Survey of Psychological Services to Clients With Disabilities: The Need for Awareness.

Objective: To identify barriers to, strategies for, and supports for psychological services for clients with disabilities. Design: Mail survey. Participants: Four hundred eighty-one psychologists who were American Psychological Association members. Measure: A survey that ascertained psychologists' perceptions of access barriers, success factors, and support needs in providing services to clients with disabilities, as well as experiences with bias or sensitivity. Results: Barriers to service provision include funding, accessibility, lack of provider knowledge, limited training in disability issues and services, and lack of sensitivity. Conclusions: Additional training for psychologists in disability issues, legal requirements regarding public accommodations, and disability resources is needed. Psychologists with disabilities may be an important resource. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Custody evaluations: A critical review.

Discusses the role of evaluators in child custody litigations, current methods of custody evaluation, and the content of such evaluations. The value of clinical impressions and standardized assessment instruments is considered, and ways of eliciting the child's preference are examined. Ethical dilemmas associated with the performance of custody evaluations are discussed, and it is argued that mental health professionals should serve as strictly impartial evaluators. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists' current practices and procedures in child custody evaluations: Five years after American Psychological Association guidelines.

What is the current state of professional practice among child custody evaluators, and how congruent is current practice with the 1994 American Psychological Association (APA) "Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Divorce Proceedings" (APA Guidelines; APA, 1994)? A national survey of 198 psychologists revealed a high degree of training and experience among respondents and an increased understanding of procedural issues. Evaluators reported using multiple sources of data collection, critical decision-making skills, and knowledge of ethical, legal, and risk management issues. Overall, child custody evaluations appear to have become more sophisticated and comprehensive during the past 15 years, with current practices and procedures adhering to APA Guidelines. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Custody evaluation practices: A survey of experienced professionals (revisited).

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. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Custody evaluation practices: A survey of experienced professionals (revisited)": Notice of clarification to Ackerman and Ackerman (1997) article.

Explains that the original article by M. J. Ackerman and M. C. Ackerman (Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 1997[Apr], Vol 28[2], 137–145) was based on the same dataset and presented the same data as that in Ackerman and Ackerman (Family Law Quarterly, 1996, Vol 30, 565–586). Although highly similar wording was used, the authors used different formats to reach different audiences, but cross-references between papers were omitted. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1997-03377-007.) 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. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of sexual abuse allegations in child custody cases.

Family courts frequently rely on the expertise of mental health professionals to assess allegations of sexual abuse within the context of child custody evaluations. Such evaluations are complex and require knowledge of techniques used in sexual abuse and sexual offender evaluations, as well as knowledge of child custody practices. Preliminary findings from a national survey of 84 psychologists indicated that respondents tend to adhere to the child custody guidelines of the American Psychological Association. However, few practitioners followed formal models, protocols, or guidelines when evaluating alleged victims or alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse in conjunction with child custody disputes. Implications for professional practice are discussed, along with a proposed comprehensive model for assessing sexual abuse allegations in child custody cases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A model for psychological consultation in cases involving the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Although most practicing psychologists are aware of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) as it affects public accommodations or evaluation procedures, few recognize that the Act has created new practice opportunities. This article considers the ADA as a stimulus for a new area of psychological consultation, which involves assisting employers evaluate and place workers with psychological disabilities. The article first examines how the ADA views workers, disability, and the responsibilities of employers in the context of reasonable accommodation cases. Then, the article offers a model of how these rules work with a psychological disability. The article concludes with a discussion of how psychologists may use familiar evaluation techniques as a basis for ADA consultations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child custody cases: A content analysis of evaluations in practice.

Guidelines for custody evaluations recommend multiple ways for assessing the parent-child relationship and outline appropriate means of assessing special issues such as domestic violence, child abuse, and substance use. However, little is known about the implementation of these guidelines in practice. This study examines 60% of custody evaluations in one circuit court over a 2-year period. Custody evaluations were examined for adherence to guidelines and for differences based on evaluator training. This analysis suggests much variety in techniques used and a lack of consistency between guidelines and clinical practice. The findings suggest a need for more standardized approaches to conducting custody evaluations as well as the assessment of domestic violence, child abuse, and substance abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child custody evaluation practices: A survey of experienced professionals.

Investigated the activities, beliefs, and experiences of mental health professionals in 3 primary child custody areas: custody evaluation procedures, custodial decision making in joint and single-parent custody, and custodial recommendations. An extensive questionnaire was developed and mailed to 190 professionals (mean age 47.7 yrs) experienced in child custody evaluations. Results indicate that although Ss expressed a preference for impartiality, many continued to be retained by 1 parent only. This raises important ethical issues concerning the efficacy of certain evaluative roles in the pursuit of an optimal custodial recommendation. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's adjustment in joint and sole physical custody families.

Examined patterns of custody and their relationship to the behavioral-emotional and social adjustment of 93 children, ages 3–14, in divorcing families. Assessed children and their parents within 1 year after parents filed for divorce, and again 1 and 2 years later. Children in joint physical custody (38%) had more access to both parents and made slightly more transitions between parental homes. However, custody arrangements were not significantly related to child adjustment. Factors associated with child adjustment included number of children in the family, child age and gender, parental depression/anxiety at baseline, and parental conflict at 1-year follow-up. Thus, no evidence was found that joint physical custody arrangements are different from sole physical custody arrangements with regard to child adjustment postdivorce. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frequency of child custody evaluation complaints and related disciplinary action: A survey of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards.

Psychologists who conduct child custody evaluations take their practices into a most challenging and stressful area. This study surveyed the 61 member boards of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) about number and category of child custody complaints in the last decade, number of findings against psychologists, and related disciplinary action. Results reveal that psychologists who accept work in this area are extremely likely to also encounter the anguish of defending a related licensure board complaint at some point. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethical and professional considerations in divorce and child custody cases.

The provision of psychological (e.g., psychotherapy, coparenting, mediation, collaborative divorce, child custody evaluation) services for families of divorce are growing specialties for many clinical and forensic psychologists. However, practice in domestic relations psychology, such as divorce and custody assessment and testimony, is a high-risk venture for incurring ethics complaints and law suits. The lead article and the three commentaries that follow enumerate the various roles practitioners might play, clarify how each role requires specific skill sets that may be outside one’s particular competence and necessitate additional training, describe how countertransferential issues arise, urge meticulous record keeping, discuss some of the subtleties of confidentiality and the releasing of information, describe how transparency in clarifying expectations leads to a lowering of contentiousness, and provide tips for divorce and forensic practice. The special challenges associated with psychologists being tempted to move beyond their role on a case and those of particularly high-risk situations (e.g., complaints of child abuse or domestic violence) are also discussed. Suggestions are offered to help psychologists better serve the public while taking steps to better inoculate themselves from complaints. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the use and misuse of psychological testing in child custody evaluations.

Examined the use of psychological testing in child custody and visitation disputes. It is argued that although psychological testing can play an important role in custody and visitation evaluations, psychologists routinely misuse test data in this type of forensic case. Possible reasons for the misuse of test data are explored in terms of the assumptions and motives of both legal and mental health professionals. Alternatives to traditional psychological testing in custody and visitation cases are examined. Finally, guidelines for responsible and ethical use of psychological testing in custody evaluations are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Conducting child custody evaluations: A comprehensive guide.

Reviews the book, Conducting child custody evaluations: A comprehensive guide by Philip Michael Stahl (see record 1994-98484-000). In this book, the author details how the courts benefit from custody evaluations, how the family benefits, when evaluations could actually be harmful, and offers some particularly unique and useful suggestions on evaluator biases. He brings up the interesting issue of who is the real client/consumer. He understands that the client really cannot be the child independent of his/her family, even though we all mourn the cliche, "best interests of the child," as if this phrase were some operationally clear "guideline." A main author bias is "the best parenting is achieved with two parents" (p. 25). There is at least some research evidence (and clinical experience) that would dispute this in more cases than the author might care to acknowledge. A second bias is that children must perceive that their parents can develop a post-divorce relationship free of hostility in which each parent is a champion for the other. Stahl displays a keen understanding of the dynamics of the post-divorce world. In his heart, he seems more a therapist than an "objective evaluator" and harbors a strong bias to help people move productively through the crises that are everywhere in evidence in post-divorce situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preventing and managing board complaints: The downside risk of custody evaluation.

Data compiled by the American Psychological Association (APA) revealed that 7%–10% of ethics complaints filed were against custody evaluators. Comparative data from various state and provincial psychology boards remain too sketchy to permit an accurate appraisal of this problem at the local level. Nevertheless, vulnerability to ethics complaints remains an occupational hazard for the private practitioner who engages in custody assessment. This article offers practitioners who conduct custody evaluations suggestions for reducing their risk of incurring an ethics complaint and discusses variables to consider when responding to a review board inquiry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Follow-up study of parents in custody and access disputes.

35 parents responded to a questionnaire a minimum of 1 yr after assessment was completed for dispute over child custody and access. 63 children, 1–17 yrs old, were involved. In retrospect, parents found the assessment and/or mediation by mental health clinicians to be helpful and satisfying. At follow-up, parents reported a reduction in personal stress and an improvement in the children's adjustment. Joint custody arrangements were least likely to survive at follow-up, raising questions about the advisability of this custody arrangement. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child adjustment in joint-custody versus sole-custody arrangements: A meta-analytic review.

The author meta-analyzed studies comparing child adjustment in joint physical or joint legal custody with sole-custody settings, including comparisons with paternal custody and intact families where possible. Children in joint physical or legal custody were better adjusted than children in sole-custody settings, but no different from those in intact families. More positive adjustment of joint-custody children held for separate comparisons of general adjustment, family relationships, self-esteem, emotional and behavioral adjustment, and divorce-specific adjustment. Joint-custody parents reported less current and past conflict than did sole-custody parents, but this did not explain the better adjustment of joint-custody children. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that joint custody can be advantageous for children in some cases, possibly by facilitating ongoing positive involvement with both parents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transforming psychological practice and society: Policies that reflect the new paradigm.

As people with disabilities challenge psychology to acknowledge the sociopolitical foundations of their margialization, they urge psychologists to help improve disability policy within and beyond the borders of the discipline. Understanding disability through a social paradigm offers opportunities to reframe the way psychologists define problems related to disability, to develop more collaborative relationships between psychologists and people with disabilities, and to adopt new professional responsibilities with respect to the disability community. The authors address the impact of the social paradigm on policies within psychology that guide consulting, advocacy, and training. The impact of national policy decisions, such as those associated with reimbursement, on practice and training is also discussed. Highlighted throughout are points of controversy prompted by new disability frameworks that remain open to illumination from the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists' ratings of the best-interests-of-the-child custody and access criterion: A family systems assessment model.

Custody and access assessment is a complex, litigious, and ethically challenging area of clinical practice. Eighty-eight qualified psychologists completed an exploratory survey, the Best Interests of the Child (BIC) Questionnaire, by rating the importance of 60 specific criteria in three areas of assessment relevant to custody and access evaluations: (a) structural (relational assessment), (b) developmental (needs-of-the-child assessment), and (c) functional (abilities-of-the-parents assessment). The value of the BIC assessment model, developed through this study, is explored as a framework for advancing practice in custody and access assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Guidelines for child custody evaluations in family law proceedings.

Family law proceedings encompass a broad range of issues, including custody, maintenance, support, valuation, visitation, relocation, and termination of parental rights. The following guidelines address what are commonly termed child custody evaluations, involving disputes over decision making, caretaking, and access in the wake of marital or other relationship dissolution. The goal of these guidelines is to promote proficiency in the conduct of these particular evaluations. This narrowed focus means that evaluations occurring in other contexts (e.g., child protection matters) are not covered by these guidelines. In addition, the guidelines acknowledge a clear distinction between the forensic evaluations described in this document and the advice and support that psychologists provide to families, children, and adults in the normal course of psychotherapy and counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)