Child Custody Evaluations in Divorce Proceedings
Decisions regarding child custody and other parenting arrangements occur within different legal contexts, including parental divorce, guardianship, neglect, abuse proceedings, and termination of parental rights.
The following guidelines were developed for psychologists conducting child custody evaluation, specifically within the context of parental divorce. These guidelines build upon the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (APA, 1992) and are aspirational in intent.
As guidelines, they are not intended to be mandatory or exhaustive. The goal of the guidelines is to promote proficiency in using psychological expertise in conducting child custody evaluations.
Psychologists supply an important service to children and the courts by providing competent, objective, impartial information in assessing the best interests of the child; by demonstrating a clear sense of direction and purpose in conducting a child custody evaluation; by performing their roles ethically; and by clarifying to all involved the nature and scope of the evaluation.
The Ethics Committee of the American Psychological Association has noted that psychologists' involvement in custody disputes has raised questions in regard to the misuse of psychologists' influence, sometimes resulting in complaints against psychologists being brought to the attention of the APA Ethics Committee ( APA Ethics Committee, 1985 ; Hall & Hare-Mustin, 1983 ; Keith-Spiegel & Koocher, 1985 ; Mills, 1984 ) and raising questions in the legal and forensic literature ( Grisso, 1986 ; Melton et al., 1987 ; Mnookin, 1975 ; Ochroch, 1982 ; Okpaku, 1976 ; Weithorn, 1987 ).
Child Custody Evaluations
Particular competencies and knowledge are required for child custody evaluations to provide adequate and appropriate psychological services to the court. A child custody evaluation in the context of parental divorce can become a demanding task. The stakes are high for competing parents as they participate in a process of tension and anxiety. The stress on the psychologist/evaluator can become great as well. Tension surrounding child custody evaluation heightens when there are accusations of child abuse, neglect, and/or family violence.
Psychology can make significant contributions to child custody decisions. The psychological data gained from a child custody evaluation can provide information, perspective, and fairness of the determination the court must make.
Structure of the Evaluation
1. Purpose of the evaluation is to assess the best psychological interests of the child.
2. The child's interests and well-being are paramount in the deciding factors of the evaluation..
3. Focus points of the evaluation is on parenting capacity, the psychological and developmental needs of the child, and the best fit.
Parental Assessments
Psychologists conduct (a) an assessment of the adults' capacities for parenting, including whatever knowledge, attributes, skills, and abilities, or lack thereof, are present; (b) an assessment of the psychological functioning and developmental needs of each child and of the wishes of each child where appropriate; and (c) an assessment of the functional ability of each parent to meet these needs, including an evaluation of the interaction between each adult and child.
The values of the parents relevant to parenting, ability to plan for the child's future needs, capacity to provide a stable and loving home, and any potential for inappropriate behavior or misconduct that might negatively influence the child also are considered. Psychopathology may be relevant to such an assessment, insofar as it has impact on the child or the ability to parent, but it is not the primary focus.
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