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Print Price: $154.00

Format:
Hardback
608 pp.
6.125" x 9.25"

ISBN-13:
9780199396580

Publication date:
February 2016

Imprint: OUP US

Parenting Plan Evaluations

Applied Research for the Family Court, Second Edition

Edited by Leslie Drozd, Michael Saini and Nancy Olesen

More so than in any other form of forensic evaluation, mental health professionals who conduct parenting plan evaluations must have an understanding of the most current evidence in the areas of child development, optimal parenting plans across various populations, behavioral psychology, family violence, and legal issues to inform their opinions. In addition, family law judges and legal professionals require the best available evidence to support their decisions and positions.

Parenting Plan Evaluations has become the go-to source for the most current empirical evidence in the field of child custody disputes. Fully updated in this Second Edition, the volume continues its focus on translating and implementing research associated with the most important topics within the family court. It presents an organized and in-depth analysis of the latest research and offers specific recommendations for applying these findings to the issues in child custody disputes. Written by international experts in the field, chapters cover the most important and complex issues that arise in family court, such as attachment and overnight timesharing with very young children, co-parenting children with chronic medical conditions and developmental disorders, domestic violence during separation and divorce, alienation, gay and lesbian co-parents, and relocation, among others.

This volume assists forensic mental health professionals to proffer empirically based opinions, conclusions, and recommendations and assists family law judges and attorneys in evaluating the reliability of the information provided to the courts by mental health professionals in their reports and testimony. Not just for forensic evaluators, Parenting Plan Evaluations is a must-read for legal practitioners, family law judges and attorneys, and other professionals seeking to understand more about the science behind parenting plan evaluations.

Readership : Suitable for custody evaluators, judges, lawyers and mental health professionals, and scholars in social work, law, psychology, child protection, mediation.

Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Editors
Contributors
Section 1: Social Science Evidence and the Law
1. Jonathan W. Gould, Milfred D. Dale, Nicki Beth Fisher, and Madeline R. Gould: Scientific and Professional Knowledge For Family Court: Legal Expectations of Experts
Section 2: Foundation of Personality Development: Parent Insightfulness
2. David Oppenheim and Nina Koren-Karie: Parents' Insightfulness: The Importance of Keeping the Inner World of the Child in Mind for Parenting Plan Evaluations
Section 3: Factors Associated with Children's Adjustment to Parent's Separation & Time-Sharing
3. Nicole E. Mahrer, Irwin Sandler, Sharlene Wolchik, Emily B. Winslow, John A. Moran, and David Weinstock: How Do Parenting Time and Inter-parental Conflict Affect the Relations of Quality of Parenting and Child Well-being Following Divorce?
4. William V. Fabricius, Karina R. Sokol, Priscila Diaz, and Sanford L. Braver: Father-Child Relationships: The Missing Link between Parenting Time and Children's Mental and Physical Health
5. Marsha Kline Pruett, Carolyn Pape Cowan, Philip A. Cowan, Lisa Pradhan, Sarah Robins, and Kyle Pruett: Supporting Father Involvement in the Context of Separation and Divorce
6. Bruce M. Smyth, Jennifer E. McIntosh, Robert E. Emery, and Shelby L. Higgs Howarth: Shared Time Parenting: Evaluating the Evidence of Risks and Benefits to Children
7. Michael E. Lamb: Critical Analysis of Research on Parenting Plans and Children's Well-Being
Section 4: Children's Disorders That Requires Specialized Parenting
8. Rachel Birnbaum, Lucyna M. Lach, and Donald T. Saposnek: Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Parental Separation and Divorce
9. Suzanne E.U. Kerns and Ronald J. Prinz: Co-Parenting Children with Attention-ªDeficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Disruptive Behavior Disorders
Section 5: Complex Special Issues Affecting Parenting & the Stability: Parent-Child Relationship
10. Kathryn Kuehnle, Pamela S. Ludolph, and Sonja P. Brubacher: Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse in Parenting Plan Evaluations: Assessing Children's Memory and Behavior
11. Larry Ganong, Marilyn Coleman, and Ashton Chapman: Gatekeeping After Separation and Divorce
12. Fernanda S. Rossi, Amy Holtzworth-Munroe, and Brittany N. Rudd: Intimate Partner Violence and Child Custody
13. Michael Saini, Janet R. Johnston, Barbara Jo Fidler, and Nicholas Bala: Empirical Studies of Alienation
14. Patrick Parkinson, Nicola Taylor, Judith Cashmore, and William G. Austin: Relocation, Research, and Child Custody Disputes
Section 6: Cultural and Political Issues
15. Gitu Bhatia and Michael Saini: Cultural Dynamics of Divorce and Parenting
16. Liza Cohen Hita and Sanford L. Braver: Never Married Parents in Family Court
17. Suzanne M. Johnson, Elizabeth O'Connor, and Samantha L. Tornello: Gay and Lesbian Parents and Their Children: Research Relevant to Custody Cases
Section 7 Research Applied to Practice
18. Marsha Kline Pruett, Robin M. Deutsch, and Leslie Drozd: Considerations for Step-Up Planning: When and How to Determine the "Right" Time
19. Lyn Greenberg and Jay Lebow: Putting It All Together: Effective Intervention Planning for Children and Families
Index

There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.

Leslie Drozd, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and marriage, family, and child therapist specializing in family violence, substance abuse, resistance to contact, trauma, and consultations in parenting plan and child custody evaluations. She trains judges, attorneys, and mental health professionals and has a myriad of professional publications.

Michael Saini, PhD, is Associate Professor and endowed chair of Law and Social Work at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. He is the Co-Director of the Combined J.D. and M.S.W. program with the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto and the Course Director of the 40-hour Foundations to Custody Evaluations with the faculty's Continuing Education Program. For the past 15 years, he has been conducting custody evaluations and assisting children's counsel for the Office of the Children's Lawyer, Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario.

Nancy Olesen, PhD, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, doing assessment and psychotherapy, specializing in issues affecting divorcing families and providing expert testimony for family courts as well as teaching judges, attorneys, and mental health professionals about these issues and the parameters of competent practice in family court.

Children Who Resist Post-Separation Parental Contact - Barbara Jo Fidler, Nicholas Bala and Michael A. Saini

Special Features

Offers specific recommendations for applying research to the parenting plan evaluation process.
Examines which research findings provide valid information and conclusions based on the quality of the research design and methods.
Written in an accessible format for individuals not familiar with research methods.
Provides legal and mental health professionals with evidence-based conclusions regarding each issue discussed.

New to this Edition

Discusses new topics such as dealing with allegations of sexual abuse, children's memory, and how to handle overnight visits with noncustodial parents.
Updated throughout with empirical evidence based on the most current published literature.