The problem of using psychological knowledge in family disputes over children in civil legal proceedings

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the problems occurring while using special psychological knowledge in civil legal proceedings of family disputes over children after divorce. Using civil cases and reviews on psychological evaluations done upon lawyers' requests the article shows that a major part of those evaluations is executed on a low professional level, doesn't meet necessary requirements which leads to their unsuitability as bases for making judicial decisions. The article identifies groups of typical mistakes of psychological evaluations of underage persons in the situation of family divorce. It also highlights in detail procedural and institutional, methodological, structural, and deontological mistakes. The articles offers steps to change the practice of using psychological knowledge in civil legal proceedings of protecting child's interests after divorce.

Keywords

• psychological evaluation of underage
• divorce
• family disputes over children
• child's interests
• civil legal proceedings
• judicial psychological evaluation
• complex judicial psychological and psychiatric evaluation