Jacquelin Goldman

Judicial Decision-Making in Contested Custody Cases: The Influence of Reported Child Abuse, Spouse Abuse, and Parental Substance Abuse.

This study examined the relationship between allegations of maltreatment and substance abuse, and custody awards in Florida. Information concerning the presence, or absence, of these reports was collected on 60 contested initial disposition, or disposition modification cases, and was used to model judicial decision-making. Substantiated reports of child and spouse abuse occurred very infrequently in our sample. Conversely, substance abuse allegations occurred much more frequently. Judges appeared responsive to allegations of abuse with regard to awards of primary physical residence, despite the lack of substantiated evidence. Maltreatment allegations had no apparent impact, however, on awards of shared, versus sole, custody. Additionally, reports of parental substance abuse also had no apparent impact on judicial decision-making. Implications of these results are discussed.

Comparison of Cognitive and Behavioral Self-Control Treatments of Depression

A self-control treatment of depression was evaluated against a cognitive treatment of depression. 30 depressed female volunteer subjects were randomly assigned to one of two 6-wk. group treatment conditions. The self-control treatment focused on self-monitoring, self-evaluation and self-reinforcement. The cognitive treatment emphasized identifying and altering irrational thoughts. The self-control treatment was as effective as the cognitive treatment in producing significant reductions in depression. Results remained stable at a 6-wk. follow-up. Discussion focused on the efficacy of the self-control model and implications for research.

Jury emotional response and deliberation style

Subjects who were assigned to twelve juries by ego level and sex attended a law school reenactment of a rape trial. Following testimony, the juries deliberated the case separately and rendered verdicts. Deliberations were audiotaped and interactional style was analyzed. Differences in style and problems encountered during deliberation were found to be related to psychological characteristics (i.e., ego level, trait anxiety, and authoritarianism) and to sex.

Clinical child psychology training and credentialing

Issues of credentialing and training for child clinical psychology are being debated which have implications for curriculums decisions in university programs. The current trends are examined against the background factors prominent in the development of clinical psychology. The viability of various models is discussed, as well as credentialing procedures which are likely to be utilized.

Brief child assessment battery to assist with treatment planning and program evaluation

A brief battery of self-report measures was constructed to discriminate effectively 45 matched clinic versus nonclinic subjects, ages 8 to 15. The battery consisted of measures from six domains, including externalizing problems, child and parent report of internalizing problems, peer relations, school functioning, and family relationships. Data on subjects and their families were provided by various sources, including parents, teachers, and the children. In an effort to facilitate interpretation and use of this information by unsophisticated staff, within domain scores were converted to bivariate risk scores. Results indicated effective classification (82%) of groups using the bivariate risk scores alone. This constituted only a small loss of information when the risk scores replaced t-scores. Implications for the use of the risk scores to facilitate treatment planning and program evaluation are discussed.

Self-Report of Guardians Ad Litem: Provision of Information to Judges in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases.

Reporting patterns of Guardians Ad Litem to judges in cases on child abuse and neglect were studied. Guardians indicated which information they had included in reports to judges in recently adjudicated cases of child abuse and neglect. Information reported in child abuse cases was compared with information reported in neglect cases, and the pattern of reporting was found to be the same in both types of cases. Guardians most frequently included information concerning the childs physical safety, the interaction between the parent(s) and the child, and personality characteristics of the parent(s). Less frequently reported was information regarding conflict in the home and family enmeshment.

Semantic satiation as a function of type of associate

This study investigated the relative strength of verbal association in common verbal associates, semantic space verbal associates, and non-associates. Repetition-satiation inhibition procedures were used in the test period. It was found that common associates and semantic space associates show equivalent inhibition effects and both showed significantly less inhibition than non-associates. Interference in the form of noise during repetition did not significantly affect the course of inhibition.

Book Review: The Osiris Complex: Case Studies in Multiple Personality DisorderThe Osiris Complex: Case Studies in Multiple Personality Disorder, by RossColin A., M.D. (Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1994), 296 pp.,

The Osiris Complex is written for the general public as well as for mental health professionals. It purports to elucidate the relationship between childhood trauma (due mainly, but not entirely, to childhood sexual abuse) and multiple personality disorder, and does so by detailing case studies of patients who have been diagnosed or treated by the author. Fourteen of the 19 patients in part one are regarded as having been sexually abused, two others are considered to have suffered abuse (unspecified), two are described as not having suffered abuse, and one is not described with regard to abuse history.

17.95 paper,

William F. Hodges, the author of Interventions for Children of Divorce: Custody, Access and Psychotherapy, is a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Colorado in Boulder and has been doing research on divorced couples and on the children of divorced couples for over 15 years. He knows the field in depth and is sensitive to issues of interest to mental health professionals concerned with the children of divorce. Psychiatrists, social workers, and clinical, developmental, and family psychologists will find this book helpful, if not essential, in understanding the children of divorce-as indeed will attorneys and judges involved in custody litigation.

50.00 hardcover.

Evaluating Witness Evidence consists of articles reviewing American, British, and Canadian research on the use of psychological insights and techniques in evaluating the testimony of witnesses. The book is organized into four parts: (1) lay (jury, etc.) evaluation of witness evidence; (2) psychological techniques for evaluating witness evidence (lie detector tests, etc.); (3) factors that affect the visual and auditory accuracy of witness evidence; and (4) considerations affecting future research on evaluating witness evidence. Though the articles in the book deal to some extent with the courtroom testimony of witnesses, the main emphasis is upon the evaluation of witness evidence prior to court appearances.