Synopses & Reviews
"The Clinician's Guide to Child Custody Evaluations, Third Edition is written by one of the leaders in the field. it is as essential to the subject of child custody as the stethoscope is to medicine. This edition, an update of a classic, is a must-read for everyone from the novice to the expert's expert." - Leslie M. Drozd, PhD, Editor, Journal of Child Custody
A practical and comprehensive guide for conducting child custody evaluations.
Clinician's Guide to Child Custody Evaluations addresses the entire custody evaluation process from beginning to end. This New Third Edition reflects the abundant recent research in this area, including new evaluating and testing findings and new ethical guidelines from the APA. This edition also features fully up-to-date coverage of important legal decisions affecting child custody.
With many chapters completely revised and rewritten, the third Edition covers:
- Roles the mental health Practitioner can play and operate within the legal arena
- What encompasses a custody evaluation
- Ethical considerations and responsibilities involved in custody disputes
- How to interview, make behavioral observations, and collect collateral information
- Standards, applicability,and administration of tests
- Specialized child custody instruments such as the Ackerman-Schoendorf Scales for Parent Evaluation of Custody (ASPECT)
- How divorce affect families
- Evaluating parents' behavior
- How to prepare for the courtroom process
- Maltreatment, including neglect, abuse, and domestic violence
- Placement schedules
- How to write reports, draw conclusions, and render opinions
Each chapter ends with critical issues for the practitioner to consider. The accessible reference format provides a quick review of relevant discussions in the text. In addition, this book includes convenient guides to relevant legal terms, documents forms, APA guidelines, and codes of conduct. Based not only on current research but also on the author's considerable experience with thousands of evaluations, Clinician's Guide to Child Custody Evaluations is the definitive guide to this field for students and practitioners.
Review
“…an interesting book…”(Child & Adolescent Mental Health, November 2002)
Synopsis
Comprehensive coverage of every phase of the child custody evaluation process
Does a clinician hired by a parents attorney bear the same responsibilities as a court-appointed psychologist? What are the most effective techniques for determining whether an alleged abuse has actually occurred? Which factors should be considered when determining whether a parent should be granted custody?
Clinicians Guide to Child Custody Evaluations, Second Edition answers these questions and hundreds more as it provides step-by-step guidance through every aspect of this sensitive and profoundly important process. Employing riveting case studies drawn from the more than 1,800 custody evaluations he has performed, Dr. Marc Ackerman provides authoritative guidelines for:
- Conducting interviews, observing behavior, and collecting collateral information
- Psychological testing and administering ASPECT and other custody instruments
- Evaluating parental behavior
- Reporting evaluation results
- Testifying in court
This remarkably thorough resource offers completely up-to-date coverage of recent legal decisions affecting child custody, new surveys on what judges and attorneys want from evaluations, and new chapters on placement schedules and second-opinion evaluations. Clinicians Guide to Child Custody Evaluations, Second Edition is must reading for every mental health professional who isor would like to beinvolved in child custody evaluations.
Synopsis
In many divorce cases in the United States where children are involved, a thorough evaluation is required of the child, both parents, and the environment in which the child lives. Mental health professionals charged with performing these evaluations must be well versed in the legal and ethical standards that govern these evaluations as well as the techniques, instruments, and procedures used to create a fair and accurate picture of the childs situation and each parents fitness for custody.
Clinicians Guide to Child Custody Evaluations, Second Edition provides comprehensive coverage of every aspect of the evaluation process, from preparing to perform an evaluation to reporting the results and testifying in court. Drawing on his experience performing more than 1,800 child custody evaluations, Dr. Marc Ackerman offers step-by-step guidance through the process of interviewing, performing behavioral observations, and collecting collateral information.
Ackerman walks clinicians through the administration of a wide range of psychological tests and provides details on ASPECT and a number of other instruments designed specifically for evaluating parental fitness for custody. He provides guidelines for evaluating the behavior of parents and presents practical steps to take in determining whether alleged abuse has actually occurred. Two entirely new chapters address the creation of placement schedules and the administration of second-opinion evaluations.
This completely updated Second Edition also includes coverage of recent important legal decisions that have an impact on child custody and new surveys on what judges and attorneys want from evaluations.
Supplemented with case studies that illustrate the more sensitive and difficult aspects of this challenging field, Clinicians Guide to Child Custody Evaluations, Second Edition is an indispensable resource for mental health professionals who want to perform at the highest possible level when a childs future is at stake.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 325-341) and indexes.
About the Author
Marc J. Ackerman Ph.D.,is a professor at the Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology where he is the chair of the Forensic Psychology program. He has been involved in over 2000 divorce related cases, has given over 125 seminars and workshops throughout the world and has written over 75 professional articles while in clinical and forensic private practice. He has five books in current publication, including Essentials of Forensic Psychological Assessment(Wiley) and is the co-creator of ASPECT, a major child custody evaluation instrument.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction.
2. Clinician’s Responsibilities.
3. How Divorce Affects Families.
4. What Encompasses a Custody Evaluation.
5. Interviews, Behavioral Observations, and Collateral Information.
6. Psychological Testing.
7. Ackerman-Schoendorf Scales for Parent Evaluation of Custody (ASPECT) and Other Custody Instruments.
8. Guidelines for Evaluating Parents’ Behavior.
9. Maltreatment.
10. Placement Schedules.
11. Reporting the Results.
12. Surviving Your Day in Court.
Appendix A: Glossary of Legal Terms.
Appendix B: Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
Appendix C: Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists.
Appendix D: Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Divorce Proceedings.
References.
Author Index.
Subject Index.