Morgan Shaw

Child Protection in Child Custody Cases: Issues and Concerns

Given the frequent contentious nature of litigation surrounding child custody cases, the accuracy of abuse allegations is often questioned. There appears to be a general misconception about the prevalence of false allegations of child abuse in child custody cases. Research suggests that false allegations in child custody cases do not occur any more often than they do in non-custody cases. “Parental Alienation Syndrome” (PAS) and suggestibility are often cited as reasons to discount children’s outcries due to them allegedly being influenced or coached. Too often, child abuse allegations are not even investigated adequately because they are assumed to be a product of “PAS.”Appropriate therapy and interview protocols, ethical techniques, and a clear understanding of the dynamics of child protection in these cases is essential in order to ensure that evaluators do not dismiss a child’s outcries due to misconceptions. It is equally important to choose evaluative measures that have good sensitivity and specificity in the evaluation of abuse. A current literature concerning various ethical issues and appropriate protocols and techniques pertaining to child protection matters in child custody cases are presented.