FAMILY EVALUATION IN CHILD CUSTODY MEDIATION, ARBITRATION, AND LITIGATION

© Creative Therapeutics, Inc.

 

CHAPTERS HEADINGS:

1. MY INVOLVEMENT IN CHILD CUSTODY LITIGATION: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
2. THE IMPARTIAL EXAMINER VS. THE ADVOCATE: p.35
   • THE "HIRED GUN" EXAMINER: p.35
   • THE IMPARTIAL EXAMINER: p.42
   • CHOOSING AN IMPARTIAL EXAMINER: p.50
   • CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH I WOULD CONSIDER SERVING AS AN ADVOCAT
   • THE THERAPIST AS THERAPIST VS.nTHE THERAPIST AS IMPARTIAL EXAMINER: p.55
   • When the Therapist is Treating One of the Children at the Time of Litigation: p.56
   • Borderline Situations Regarding the Therapist’s Role When Custody Litigation is Pending or Anticipated: p.57
   • Forced Involvement of the Child’s Therapist in Custody Litigation: p.59
   • Exceptions to the Rule That Serving as Therapist and Impartial Examiner is Risky and Injudicious: p.63
   • HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS
3. THE PROVISIONS DOCUMENT FOR CUSTODY EVALUATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ADVERSARY SYSTEM: p.67
• THE PROVISIONS DOCUMENT: p.69
• PROVISIONS FOR ACCEPTING AN INVITATION TO SERVE AS AN IMPARTIAL EXAMINER IN CUSTODY/VISITATION LITIGATION: p.70
• SERVING AS AN ADVOCATE: p.95
4. THE INITIAL INTERVIEW WITH THE PARENTS: p.99
• THE INITIAL TELEPHONE CALL: p.100
• PRELIMINARY COMMENTS TO THE PARENTS: p.102
• REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS DOCUMENT: p.106
• The Parties to be Interviewed: p.106
• Confidentiality: p.111
• The Signing of the Release Forms: p.112
• Discussion of the Financial Arrangements: p.115
• Documents from Attorneys: p.118
• Discussion of the Final Recommendations: p.119
• INIATION OF THE DATA-GATHERING PROCESS: p.122
5. INTERVIEWS WITH THE PARENTS: p.127
• RECORD KEEPING: p.127
• SPECIOUS MOTIVATIONS FOR ATTEMPTING TO GAIN PRIMARY CUSTODY: p.131
• The Bargaining Maneuver: p.132
• Financial Gain: p.133
• Vengeance: p.134
• Guilt Reduction: p.134
• Other Pathological Reasons for Trying to Gain Custody: p.136
• The Attorney’s Role in Specious Custody Demands: p.138
• THE PROBLEM OF PARENTAL LYING IN THE CUSTODY EVALUATION: p.140
• THE VALUE OF THE CLASSICAL PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH IN THE EARLY PHASES OF INTERVIEWING THE PARENTS: p.146
• THE PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT THE CHILDREN: p.148
• INDICATIONS OF PARENTAL CAPACITY FROM THE PAST HISTORY: p.150
• Relationships Between the Parents and Grandparents: p.151
• Games Played in Childhood: p.152
• Pets: p.153
• Babysitting: p.153
• Previous Marriages: p.154
• Plans About Children at the Time of the Marriage: p.155
• The Pregnancy: p.156
• Breastfeeding: p.157
• Postpartum Depression: p.157
• Adoption: p.158
• Memory Impairments: p.159
• The Presence of the Spouse in an Individual Interview: p.160
• EVALUATION OF PARENTAL CAPACITY FROM THE RECENT HISTORY AND PRESENT FUNCTIONING: p.160
• The Super-parent: p.160
• The Parent’s Description of the Children: p.160
• The Parent’s Description of Their Own Parenting Assets and Liabilities: p.164
• Inquiries Relevant to Child-Rearing Practices in the Infancy-Toddler Period: p.167
• Craving for More Children: p.172
• Availability: p.172
• Disciplinary Techniques: p.174
• Encouragement of Healthy Peer Relationships: p.181
• Attitudes Toward Children’s Use of Profanity: p.184
• Commitment to the Educational Process: p.185
• Interest in Enrichment: p.187
• Children Talk: p.188
• Wallet and Purse Pictures of the Children: p.189
• Dreams About the Children: p.189
• Parental Psychopathology: p.190
• Involvement with the Grandparents: p.193
• Visitation and Parental Capacity: p.195
• Child Snatching or Abduction: p.200
• Homosexuality and Parental Capacity: p.205
• JOINT INTERVIEWS: p.216
• THE QUESTION OF PROVIDING ADVICE TO THE PARENTS IN THE COURSE OF THE EVALUATION: p.219
6. THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME: p.225
• THE MANIFESTATIONS OF THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME: p.228
• FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME: p.232
• Brainwashing: p.232
• Subtle and Often Unconscious Parental Programming: p.238
• Factors Arising Within the Child: p.245
• Situational Factors: p.248
7. EVALUATION OF THE CHILDREN: p.253
   • THE PROBLEM OF THE CHILD’S CREDIBILITY: p.253
   • CONFIDENTIALITY IN THE INTERVIEWS WITH CHILDREN: p.258
   • INTERVIEWING THE CHILD: p.260
   • Inquiry About the Physical Aspects of the Home and Neighborhood: p.262
   • Some Questions About Siblings as a Source of Information About Parental Capacity: p.263
   • Information About Parental Capacity Derived from a Discussion About Visitation: p.264
   • Information About Parental Capacity Derived from the Child’s Comments About the Parents: p.267
   • GRANDPARENTS: p.282
   • THE GUARDIANS AD LITEM: p.283
   • THE JUDICIOUS USE OF SELECTED PROJECTIVE MATERIAL: p.284
   • Dreams: p.284
   • The Rorschach Test: p.285
   • The Thematic Apperception Test and Other Projective Tests: p.286
   • Projective Tests in Court: p.287
   • The Talking, Feeling, and Doing Game: p.294
   • Verbal Projective Questions: p.298
   • Sentence Completion Tests: p.300
   • INTERVIEWS WITH THE PARENTS: p.301
   • The Family Interview: p.301
   • Parent-Child Interviews: p.304
8. INFORMATION FROM OTHER SOURCES: p.307
   • THE HOUSEKEEPER: p.309
   • LIVE-IN FRIENDS, POTENTIAL STEPPARENTS, AND STEPPARENTS AS PARENTAL SURROGATES: p.316
   • GRANDPARENTS: p.318
   • THE PEDIATRICIAN: p.319
   • TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS: p.320
   • REPORTS FROM HOSPITALS AND OTHER MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: p.321
   • REPORTS AND ATTORNEYS: p.324
   • INTERVIEWING FRIENDS AND ASSORTED RELATIVES: p.325
   • THE PROBATION REPORT: p.326
   • ANSWERING MACHINES: p.327
   • SPECIAL CONSULTANTS: p.329
9. FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS: p.331
   • MAKING THE CUSTODY RECOMMENDATION: p.333
   • Preliminary Considerations: p.333
   • Factors to Consider When Making the Custody Recommendation: p.337
   • The Various Kinds of Custodial Arrangements: p.379
   • Arguments for Dispensing Entirely with the Practice of Naming the Custodial Arrangement: p.399
   • Visitation Considerations: p.403
   • Placement Outside Either Home: p.405
   • The Final Decision: p.407
   • PRESENTING THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PARENTS AND ATTORNEYS: p.409
   • THE FINAL WRITTEN REPORT
   • Introductory Material: p.417
   • Dates of the Interviews and the People Interviewed: p.419
   • Basic Data About Each of the Parties Involved: p.419
   • Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations: p.420
   • Background Information Pertinent to the Issue of Custody: p.421
   • The Description of Each Parent’s Assets and Liabilities with Regard to Parenting Capacity: p.422
   • Comments on the Children and Other Parties: p.427
   • Comments on the Reports of Other Examiners: p.428
   • Conclusions and Recommendations: p.429
10. PROVIDING TESTIMONY IN COURT: p.433
• INTRODUCTION: p.433
• THE BELATED ENGAGEMENT OF A "HIRED GUN" EXAMINER: p.436
• THE UPDATE CONFERENCE PRIOR TO THE COURT APPEARANCE: p.437
• PREPARATION FOR THE COURT APPEARANCE: p.438
• THE COURT APPEARANCE: p.440
• Introduction: p.440
• On the Witness Stand: p.441
11. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR JUDGES: p.467
• Introduction: p.467
• INTRINSIC WEAKNESSES OF IN-CAMERA INTERVIEWS WITH CHILDREN: p.467
• Absence of Family Interviews: p.468
• Absence of Multiple Interviews: p.468
• The Child’s Cognitive Immaturity: p.469
• The Child’s Impaired Capacity to Differentiate Fact from Fantasy: p.469
• Learning "The Truth" from a Child: p.470
• TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS: p.474
• The Importance of Seeing Children Individually: p.474
• The Issue of Who Brings the Child To the Judge’s Interview: p.475
• The Issue of Confidentiality: p.475
• Introductory "Basic Statistical Data" Questions: p.476
• "Blank Screen" Questions: p.477
• Self-Created Stories: p.482
• "Yes-No" and "True-False" Questions: p.482
• "When" Questions: p.483
• "How Did You Feel . . . ?" Questions: p.483
• "Grandma’s Criteria": p.484
• Parental Involvement with School Activities: p.486
• Inquiries into Visitation: p.486
• Inquiry into the Reasons for the Divorce: p.488
• Closing the Interview: p.488
• INTERVIEWING CHILDREN WITH PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME: p.489
• GUIDELINES FOR JUDGES FOR MAKING CUSTODY DECISIONS: p.493
• THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY IN DEALING OPTIMALLY WITH PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS: p.496
12. MEDIATION AND THE CUSTODY EVALUATION: p.501
• INTRODUCTION: p.501
• DEFINITIONS OF MEDIATION, NEGOTIATION, ARBITRATION AND THE CUSTODY EVALUATION: p.503
• THE CUSTODY EVALUATION WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF MEDIATION: p.507
• THE ADVANTAGES OF MEDIATION: p.508
• THE DISADVANTAGES OF MEDIATION: p.513
• WHO IS BEST QUALIFIED TO SERVE AS MEDIATOR: p.516
• The Attorney as Mediator: p.516
• The Mental Health Professional as Mediator: p.519
• Choosing the Mediator: p.526
• WHO SHOULD RECEIVE MEDIATION: p.528
• People Who Are Candidates for Mediation: p.528
• People Who Are Not Candidates for Mediation: p.530
• THE MEDIATION PROCESS: p.541
• The Various Mediation Models: p.541
• Stages in the Mediation Process: p.548
• Important Considerations in the Mediation Process: p.550
• Advice Commonly Provided in the Mediation Process: p.556
• The Final Steps: p.565
• CLINICAL EXAMPLES: p.567
13. 13RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE: p.585
• THE EDUCATION OF LAWYERS: p.585
• Teaching Law Students About the Deficiencies of the Adversary System: p.590
• Other Changes in Law School Education That Would Benefit Attorneys and Their Clients: p.604
• THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF NONLEGAL PROFESSIONALS: p.606
• CHILD ABUSE REPORTING LAWS: p.608
• THE STRONGER, HEALTHY PSYCHOLOGICAL BOND PRESUMPTION: p.612
• THE REMOVAL OF CUSTODY DISPUTES FROM ADVERSARIAL PROCEEDINGS: p.613
14. CONCLUDING COMMENTS: p.615
15. APPENDICES: p.619
16. REFERENCES: p.655
17. AUTHOR INDEX: p.661
18. SUBJECT INDEX: p.663

 

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