Understanding Psychological Evaluations in Family Court

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Understanding Psychological Evaluations in Family
Court

• Helen T. Brantley, Ph.D.
• March 8, 2006

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Who Performs a Psychological Evaluation?

• Licensed Ph.D. Psychologist
• Licensed Psychological Associate
• Psychologist with Forensic Training

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Therapist vs. Forensic Evaluator

• Cannot be in both roles for the same person
• Differences between therapist and forensic
  evaluator relationship
• Treatment v. Evaluation (investigative)
• Psychic Reality v. Objective Reality
• Interview strategies
• Single source v. multiple sources
• Expert Witness v. Fact Witness

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What Is the Purpose of a Psychological Evaluation?

• Aid the trier of fact
• Obtain psychological information in a
  standardized manner
• Use norm referenced information
• Determine mental capacity
• Help determine psychopathology
• Make treatment suggestions

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In What Types of Cases Are Psychological
Evaluations Used?

• Parental Competency
• Child Custody
• Juvenile Assessments
• Substance Abuse
• Domestic Violence
• Risk Assessments

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What Should They Include?

• Interviews
• Testing relevant to the legal questions
• Medical, psychiatric, legal, school records
• Collateral contacts
• Therapists
• Guardians ad Litem
• Probation Officers
• Teachers
• Social Workers

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What Kinds of Tests Might Be Used?

• Intelligence tests, achievement tests
• Adaptive behavior tests
• Parenting tests
• Specialized tests for substance abuse
• Specialized tests for domestic violence
• Objective personality tests
• Projective personality tests

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Acceptability of Tests

• Frye v. U.S. (1923) general acceptance
• Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993)FRE
  403, 702standards of relevance, reliability and
  legal sufficiency

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Daubert Considerations for Tests

• Based on scientific methodology
• Reliability
• Validity
• Norm referenced
• Peer reviewed

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All Tests Are Not Created Equal

• Tests meeting standards
• Wechsler tests of intelligence
• (WAIS-III, WISC-IV)
• Minnesota Multiphasic Personaltiy Inventory-2
  (MMPI-2)
• Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III
• Rorschach
• Tests not meeting standards
• (Bricklin Scales, PORT, PASS, ASPECT)

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How Long Does an Evaluation Take?

• Limited evaluation2 - 4 hours
• Complex evaluation50 hours
• Completion should occur within 3 months
• Complexity of the case
• Complexity of psycholegal questions
• Availability and cooperation of the evaluee(s)
• Timely receipt of records

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Psycholegal Questions about Parental Competency

• Can the parent provide adequate stimulation?
• Can the parent respond to the childs physical
  and emotional needs?
• Can the parent set appropriate limits and relate
  in a non-punitive way to the child?
• Are there specific risk factors related to the
  parents functioning including mental capacity,
  mental illness, substance abuse, domestic
  violence?

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More Questions About Parenting and Child
Reunification

• Is the parent aware of the emotional factors in a
  childs return?
• Can the parent support the child in negotiating
  the complex factors involved in reunification?
• Including stability, bonding, attachment to
  foster parent, social needs, academic needs

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Mental Health Questions for Parental Competency
Evaluations

• Does the parent have a psychiatric diagnosis?
• What is the prognosis for this diagnosis?
• Can the parent be successfully treated to prevent
  harm to and promote development of the child in
  the future?
• If so, how?
• If not, why not?
• How long will successful treatment take?

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Unanswerable Questions Regarding Parents

• Did the parent commit the alleged abuse?
• Does the alleged offender fit an offender
  profile?
• Is the parent telling the truth?

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Child Protection Cases

• What therapeutic interventions can assist the
  child?
• How seriously has the childs psychological
  adjustment been affected?
• What would be the psychological effect on the
  child, if returned to the parents?
• What would be the psychological effect on the
  child, if separated from the parents,
  particularly with termination?

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Other Child Questions

• What are the developmental needs of the child?
• If the child has special needs, what do they
  require for management by parents and
  professionals?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
  child?
• What is the attachment of the child to the
  parents?

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Limitations of Answers

• Apply ONLY to the child examined
• The younger the child, the more difficult it is
  to answer any questions
• Access to records including DSS records, medical
  records, and school records

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Unanswerable Questions About the Child

• What are the characteristics of the abused child?
• What are the characteristics of the neglected
  child?
• Is the child telling the truth?

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Questions for Custody Evaluators

• Best interests of the child
• Needs of the child
• Strength of sibling relationships
• Strengths and weaknesses of each parent
• Coparenting relationship

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Special Issues in Custody Evaluations

• Substance Abuse
• Domestic Violence
• Allegations of Abuse
• Parent Alienation
• Relocation
• Mental Illness
• Physical Illness

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Substance Abuse Assessment

• How long have they been substance free?
• Are they engaged in ongoing treatment?
• Do they acknowledge they have a problem?

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Domestic Violence Assessment

• What is the history?
• What is the chronicity, severity, recency,
  motivation?
• Have they complied with treatment?

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Risk Assessment of Juvenile Dangerousness

• History-chronicity, frequency, severity, context,
  recency
• Drug and alcohol use
• Social support
• Violent peer groups
• Family conflict and aggression

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More Factors in Juvenile Dangerousness

• Personality Traitsimpulsive, angry
• Mental Disordersincreases risk
• Opportunity-access to weapons
• Residencecommunity or secure facility
• Resiliency

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Diagnoses

• DSM-IV Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
  Mental Disorders
• Composed of 5 Axes
• Axis I Clinical Conditions
• Axis II Personality Disorders and Mental
  Retardation

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Diagnoses (continued)

• Axis III Medical Conditions
• Axis IV Psychosocial and Environmental Stressors
• Axis V Global Assessment of Functioning

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What information is conveyed with a diagnosis?

• Severity of the problem
• Possibility of remediation
• Consideration of kinds of treatment
• Possibility of deterioration or relapse
• What is the current level of functioning
• Frequency in the population
• Not indisputable and not always helpful

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What Information Is Not Conveyed With a
Diagnosis?

• Rarely explains a given behavior
• May or may not be related to functioning in a
  specific role
• Functioning may vary across time, despite the
  diagnosis
• May be debatable
• Not always helpful

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Should The Ultimate Question Be Addressed?

• Concerns of Addressing the Question
• The Judges Decision
• Lack of access to information in the legal files
• Lack of understanding of legal issues
• Concerns of Not Addressing the Question
• Miss the benefit of the experts thinking
• May not understand what evaluator thought most
  important

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What to Include in the Court Order

• Name(s) of person to be assessed
• Who is to pay
• What are the questions to be addressed
• Who receives the report
• The files are protected except by court order

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What Should BeIn A Report?

• Court order and identifying data
• Psycholegal questions
• Answers to the psycholegal questions
• Additional recommendations
• Interview material
• Tests results
• Sources of information (interviews, tests,
  records, contacts)