Child custody evaluation: perceptions of judges about the psychological forensic assessment

Abstract

Psychological assessment in child custody evaluation is one of the most demanding areas of forensic practice due to the conflict and emotional distress it carries. Law allows the use of psychological reports as an auxiliary mean in the decision act. In order to know the impact of the psychological report in their practice, we requested the collaboration of ten magistrates and analyze their perceptions and discourses about psychological forensic practice. The data collected were analyzed with the support of the program Nvivo. The results revealed that psychological reports are an important working toll for decision-making process among participants. It’s also important to notice that, in general, judges are very pleased with forensic practice, despite their appeal for more celerity in their execution and more precision in terms of language. The relationships between Psychology and Law are currently narrower.

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v30i1.1062