Current issues of experts' participation in child custody in the event of parents' separation

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Abstract

The experts’ participation in child custody cases in the event of parents’ separation is analyzed in this article. The analysis of 68 civil cases shown that many experts’ conclusions did not meet the professional and ethic standards, were not based on any scientific methodology, did not correspond to juridical requests and exceed the limits of experts’ competence. A classification of experts’ conclusions typical mistakes is proposed: violation of the limits of legal and professional competence; ethnic mistakes (for example, linked to the expert’s «ambivalent role», the sympathy for one side of the conflict); methodological mistakes; breach of information collection procedure (insufficiency of used techniques, discrepancy between the used methods and the age of the subject; interpretations without argumentation etc.); inadequate evaluation of the mental state of the subject, underestimation of his/her mental disorder and social danger. It was emphasized that the recommendations concerning the reasonability of residence of a child with one of the parents and/or concerning the rules of communication with another parent are the rude excess of the competence in experts’ conclusions. These mistakes have legal consequences and do not correspond to the family legislation.

General Information

Keywords: child’s interests, divorce, complex forensic psychological-psychiatric expertise, experts’ conclusion, typical mistakes.

Journal rubric: Forensic and Clinical Psychology in Legal Context

Article type: scientific article

For citation: Rusakovskaya O.A., Safuanov F.S., Kharitonova N. Current issues of experts' participation in child custody in the event of parents' separation [Elektronnyi resurs]. Psikhologiya i pravo = Psychology and Law, 2011. Vol. 1, no. 1 (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

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Information About the Authors

Olga A. Rusakovskaya, PhD in Medicine, Senior Researcher, Department of Forensic Psychiatric Examination in Civil Proceedings; Associate Professor, Educational and Methodological Department, V.P. Serbsky National Medical Research Centre for Psychiatry and Narcology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Associate Professor, Department of Clinical and Forensic Psychology, Faculty of Legal Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5602-3904, e-mail: rusakovskaya.o@serbsky.ru

Farit S. Safuanov, Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Head of Chair of Clinical and Forensic Psychology, Department of Legal Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Head of the Laboratory of Psychology, Federal Medical Research Center of Psychiatry and Addiction of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1703-7956, e-mail: safuanovf@rambler.ru

Natalia Kharitonova, Doctor of Medicine, Professor, Head, Department of Forensic Psychiatric Examination in Civil Proceedings, V.P. Serbsky National Medical Research Centre for Psychiatry and Narcology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0238-1690, e-mail: nikdk@rambler.ru

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