Child Custody Evaluations

An integral aspect of divorce involves the determination of where the children will live and what proportion of their time will be spent with each parent. Even in the best of circumstances this decision can be emotion laden and stimulate strong feelings in each parent and in their children. In the ideal situation, divorcing parents…

Approximately 40% of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. As a consequence of divorce and separation, thousands of children spend at least a few years living in single-parent households. More than 50% of children are affected by divorce by the time they finish first grade, and three-quarters of these are impacted before…

Psychologists are increasingly called upon to provide forensic services for the courts. In the family law arena, one service that is often requested of psychologists is to conduct child custody evaluations. While practice patterns may vary, competent child custody evaluations include certain basic elements. The purpose of this article is to identify those elements and…

Several years ago a survey by the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a sample of 16,000 adults that more than 20% of females and less than 10% of males reported physical assault by a current or former intimate partner. These and other figures on domestic violence…

Domestic violence against women and children is a serious societal concern. Researchers have estimated that each year more than 10% of American women are the victims of domestic violence, and that three million American children are exposed to domestic violence. Research has shown that these children are also at risk of being battered by their…