The Role of Forensic Psychology in Child Custody Evaluation - Literature review Example

Role of Forensic Psychology in Child Custody Evaluation According to Kendra Cherry, forensic psychology is considered to be a discipline that deals with psychology as well as law. This field has grown drastically in the recent years. The popularity of this field is because of the books and the television programs in which the heroes are seen solving vicious crimes and tracking killers. Forensic psychology can simply be defined as the intersection of psychology with law but because there are many different roles played by the forensic psychologist so this definition may vary a bit. They play a significant role in the criminal justice system. This can be an ideal career for the students who are interested in implementing the aspects of psychology to law. Some of the functions that are usually performed by a forensic psychologist may include competency evaluation, the evaluation of child’s custody, reoffending risk evaluation and sentencing evaluation [ CITATION Ken13 \l 1033 ]. Swerdlow-Freed in his essay “Preparing For a Child Custody Evaluation” states that the integral part of the divorce may include the determination of where the children will be living and exactly what proportion of time they will be spending with each of their parents. Sometime even in the best circumstances this situation can be emotional and may stimulate intense emotions in each parent and also in their children. In the ideal situation, this decision is made by the divorcing parents, by taking the help or the assistance of their mediator or attorney. When the parents are unable to agree on the custody of their child or where there are allegations of child physical or sexual abuse, parental unfitness, neglect or substances abuse; this decision is hence turned over to the court for final resolve. When there are serious concerns present regarding the capacity of both the parents to properly look after their children; the entire family can be referred for the evaluation of the child’s custody. The reason behind making these referrals is that the court may receive detailed information about the parents as well as the child and may come to the most suitable parental agreement and custody [ CITATION Dan131 \l 1033 ]. Weiner, Freedheim, & Goldstein states that forensic psychology is considered to be an obligation which makes sure that the prospective clients are well aware about their legal rights with respect to the forensic service, the procedure that is going to be employed, the purpose of evaluation and intended consumption of the any of the product of their service. The ethical forensic and principle guidelines validate Greenberg and Shuman’s argument related to the dual relationships. One of the provisions present in the guideline clearly states that the Forensic psychologists avoid providing their service to the parties present in the legal proceedings with whom they may have professional or personal relationship that can be considered inconsistent with respect to the anticipated relationship [ CITATION Irv03 \l 1033 ]. Jaffe & Mandeleew in “Essentials of a Forensic Child Custody Evaluation” claims that a properly trained psychologist will insist on being appointed by the court as his independent expertise will not be considered to advocate for either of the parents. In this way the psychologist is considered to be free for conducting a comprehensive interview providing the court with an accurate and a balanced picture of every member of the family. The psychologist also study in detail the effects the divorce has imposed on the child and in extreme cases it may also help to overcome the negative influence that the divorce has imposed on the psychology of the child. Most of the modern day parents are concerned about going through this custody evaluation. They may also yell about the effects that these procedures may have on the immature mind of the child. Therefore they prefer that the evaluation should be conducted by a child psychologist. The parents are also worry about portraying their self in favorable light. They are worried that their spouse may also try to reveal their negative image. The most unsettling aspect of these evaluations is that the parents are not aware about how to prepare themselves for the evaluation [ CITATION Ala13 \l 1033 ]. Elizabeth Kate says that a properly conducted child evaluation by a professional psychologist may begin with making an appointment with the court and assessing each and every member present in the family. Depending on the situation of the family this may also include evaluating the grandparents, step parents, fiancé or the live in partners of each of the parents. The child custody evaluation may be based on a series of interviews conducted by both the parents as well as the children who possess the ability of verbal conversation. The interview of each of the parent covers almost all the general aspects. During the interview the psychologist may discuss with the parents their respective concerns regarding their children. This helps the psychologist to determine information regarding child’s custody and parenting time. Finally if an allegation is drawn by one parent against the other; the accused parent will be given the opportunity to respond and defend themselves against the allegation been imposed on them by their partner [ CITATION Eli141 \l 1033 ]. According to the “child custody evaluation report” the child’s custody is approached by the parents with different attitude and purposes. Some of the parents may consider this evaluation as an opportunity to underline each and every shortcoming of the other parent. Such parents may provide the psychologist responsible for evaluation with an endless list of allegations and complaints and may convey an attitude that portrays their spouses as an unfit parent. Each of the parents tries its level best to show themselves in unrealistically favorable light simply by exaggerating their dedication and virtues towards their children. This again is quite effective process for the psychologist as it helps in the understanding of the behavior of each parents and help concluding the result of the custody more effectively. The evaluation by the psychologist may also include an observation session in which each of the parents is examined with its child either in the custody office or at home. The purpose behind this observation is to obtain abundant information concerning the parent’s capacity and ability to interact with its child. It is a regular activity for the psychologist to gather information about the parents as well as the children from several collateral sources such as the teachers, colleagues and day care providers. If the family has ever been involve with the police or the children’s protection service so it is better to extract information regarding these contacts for the purpose of further understanding the family [ CITATION Chi131 \l 1033 ]. Armstrong & O’Hagan state Psychological testing is also considered as another source of significant information that can be gathered during the evaluation of the child’s custody. The test used by the evaluators may vary but mostly it includes the measures that may provide information regarding the psychological status of each parent, the emotional functioning of the child, and the quality of the child-parent relationship. Depending of the circumstances, there are chances that the child may undergo some kind of for testing for the purpose of assessing his academic potential as well as his emotional well-being. With exception to unusual circumstances or situations both parent must be given the same test by the psychologist [CITATION Ken11 \l 1033 ]. Robert Simon emphasizes on the fact that forensic psychology may play an important role in child custody; therefore it is important that the parents must accept court’s cooperate and directive with the psychologist. This means that the parents should make themselves available for all sorts of appointments; they must cooperate with the examiners and must arrive on time for the meetings. The psychologist is appointed by the court to not only determine that what time arrangement will be best for the child but also to cooperate with the parents and evaluated that whether or not the objectives are being met by all the parties involved. Some parents may also find it difficult to comply with court’s order because they anticipate an opposed recommendation or simply because they don’t like receiving orders. Being hostile or uncooperative may create a negative impression on the judge and it may also influence the decision making ability of the judge [ CITATION Rob13 \l 1033 ]. Sarah Merry in the “The Child Custody Report” says that the psychologist may also try avoiding multiple relationships while conducting the evaluation of the child’s custody. The psychologist may try not to act as a therapeutic for the child or any other member from the child’s immediate family. He or she may also limit other involvements that may also compromise his or her psychological objectives. The role of forensic psychology is also important in a child’s custody evaluation as it includes the detail analysis of the parents as well as other adults that are directly associated with taking care of the child. This may include child’s step parents, grandparents, etc. Any other party residing in the custodial should also be analyzed such as the step or half siblings of the child. It is considered to be a good practice for medical professionals, day care provider and school personnel to be included in the evaluation. However, it cannot be considered the best interest of the children to include these collaterals for different reasons [CITATION For13 \l 1033 ]. Kraus & Thomas argue that before starting a custody evaluation, the expert must develop the full understanding of the various kinds of divorces, the different effects that these divorces impose on children belonging to different age groups. This may include both short term as well as long term effects. The expert must also possess a good knowledge about the different custodies and the visitation agreement upon which both the parents should agree on later. The evaluator will definitely have some experience in treating the children or the adolescent; it is also significant that the evaluator must possess some advance skills in the children that would be essential for the assessment of the child’s personality, family dynamics, parenting skills requirement and mental illness. All these aspects help the evaluator in providing a healthy environment for the development and growth of the children. The evaluator who will be familiar with the legal aspects of the study will also have a better understanding of all the legal definition of custody that is reflected in the state law [ CITATION Lou11 \l 1033 ]. Stahl and Robert explain that the procedure of the custody evaluation must offer fair treatment to both the parties by administering exactly the same procedure with both the parties. The evaluator must use different techniques such as interviewing, home visits, psychological testing, utilizing the collateral informants and observing the behavior of the children when they are with their parents and the amount of time they prefer to spend with both the parties. A good evaluation as well as seasoned evaluator may choose not to include the specific collateral for numerous reasons. There are various limitation related to the forensic psychology as the parents sometime find it difficult to decide that which problems should be reported to the psychologists. The psychologist however advises them to distinguish the martial problems from the parenting issues and focus more on the latter one. For example if your spouse has treated you poorly or has been unfaithful; this does not at all means that he or she is not a caring, loving and compassionate parent. The psychologists do understand that this is an emotionally difficult time for the parents and it is obvious that they may focus on the pain that is caused by their spouse. However the psychologists do understand that this cannot be directly considered relevant to evaluating the custody of the child or the determining the parenting time. Discussing one’s martial problem with the psychologist may only provide a short term relief to the parent but this cannot be considered as an effective utilization of time as it does not provide relevant information that would be necessary for the psychologist to determine that what should be considered the best interest of the child [ CITATION Phi \l 1033 ]. Robert Gordon says that parents must think twice before presenting any shortcoming of their spouse that whether or not it represents their parental shortcoming if the complaint presented by the parent is regarding any their martial problem or non-parental issue they must make sure that they address it somewhere else, in order to save the time of the court. However if any of the parents think that the complaint is directly related to their spouse’s parental competency which may also be linked to the child’s safety, then it is legitimate that it should be brought to the notice of the psychologist. It is considered to be a good practice to prepare oneself by making notes about significant concerns and organizing information that would later be shared with the psychologist. Providing independent document will also strengthen the credibility of the parents in the eyes of the psychologist. For effective child custody evaluation, a child should be made understand that he is going to meet a psychologist, who is interested in knowing about him. This brief information about the psychologist would be sufficient for a young child. However san older child must be informed that the psychologist must help the court determining the how much time the child will be spending with each of the parent. If the parents are not sure about what they should tell their child; it is better for them to ask the psychologist for suggestion [ CITATION Rob02 \l 1033 ]. Bernet in his research paper claims that forensic psychology may also help accessing the emotional connection of children with their parents and identify that whether or not the child has any specific psychological need. It also helps in identifying that whether or not the child is suffering from any psychological problem. For fulfilling the best interest objective behavioral problem as school adjustments can be considered significant factors. Every family is different from the other and therefore they should be handled differently by the psychologists. In some family parents may have more nurturing and significantly closer relationship with their children; therefore it is the responsibility of the psychologist to determine that which decisions will serve in the best interest of the child and will help in their better mental development. The psychologist must also help the child to cope with their parents’ divorce and must provide them a way to quickly overcome this negative event of their life [ CITATION Wil02 \l 1033 ]. Conclusion After the psychologist as well as the evaluator has completed the child’s custody evaluation report’ the details of the findings and suitable recommendations are presented to the court. This report contains considerable amount of information about the parents as well as the children and therefore the material inside it should be kept confidential by the people having access to the file. In the ideal situation the recommendations suggested by the psychologist and the evaluator are consider the foundation of settlement by the judge. If the case proceeds towards a trial then the evaluator is asked to appear as a witness and explain to the court his drawn conclusions and recommendations. The references presented in this essay have been extracted from some qualitative books, journal articles and online resources. It has been made sure that the references provided are relevant to the topic and meet the objective of the essay i.e. to explain the significance of forensic psychology in Child’s custody evaluation. This report also present the research presented by individual researchers on the topic under discussion. References CITATION Ken13 \l 1033 : , (Cherry, 2013), CITATION Dan131 \l 1033 : , (Swerdlow-Freed, 2013), CITATION Irv03 \l 1033 : , (Weiner, Freedheim, & Goldstein, 2003), CITATION Ala13 \l 1033 : , (Jaffe & Mandeleew, 2013), CITATION Eli141 \l 1033 : , (Kates, 2014), CITATION Chi131 \l 1033 : , (Child Custody Evaluations, 2013), CITATION Ken11 \l 1033 : , (Armstrong & O’Hagan, 2011), CITATION Rob13 \l 1033 : , (Simon, 2013), CITATION For13 \l 1033 : , (Merry, 2013), CITATION Lou11 \l 1033 : , (Kraus & Thomas, 2011), CITATION Phi \l 1033 : , (Stahl & Robert), CITATION Rob02 \l 1033 : , (Gordon, 2002), CITATION Wil02 \l 1033 : , (Bernet, 2002), Read More