Role of Forensic Psychology in Child Custody Evaluation - Coursework Example

Role of Forensic Psychology in Child Custody Evaluation Table of contents ……………………………………………………………………………...3 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….4 Legal issues……………………………………………………………………………..5 Practice of forensic psychology…………………………………………………………7 Summary. .………………………………………………………………………………10 References……………………………………………………………………………….11 Abstract The issue of child custody after divorce has been a challenge to many parents and continues to be a challenge. The issue forms the basis for forensic psychologists to offer their expertise assistance in determination of the suitable ways and procedures necessary in the custody of a child after parents parting from martial responsibilities. The experts offer different assessments of the parent and the child to ensure the child receive the best custody and that the decision made by a court fits the best interest of the child. The paper reflects on the various critical aspects of child custody evaluation, the various measures taken by forensic psychologists in the exercise. In a clear and precise way, the paper also handles on the legal issues tied to the custody determination exercise. The other section of greater interest is of the practice of forensic psychology and the steps involved in making a suitable and reliable report of the evaluation. Introduction In the modern world, child issues are delicate and require much more attention than it used to. With the changes in lifestyles, parenting issues are proving a challenge to many parents. The increased rates of divorce cases and parenting obligations have resulted to a greater concern on child custody evaluation. The child custody evaluations intentions are to provide the court with the important information regarding what visitation and custody arrangements will be of the best interests of the kids. It is important especially when parents fail to resolve the issue of parenting on their own. The delicate nature of child custody has led to the popularity of forensic psychology. Cherry (2013), outlines that the forensic psychology is a discipline that deals with psychology and legal aspects. In a definition, it refers to the intersection of the psychology with law in relation to the various roles played by forensic psychologists. Thus, forensic psychologists are crucial in the evaluation of child custody issues. The so-called “best interests” evaluation obligates psychologists in ethical perspective to offer advice and recommendation on what is best for the children without regarding who requests the evaluation. In post-divorce family, it is necessary that children get the encouragement to have a positive, healthy, and well-supported relationship with each of their parents even emotionally (Tippins & Witt man, 2005). Parents should also demonstrate the ability and the willingness to work cooperatively as co-parents. In most cases, children often find themselves experiencing problems in adjusting to parental divorce situations due to damage of the parental relationship. When conflicts emerge, children continue to suffer in the middle of the parental conflict. In forensic psychology, there is an examination to assess what best suits the child welfare. Thus, parents undergo an evaluation to determine whether they are any of the parents who presents a serious psychological problem and the evaluation of the quality of child-parent relationship. The evaluation is mainly to determine or identify any conflict therein. Thus, it is necessary to follow the legal framework in child custody evaluation (Weiner et al., 2003). Legal Issues Before an expert starts conducting a good custody evaluation, it is necessary to have a full understanding of the various forms of divorce, the effects of divorce on children at different ages in the short-term and the long-term. The expert must also be in a position to demonstrate a good legal understanding of the types of custody and visitation arrangements legally allowed (Tippins & Witt man, 2005). Custody evaluation procedure should be fair and offer equitable treatment to all the parties involved through administration of same procedures with every party. In most legal recommendations, it is important to employ methods such as psychological testing, interviews, home visits, utilization of collateral informants, assessment of parent-child relationships and the time the children spend consistently with all the parties. An integral part of a divorce according to Swerdlow-Freed, (2013) involves the determination of where the children would be living and the proportion of time they should be spending with each of the parents. The process in most cases results to emotional conflicts between both the parents and the children. The process therefore requires the assistance of a legal officer such as an attorney. If the parents differ on child custody, and there are allegations of abuses such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, substance abuse, or parental unfitness the decision is entirely set to the courts to find a solution. Presentation of serious concerns regarding the capacity to cater properly or look after the children, the entire family should undergo evaluation for child custody. The significance of such referrals is that the court may emerge or receive detailed and precise information of the child and parents thereby coming up with the suitable parental agreement of the custody (Swerdlow-Freed, 2013). The legal process as per Weiner et al., (2003) provides that forensic psychology is an obligation to make sure that prospective clients get suitable information about the rights associated with the forensic service. The procedures, purpose of the evaluation must be clearly outlined and the intended consumption of any form of product of the service. In Greenberg & Shuman’s argument on dual relationships, one of the provisions indicates that it should be evident in the guideline that a forensic psychologist must avoid offering the service, if any of the parties present in the proceedings have inconsistent personal or professional relationship with respect to the anticipated solution. According to Kate, (2014) a properly performed evaluation by a psychologist requires starting the process with making appointment with the court in order to assess the family members present. The situation of the family offers a base for the decision and to some extent; the evaluation may involve stepparents, grandparents, and fiancés of each of the parents. If allegations arise from one parent on the other, the accused parent has an opportunity to respond. The opportunity offers them a chance to defend themselves against the allegations that would influence the final decision of the court. In the legal process, forensic psychologists play a major role in a child custody determination. Thus, it is important for parents to accept court rulings through cooperation of the directives as they result from well-researched base and offers the best interest to the child. According to Simon (2013), parents should be available for all sorts of appointments and must cooperate with examiners. Psychologists appointed by the court not only determine or arrange on what time is best for the child but also ensures they cooperate to ensure evaluation meets its objectives. Some parents are uncooperative and find it difficult to comply with court orders as they may have an opposed recommendation, and might influence the judgment made. Portraying hostility or uncooperativeness in the procedures would create a negative image thereby disadvantaging the parent purpose of getting the accord to have custody of the child (Simon, 2013). According to the American Psychological Association (APA), most parties resolve custody issues amongst themselves. Failure to come to an agreement results to court early intervention and thereafter the child custody evaluation by a forensic psychologist. There are guidelines that govern how these experts generate legal solutions on child custody. The guidelines provide that the purpose of the evaluation meet the best interest for the child. Thus, child’s welfare is paramount in any proceedings. The evaluation must therefore, be credible to court as the research characterizes use of appropriate skills, values, and relevant traits to evaluate the child’s psychological needs (Jaffe et al., 2013) Practice of Forensic Psychology The “child evaluation report” indicates that parents willing to take custody of the child may take different approaches depending on their purpose and attitudes. Some parents may be a hindrance in the process of evaluation whereas others may be supportive. The unsupportive parents may provide endless allegations and complaints in an effort to prove the other unfit parent. Such ground is significant for psychologists as it aids them to understand the parent’s behaviors thus helping in making effective result of custody (Tippins & Wittman, 2005). The practice of evaluation includes observation of sessions the child have with each of the parents at home or a custody office. The main motive of the observation is to acquire sufficient information on the parent’s capacity and abilities to interact with the child. Psychologists also acquire information from reliable sources such as from teachers, daycare providers, or colleagues. If there had been a previous issue with police and children protection service, such information is very important for the process of evaluation (Child Custody Evaluations, 2013). A successful evaluation according to Kraus & Thomas (2011), that is with understanding the kind of divorce in the issue at hand. Having a clear understanding of the family dynamics and their aspects necessary to give the child a healthy environment for development, the psychologist may lay a platform necessary to acquire the best information on the issue. Evaluation of mental capacities and normality is another factor a psychologist takes a major consideration on, and this is achievable through setting the parties involved in various test suitable for the same. The process of forensic practice also takes consideration of psychology testing as a very significant source of information. The tests may vary but in most cases include measures that can provide information on the psychological status of the parents, quality of child-parent relationship, and the emotional functioning of the child. In some instances, the child may also be as subject to the tests with the purpose of assessing the academic potentials and the emotional status. Armstrong & O’Hagan (2011), states that each parent must have same psychological test. Merry (2013), indicates that psychologists must avoid multiple collisions in the process of conducting the evaluation. The step is important to avoid biased decision. In the process of evaluation, psychologists advise parents to outdo marital problems from the issue of parenting. Pain caused in relationships should not form the base for alleging others unfit for child custody. The move is not directly relevant on evaluating child custody or the determination of parenting time. Discussion of martial problem may only provide some information on parental life but forms little base for decision-making (Stahl & Robert, 2014). In the parenting Assessment Test, a child over the age of six years receives gets questioning about both parents. The most gauged areas include supportiveness, follow-up consistency, competence, and the possession of admiration traits of the parents. The main limitation on the method of mining information is that the child report may change with time and relies mainly on the child current mood or the influence of the parent. Few researchers have made the way of mining beneficial for information mining, rather than over relying on the classifications (Grisso, 2003). Common advice, considered as good practice is that before parents undergo the assessment they should make own notes to sharable to the psychologists. Provision of independent documents may strengthen the credibility of the parents to the psychologist. The child also requires pre-knowledge that he or she will meet a psychologist, and brief information would be sufficient (Gordon, 2002). Forensic psychologists should be in a position to access the emotional connection between the child and the parent. In the process, the psychologist should determine whether the child has any psychological need or not. The move is important in determining whether the child has any psychological problem that requires specialized attention (Bernet, 2002). The main motive of the psychologist to do all these is to plot a platform that is reliable and meets the best interest objective of the child. In the package, the psychologist bears the responsibility of ensuring the decision made would better the child life and better the child’s mental development. It is necessary that the child receive a helping hand to ensuring he, or she gets to cope with a parent’s divorce. Psychologists also consider the language preferences in their assessments. Where a client is bilingual, it is necessary that the preferred language gets adequate consideration for comfortable conversing and to avoid any form of disadvantage to the client. In the report, the psychologists must indicate any language limitations involved (Grisso, 2003). The latter may be of little influence, but the psychologist must make sure the critical issues to the court’s ultimate decision making includes the parenting attributes and psychological needs of the child that would well suit the child needs. Summary After the forensic assessment, psychologist should prepare a good report that provides a summary of the issues at hand. The report should offer various conclusions and recommendation based on the findings in the practice of the assessment activity. In the report, more emphasis should be on how the decisions came into place based on the facts gathered throughout the evaluation process. The evaluator gets a free share to contribute or to express his or her opinion on grounds of expertise. Thus, the foundation of the opinions must have weight and supportive facts. When every aspect of the report is a fine, the report passes in the line of the court taking into consideration the legal aspects in the demonstration that it followed relevant procedures to obtain the information. The report must demonstrate logic in meeting the conclusions. When all requirements are in place, the psychologist distills the information into a manageable form, reliable for the final decision of who among the parents should take the custody of the child. References Child Custody Evaluations. (2013). Retrieved May 17, 2014, from Psychology Information Online: http://www.psychologyinfo.com/forensic/child_custody.html Armstrong, K., & O’Hagan, M. (2011). DANGEROUS CHILD CUSTODY FORENSICS. Retrieved May 17, 2014, from Courtwatch: http://courtwatchbrevard.org/drupal/?q=node/154 Bernet, W. (2002). Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. Child custody evaluations, 781–804. Cherry, K. (2013). What Is Forensic Psychology? Retrieved May 17, 2014, from About: http://psychology.about.com/od/branchesofpsycholog1/f/forensicpsychology.htm Gordon, R. M. (2002). CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATORS: PSYCHOLOGISTS OR DETECTIVES? PENNSYLVANIA, BAR INSTITUTE, MECHANICSBURG . Retrieved May 17, 2014, from http://www.mmpi-info.com/psychology-publications-lies-defenses-child-custody-evaluations Grisso, T. (2003). Evaluating competencies: Forensic assessments and instruments, (2ndEd.). New York: Kluwer/Plenum Jaffe, A. M., & Mandeleew, D. (2013). Essentials of a Forensic Child Custody Evaluation. Retrieved May 17, 2014, from Law Trends and News: http://www.americanbar.org/newsletter/publications/law_trends_news_practice_area_e_newsletter_home/2011_spring/forensic_custody_evaluation.html Kates, E. J. (2014). "I cant say": truthful, thoughtful responding in the forensic context will (appropriately) invalidate the test. Retrieved May 17, 2013, from A Grammatical Analysis of the MMPI-2: http://www.thelizlibrary.org/site-index/site-index-frame.html#soulhttp://www.thelizlibrary.org/therapeutic-jurisprudence/custody-evaluator-testing/forensic-mmpi2.html Kraus, L. J., & Thomas, C. R. (2011). Practice Parameter for Child and Adolescent Forensic Evaluations . Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 1299–1312. Merry, S. J. (2013). Forensic Evaluation: The Child Custody Report. Retrieved May 17, 2014, from http://www.dadsdivorce.com/articles/forensic-evaluation-the-child-custody-report.html Simon, R. A. (2013). Has a Child Custody Evaluation been ordered in one of your cases or are you thinking of asking for one? Retrieved May 17, 2014, from Cchild Custody Evaluation: http://www.dr-simon.com/pro_evaluation.html Stahl, P. M., & Robert, A. (2014). Forensic Psychology Consultation in Child Custody Litigation: A Handbook for Work Product Review, Case Preparation, and Expert Testimony. Swerdlow-Freed, D. H. (2013). Preparing For a Child Custody Evaluation. Retrieved May 17, 2014, from http://www.drswerdlow-freed.com/articles/preparing-for-a-child-custody-evaluation Tippins, T. M., & Wittman, J. P. (2005). Empirical and ethical problems with custody recommendations. A call for clinical humility and judicial vigilance. Family Court Review Weiner, I. B., Freedheim, D. K., & Goldstein, A. M. (2003). Handbook of Psychology, Forensic Psychology. Canada. Read More