Accessibility links
Evaluators in Child-Custody Cases Scrutinized Using psychological tests and expert judgment, psychologists make recommendations about which parent should have custody. The decisions are accepted by judges most of the time, but critics say the tests are flawed and the decisions are often more personal than professional.

Law

Evaluators in Child-Custody Cases Scrutinized

Heard on All Things Considered

Evaluators in Child-Custody Cases Scrutinized

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/16523618/16526191" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Psychologists and other mental health professionals are increasingly playing a role in child custody disputes.

Using a battery of psychological tests and expert judgment, psychologists make recommendations about which parent should have custody.

Those decisions are accepted by judges more than 90 percent of the time, but critics say the tests are flawed and the decisions are often more personal than professional.