The Art and Science of Child Custody

Addressing key topics in child custody evaluation, this book provides essential knowledge for practitioners who want to meet the highest standards for both scientific validity and legal admissibility. The authors are leading experts who describe the latest data-based approaches to understanding and assessing relevant child, parent, and family factors. Going beyond the basics, the book gives in-depth attention to challenging, frequently encountered issues, such as how to evaluate allegations of domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and child alienation. Also covered are the complexities of interviewing children effectively and working in the adversarial forensic context. A user-friendly appendix contains sample letters and statements of understanding, with permission to photocopy.

Jonathan W. Gould, PhD, ABPP, practices forensic psychology with a specialization in issues related to family law, including child custody, and is board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He performs court-appointed custody evaluations and consults with attorneys and psychologists in the areas of child custody, Child Protective Services evaluations such as termination of parental rights, and professional ethics and standards. Dr. Gould also consults with attorneys in the areas of criminal child sexual abuse and other forms of child maltreatment.

David A. Martindale, PhD, ABPP, is board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He performed court-appointed custody evaluations for 16 years in New York state and served as the Reporter for the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts’ Model Standards for Child Custody Evaluation. Dr. Martindale’s practice is now limited to consulting with attorneys, psychologists, and psychology licensing boards in the areas of child custody and professional ethics and standards.

Child Custody Evaluations and the Best Interests of the Child
Introduction	p. 3
The Purpose of a Child Custody Evaluation	p. 4
The Relationship between Law and Psychology	p. 4
A Very Hot Kitchen	p. 6
Changing Paradigms	p. 9
The Importance of a Scientifically Informed Approach	p. 11
Assessing the Best Psychological Interests of the Child within the Family Context	p. 24
The Best Interests of the Child Standard	p. 31
Development of the BICS	p. 31
Legal Criticisms of the BICS	p. 32
American Society and Child Custody Standards	p. 33
History of the BICS	p. 34
Determining the Best Psychological Interests of the Child	p. 42
The Evaluator's Focus	p. 48
Summary	p. 51
The Art of Child Custody Evaluations
Ethics and Methods	p. 55
Clarity and Specificity in Ethics Codes	p. 55
The 2002 Psychologists' Ethics Code: New and Improved of Just New?	p. 57
A Sequential Examination of Ethical Issues and Methodology	p. 58
The Art of Self-Promotion	p. 60
Getting Off to a Good Start	p. 62
Bumps in the Road	p. 71
The Report	p. 74
Postevaluation Issues: The Virtues of Not Being Helpful, Part 2	p. 77
Pretrial Issues: The Virtues of Not Being Helpful, Part 3	p. 77
The Virtues of Being Helpful, Part 1	p. 78
The Big Day: The Virtues of Being Helpful, Part 2	p. 78
The Virtues of Not Being Helpful, Part 4	p. 79
Return of the Big Day: It Ain't Over Even When It's Over	p. 79
Ethical Dilemmas	p. 80
Ethics and Your Other Job	p. 83
Summary	p. 84
Minimizing and Correcting for Bias	p. 86
Confirmatory Bias and Confirmatory Distortion	p. 87
Transparency and Due Process	p. 93
Summary	p. 97
Increasing the Reliability and Relevance of Child Custody Evaluations	p. 98
The Standard of Relevance and the Formulation of Questions	p. 100
The Standard of Reliability and the Use of Forensic Methods	p. 103
The Use of Direct Behavioral Observations of Parent and Child	p. 104
The Use of Collateral Record Review and Collateral Interviews	p. 106
Offering Conclusions and Recommendations	p. 107
Summary	p. 108
Interviewing Children	p. 110
Factors to Consider in Interviewing Children	p. 111
Improper Interviewing Methods and Their Negative Effect on Children's Testimony	p. 113
Risks of Inaccuracies in Evaluators' Recording or Recollection of Child Interview Data	p. 117
Due Process Considerations Related to Improper Interviewing and Inaccurate Hearsay	p. 120
The Need to Audio- or Videotape All Interviews with Children	p. 121
Summary	p. 123
Children's Voices	p. 124
Learning to Hear Children's Experience of Divorce	p. 124
Linguistic Principles to Guide Forensic Interviews of Children	p. 127
Common Linguistic Problems in Interviewing Children	p. 133
Summary	p. 141
The Science of Child Custody Evaluations: Factors to Assess in Child Custody Evaluations
Assessment of Child Developmental Factors	p. 145
Setting the Stage	p. 146
Children's Reactions to Separation and Divorce	p. 147
Children's Adjustment and the Need for Competent Parenting	p. 149
Research Examining Relevant Child Development Factors	p. 150
Developing Competence in Children	p. 151
Definitions of Competence and Resilience	p. 153
Developmental Tasks	p. 154
Foundations of Competence in Early Development	p. 155
Attachments and Parenting	p. 156
Attachment and Development of Internal Working Models	p. 158
Children's Relationships with Caring Adults: The Attachment System	p. 159
Application of Child Development Research to Custody and Access Decision Making about Young Children	p. 163
Competence in the School Years	p. 170
Resilience in Children at Risk	p. 177
Organizing the Advisory Report around Children's Voices	p. 179
Children's View of Each Parent's Fairness, Caring, and Respect	p. 181
Summary	p. 182
Assessment of Parent Factors	p. 184
Defining Parenting	p. 185
Emotional Competence in Adults	p. 193
Parenting Style Variables	p. 197
Postdivorce Father Involvement	p. 210
Organizing the Advisory Report around Parenting Competencies	p. 215
Summary	p. 220
Assessment of Family Factors	p. 221
Risky Family Factors	p. 222
Risky Family Characteristics and Emotion Processing	p. 224
Emotion Processing and Mental and Physical Health Outcomes	p. 226
Social Competence and Mental and Physical Health Outcomes	p. 230
Substance Abuse and Risky Sexual Behavior	p. 231
Socioeconomic Status, Family Characteristics, and Mental and Physical Health Risks	p. 233
Physical Health and Safety Factors	p. 234
Assessment of Risky Family Factors	p. 236
Summary	p. 238
The Art and Science of Child Custody Evaluations: Assessing Allegations of Maltreatment
Assessing Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse	p. 241
Maltreatment	p. 242
Defining Child Sexual Abuse	p. 247
Careful Use of Terminology	p. 249
Evaluating Allegations of Sexual Abuse	p. 249
The Use of Psychological Tests and Measures	p. 262
Forensic Evaluation of an Alleged Perpetrator of Child Maltreatment	p. 270
Kirkpatrick's Model of Evaluation of Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse within the Context of Child Custody Disputes	p. 273
Summary	p. 276
Assessing Allegations of Domestic Violence	p. 277
Abuse Is a Violation of a Fundamental Human Right	p. 278
The Importance of Research about Men and Research about Women	p. 279
Competing Needs of Science and Politics	p. 280
Models, Assumptions within Models, and Potential Bias	p. 282
Evaluators Are Better Educated Than We Thought	p. 283
Foundational Concepts in Understanding Domestic Violence	p. 286
Models of Domestic Violence	p. 295
Models of Psychological Assessment in the Forensic Evaluation of Allegations of Domestic Violence within a Custody Dispute	p. 307
Bancroft and Silverman's Model of Assessment of Familial Maltreatment	p. 312
Summary	p. 316
Assessing Allegations of Child Alienation	p. 317
Gardner's Parental Alienation Syndrome	p. 319
Kelly and Johnston's Child Alienation Model	p. 335
Drozd and Olesen's Model for Discriminating Alienation from Domestic Violence	p. 343
Summary	p. 350
Another Call for Humility	p. 351
Stay within the Lines	p. 351
Know State Statutes and Case Law	p. 352
Do Not Offer Ultimate-Opinion Testimony Concerning the Credibility of the Litigants	p. 352
Follow Peer-Reviewed Methods and Procedures	p. 353
Do Not Make Complex That Which Is Simple	p. 353
Know Current Literature	p. 354
Appreciate the Distinction between Clinical Assessment and Forensic Assessment	p. 355
Recognize That Conducting Custody Evaluations Is an Inherently Forensic Endeavor	p. 355
Recognize That the Court Shall Be Conceptualized as the Primary Recipient of the Report That the Evaluator Prepares	p. 355
Create and Preserve Detailed Records	p. 355
Attend Continuing Education Seminars	p. 356
Summary	p. 356
A Final Word	p. 356
Appendix: Sample Statements of Understanding and Letters	p. 361
References	p. 387
Index	p. 441
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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The Art and Science of Child Custody Evaluations

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Table of Contents

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