Child Custody Decisions: How Legal and Mental Health Professionals View the Concept of ‘Best Interests of the Child’

Abstract

Close scrutiny of legal precedents and psychological literature has revealed significant differences in the views of legal and mental health professionals regarding the major criteria used in custody decisions. This article carries the investigation further and considers empirically the responses to the criteria of these two groups of professionals in South Africa. Findings show subtle but significant differences between them, particularly with regard to the ‘child’ dimension of the ‘best interests’ concept. The implications for mental health professionals in their evaluation of custody cases, and in their giving of testimony, are underscored.

Conceptual and empirical issues in child custody evaluations.

“…Without the potential for a nomothetic approach (i.e., procedures that can be performed across situations), practitioners may waste time, money, and other resources assessing legally irrelevant dimensions. For example, Lambiase and Cumes (1987) conducted a survey study of factors in custody evaluations ranked on importance by court personnel and mental health practitioners in South Africa. They found that mental health providers placed higher importance on the child's feelings and on the child being protected from emotional distress than did the legal professionals.…”

“…Although these results have not been replicated in the United States, similar inconsistencies between the professions may exist. Lambiase and Cumes (1987) recommend mental health professionals be aware that “they are speaking for the child in an arena in which the child's experience is valued less as a deciding factor than they value it themselves” (p. 129).…”