Assessment for the Stronger, Healthier Psychological Bond in Child-Custody Evaluations

Abstract

Evaluators conducting assessments in the context of child-custody disputes often speak about the psychological bonding between each of the parents and the child(ren). An attempt is usually made to assess for the strength of such bonding and compare one parent with the other. Most would agree that this is an important element in such evaluations, so much so that the failure to give it consideration weakens considerably the value of the assessment. The term psychological bond, however, is loosely defined or not defined at all and objective criteria for its assessment are usually not provided. Evaluators will commonly make such statements as: “The child is more bonded with the mother than the father” and “The child's bonding with the father is significantly impaired.”

Key Words:

• Divorce
• children
• bonding
• custody evaluations