. Authoritative integration of theory, research, practical implications and vivid case illustration. Coverage of topical issues like confabulation, false memory, and false confessions. Part of the Wiley Series in The Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law.
Family courts are increasingly stressed by larger case loads, greater numbers of pro se litigants, highly litigious and complex divorces, and limited resources. Divorce cases in family courts have evolved from judicial decisions about who should be awarded custody of the children, to decisions about how to share parenting time and access to the children. This model often requires legal and clinical interventions other than trial. Education, mediation, and evaluation are services offered or required by most courts. These interventions rely upon multidisciplinary partnerships or collaborations. This article will describe new interventions that address the needs of all divorcing parents to those that are specifically focused on high conflict between parents. A review of parent education components, mental health roles in the collaborative law process, brief focused evaluations, therapeutic reunification, and parent coordination will be described.
Child Custody and Domestic Violence: A Call for Safety and Accountability focuses on the complexity of the challenges facing judges, lawyers, legislators, and mental health professionals in developing safe and effective strategies for resolving custody disputes. Jaffe, Lemon, and Poisson integrate the most recent clinical and legal issues in the field in considering the prevalence of divorce and domestic violence as well as the relevance of domestic violence in custody disputes. The authors outline the essential differences between custody disputes with and without allegations and findings of domestic violence, and the different analysis and distinct interventions by judges, policymakers, and mental health professionals necessary in domestic violence cases.
Despite being contrary to good patient care and existing clinical and forensic practice guidelines, some therapists nevertheless engage in dual clinical and forensic roles. Perhaps because an injured litigant seeking treatment is required to engage in 2 distinct roles (litigant and patient), care providers may be tempted to meet both sets of that person's needs. Through the presentation of 10 principles that underlie why combining these roles is conflicting and problematical, the authors stress the importance of avoiding such conflicts, avoiding the threat to the efficacy of therapy, avoiding the threat to the accuracy of judicial determinations, and avoiding deception when providing testimony.
This paper discusses the extent of violence in high-conflict litigating families, differentiating between abusive relationships and high-conflict divorce, and describing the numerous ways that parenting is deficient and compromised. Guidelines for making access plans that minimise adverse effects on children, restrains further abuse, and protects parents who have been victimised is followed by a discussion of the specialised services needed, and the challenges in coordinating the efforts of family court and community agencies on behalf of these families.
The difficulties inherent in obtaining consistent and adequate diagnoses for the purposes of research and therapy have been pointed out by a number of authors. Pasamanick12 in a recent article viewed the low interclinician agreement on diagnosis as an indictment of the present state of psychiatry and called for "the development of objective, measurable and verifiable criteria of classification based not on personal or parochial considerations, but on behavioral and other objectively measurable manifestations."Attempts by other investigators to subject clinical observations and judgments to objective measurement have resulted in a wide variety of psychiatric rating scales.4,15 These have been well summarized in a review article by Lorr11 on "Rating Scales and Check Lists for the Evaluation of Psychopathology." In the area of psychological testing, a variety of paper-and-pencil tests have been devised for the purpose of measuring specific
Should a child custody evaluation be a clinical tool informed by forensic methods and procedures or a forensic tool informed by clinical experience? The authors conclude that an evaluation requires a delicate blend of scientific thinking, clinical understanding, through observations, appropriate use of psychological tests, and self-report measures and information from sufficient collateral sources. Evaluators must pay attention to internal biases and integrate them with the relevant literature. Finally, evaluators must remember that their evaluation and reports will be used by both the courts and the family in reaching a decision on behalf of the children.
Children who have been programmed by one parent to be alienated from the other parent are commonly seen in the context of child-custody disputes. Such programming is designed to strengthen the position of the programming parent in a court of law. Many evaluators use the term parental alienation syndrome (PAS) to refer to the disorder engendered in such children. In contrast, there are evaluators who recognize the disorder, but prefer to use the term parental alienation (PA). The purpose of this article is to elucidate the sources of this controversy and to delineate the advantages and disadvantages of using either term in the context of child-custody disputes, especially in evaluators' reports and testimony in courts of law. The author concludes that families are best served when the more specific term parental alienation syndrome is used rather than the more general term parental alienation .
Mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) grew rapidly in the last few decades as a result of high divorce rates, frequent conflicts between parting parents, the resulting administrative burden on courts, and especially concerns about damaging effects on children and postdivorce family relationships. This article focuses on our longitudinal research involving randomized trials of mediation and adversary settlement to support the conclusions that mediation can: (1) settle a large percentage of cases otherwise headed for court; (2) possibly speed settlement, save money, and increase compliance with agreements; (3) clearly increase party satisfaction; and (4) most importantly, lead to remarkably improved relationships between nonresidential parents and children, as well as between divorced parents—even twelve years after dispute settlement. The key “active ingredients” of mediation are likely to include: (1) the call for parental cooperation over the long run of co-parenting beyond the crisis of separation, (2) the opportunity to address underlying emotional issues (albeit briefly), (3) helping parents to establish a businesslike relationship, and (4) the avoidance of divisive negotiations at a critical time for family relationships. We call for more research on mediation and other forms of ADR, as well as a renewal of the excitement and optimism of the “first generation” of mediators, qualities that are “active ingredients” in any successful social or psychological intervention.
This study surveyed 213 experienced child custody evaluators utilizing the same questionnaire in the Ackerman & Ackerman 1997 and Keilin & Bloom 1986 studies. Demographic information, evaluation practices, custody decision-making, and recommendations were surveyed. Comparisons were made across all three studies to identify the similarities and differences in child custody evaluation practices over the past 20 years. This study added questions about risk management and ethical issues, and current practices in placement/access schedules. The reader is advised that not engaging in the practices performed by a majority of psychologists could result in a difficult testimony experience.
The Gudjonsson Suggestibility ScalesSuggestibility And Hypnotic SusceptibilityComplianceAcquiescenceCorrelations Between Suggestibility, Compliance And AcquiescenceSuggestibility and GenderSuggestibility and Ethnic Background
Suggestibility and AgeSuggestibility and IntelligenceSuggestibility and MemorySuggestibility and AnxietySuggestibility and ImpulsivitySuggestibility and the Mmpi-2Suggestibility and Sleep DeprivationSuggestibility: Dissociation And Fantasy PronenessSuggestibility and Instructional ManipulationSuggestibility and the Experimenter EffectSuggestibility and Social DesirabilitySuggestibility and Coping StrategiesSuggestibility and AssertivenessSuggestibility and Self-EsteemSuggestibility and Locus Of ControlSuggestibility and Field DependenceSuspiciousness and AngerSuggestibility and Test SettingSuggestibility and Previous ConvictionsPolice Interviewing and SuggestibilityResisters and Alleged False ConfessorsSuggestibility and False ConfessionsSuggestibility and Eyewitness TestimonySuggestibility and Recovered MemoryConclusions
There is controversy in Canada about the use of assessments by mental health professionals to assist in the resolution of postseparation disputes between parents about their children. Although the principles developed by the Supreme Court of Canada to govern the admission of expert evidence in criminal law cases provides guidance for judges in family law cases, in deciding whether to order an assessment or admit expert evidence, family law judges must also take account of the child-related context. Mental health professionals can provide valuable information that would otherwise be unavailable when making prospective decisions about children. Court-appointed assessors also have a significant institutional role in the family law cases that has no equivalent in the criminal law context. Assessors are important not only for the relatively rare cases that go to trial, but they also play a central role in helping to resolve the much larger number of cases that are settled.
Today, judges are faced with the daunting task of determining the best interests of the child and making appropriate custody awards to that end. The best interests of children becomes a critical question when domestic violence is involved; yet, determining what constitutes domestic violence is often debated. Research is often divided on what constitutes domestic violence. One body of research focuses on conflict, another focuses on domestic violence. What the first group identifies as intense emotional distress and disagreement, the other identifies as abuse. Judges making custody determinations in such cases are faced with the difficult challenge of distinguishing between a divorce with “high conflict” and a domestic violence case with ongoing abuse. This article will summarize the legal, philosophical, and historical understandings of the “high conflict” family and its potential impact on children. It will also provide practical judicial guidelines for making the important distinction between high conflict and domestic violence and subsequently crafting appropriate and safe child custody awards.
This article provides an overview of the key concepts, themes, issues, and possible mental health and legal interventions related to children's postseparation resistance to having contact with one parent. We maintain that the too often strongly gendered polemic on alienation and abuse is polarizing and needs to be replaced with a more nuanced and balanced discussion that recognizes the complexity of the issues so that the needs of children and families can be better met. This article reviews the historical development of the concept of alienation; discusses the causes, dynamics, and differentiation of various types of parent child contact problems; and summarizes the literature on the impact of alienation on children. These are complex cases. A significant portion of the cases in which alienation is alleged are not in fact alienation cases; for those where alienation is present, interventions will vary depending on the degree of the alienation. More severe alienation cases are unlikely to be responsive to therapeutic or psycho-educational interventions in the absence of either a temporary interruption of contact between the child and the alienating parent or a more permanent custody reversal. We conclude with a summary of recommendations for practice and policy, including the need for early identification and intervention to prevent the development of severe cases, interdisciplinary collaboration and further development and research of interventions.
This article describes an innovative educational and experiential program, Family Bridges: A Workshop for Troubled and Alienated Parent-Child RelationshipsTM, that draws on social science research to help severely and unreasonably alienated children and adolescents adjust to court orders that place them with a parent they claim to hate or fear. The article examines the benefits and drawbacks of available options for helping alienated children and controversies and ethical issues regarding coercion of children by parents and courts. The program's goals, principles, structure, procedures, syllabus, limitations, and preliminary outcomes are presented. At the workshop's conclusion, 22 of 23 children, all of whom had failed experiences with counseling prior to enrollment, restored a positive relationship with the rejected parent. At follow-up, 18 of the 22 children maintained their gains; those who relapsed had premature contact with the alienating parent.
Research studies focusing on the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) with psychiatric and nonpsychiatric samples were reviewed for the years 1961 through June, 1986. A meta-analysis of the BDI's internal consistency estimates yielded a mean coefficient alpha of 0.86 for psychiatric patients and 0.81 for nonpsychiatric subjects. The concurrent validitus of the BDI with respect to clinical ratings and the Hamilton Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) were also high. The mean correlations of the BDI samples with clinical ratings and the HRSD were 0. 72 and 0.73, respectively, for psychiatric patients. With nonpsychiatric subjects, the mean correlations of the BDI with clinical ratings and the HRSD were 0.60 and 0.74, respectively. Recent evidence indicates that the BDI discriminates subtypes of depression and differentiates depression from anxiety.