Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2026

07:56
Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Parenting plan evaluation standards and guidelines for psychologists: setting the frame.
1mary@maryconnell.com
Behavioral Sciences & the Law
|July 6, 2010
Summary
This article examines how legal standards, professional guidelines, and expert literature influence psychologists conducting child custody evaluations. It also discusses remedies for poorly performed evaluations.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Psychology
- Legal Psychology
Background:
- Psychologists conduct parenting plan evaluations (child custody evaluations) in legal contexts.
- These evaluations are crucial for determining child welfare in custody disputes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the interplay of authority sources governing psychologists' parenting plan evaluations.
- To identify available remedies for inadequately conducted evaluations.
Main Methods:
- Review of legal statutes and jurisdictional requirements.
- Analysis of professional association standards, guidelines, and white papers.
- Examination of learned treatises on best practices in psychological evaluations.
Main Results:
- Multiple sources of authority (law, professional bodies, scholarly works) shape evaluation practices.
- Psychologists utilize these authorities for guidance and to inform their professional judgment.
- Colleague consultation serves as an additional resource for psychologists.
Conclusions:
- Understanding the hierarchy and interaction of authority sources is key to ensuring quality in child custody evaluations.
- Awareness of available remedies is important for addressing instances of poor practice.
Related Concept Videos
Parenting Styles
Diana Baumrind's four parenting styles — authoritarian, authoritative, neglectful, and permissive — each influence children's socio-emotional development differently.
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative Parenting
This...
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative Parenting
This...
Guidelines for Writing Outcome
When developing expected outcomes for a patient care plan, the nurse should adhere to the following recommendations:
Patient outcomes reflect the patient's response to the goal rather than what the nurse aims to achieve. Terminology should be observable and measurable to avoid the reader's interpretation. The desired outcome should be realistic and achievable in the designated care timeframe. Expected outcomes should align with adjunctive therapies. The outcome should enhance care evaluation by...
Patient outcomes reflect the patient's response to the goal rather than what the nurse aims to achieve. Terminology should be observable and measurable to avoid the reader's interpretation. The desired outcome should be realistic and achievable in the designated care timeframe. Expected outcomes should align with adjunctive therapies. The outcome should enhance care evaluation by...
Relationship with Parents: Attachment
Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
Nursing Evaluation
The evaluation stage signals the end of the nursing process. The nurse gathers evaluative data to assess whether or not the patient has attained the expected results. Whereas the nurse collects data in the nursing assessment to identify the patient's health concerns, the evaluation stage data determines if the indicated health issues are resolved. Evaluative data collection includes two sections: the data acquired to evaluate patient outcomes and the time criteria for data collection.
Section...
Section...
Elements Crucial for Effective Psychotherapy
Research has highlighted several critical factors that influence the effectiveness of psychotherapy, such as the therapeutic alliance, the therapist, and the client.
The Therapeutic Alliance
The therapeutic alliance refers to the relationship between the therapist and the client. The alliance strengthens when the therapist and the client engage in a nurturing, supportive, trusting, empathetic, and respectful relationship, improving therapeutic outcomes. Therapists must monitor this relationship...
The Therapeutic Alliance
The therapeutic alliance refers to the relationship between the therapist and the client. The alliance strengthens when the therapist and the client engage in a nurturing, supportive, trusting, empathetic, and respectful relationship, improving therapeutic outcomes. Therapists must monitor this relationship...
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...

