Role of Forensic Psychology in Child Custody Cases

Role of Forensic Psychology in Child Custody Cases Introduction: This is an outline of the research that the researcher intends to partake. The research under consideration involves carrying out an analysis on the role of forensic psychology in determining child custody cases. This paper contains the purpose of the study, the introduction of the topic, justification for the topic, new insights of the topic, opportunities for future research, and a conclusion. Purpose: The main purpose of this work is to critically analyze the role of forensic psychology in evaluating how the courts should go handle problems of child custody amongst divorcing parents. It is important to understand that during divorce, parents usually fight over the custody of their children. However, in allowing a parent to have custody of a child, the courts have to determine what is good for the child (Clements and Wakeman, 2007). The court can achieve this objective through the help of a forensic psychologist. Based on this fact therefore, this paper will critically look at this concept of forensic psychology, after which it will analyze its role in determining the custody of a child. Introduction of the topic: Day (2014) states that child custody evaluations are meant at providing the court with information that would help the court to determine the type of visitation, as well as custody arrangement that is beneficial to the interest of the child. This is particularly so when parents of a child are not able to make a resolution concerning this issue. Pickar (2008) maintains that psychologists have an ethical obligation to recommend what is good for children, irrespective of whoever requests for their evaluation. For example, in a post divorce family, children are always encouraged to have a healthy, positive, and emotional supported relationship with their parents. Furthermore, Young (2008) maintains that it is the responsibility of parents to give a demonstration on their willingness and ability to cooperatively work together as co-parents. On the other hand, Dutton (2006) defines forensic psychology as an intersection between the justice system, and psychology. This concept involves understanding various fundamental legal principles, especially those that regard the testimony of witnesses, and some specific areas of concern such as the ability of a child to testify, child custody, and visitations. Furthermore, Fridhandler (2008) argues that children will always experience a problem when adjusting to divorce from their parents, and on this basis, forensic psychology can play a great role in determining how the welfare of these children can be undertaken. The main focus of this study is on how psychologists help the courts in evaluating the best method of handling a child custody issue. Justification for the Topic: A research in this topic is important because of the high rate of divorce that occurs in the world. For instance, the rates of divorce in the United States stand at 3.4 in every 1000 marriages. This is a high figure when compared to the divorce rates in countries such as Japan, Spain, Denmark and Mongolia, which have a divorce rate of 2.0, 2.4, 2.7, and 0.7 respectively. Bogaerts (2010) explains that due to these high rates of divorce, it is always children who normally suffer. This is mostly because they will lack the attention of one of their parents. This is a very sensitive issue, mostly because the kids would have to remain under the care of one of their parents. Based on this fact, there is a need of the court to determine who amongst the parents is the most suitable to remain with the children. On this note, the court will have to rely on the expert advice of a forensic psychologist. On this basis, this paper will provide how this crucial role of a psychologist is important in catering for the interests of the child. New Insights of the Paper: This paper is an evaluation of previous studies conducted on forensic psychology, and child custody. On this basis, chances are high that the researcher will come up with new information concerning the role of psychologists and child custody. This is through a critical evaluation of a variety of works, belonging to different scholars, and coming up with an independent conclusion, based on the results of the analysis. Opportunities for future research: Psychology is an ever expanding field of study. This aspect of forensic psychology has numerous opportunities for future research. Opportunities are high that scholars would start studying on how to use psychology for purposes of stopping or minimizing the growth of divorce in the world (Steel, 2010). In fact, psychological counseling normally takes place before couples are married, but little research exist on how to effectively use psychology to prevent a collapse of the marriage institution. It is important to understand that when marriages are saved, these issues of child custody will not emerge. On this basis, psychologists will manage to cater for the interests of children. Conclusion: In conclusion, the major purpose of this research is to understand the importance of forensic psychology, in catering for the needs of children during divorce. This paper is motivated on the fact that there are rising instances of divorce in the current century, and hence there is a need of protecting the interests of children in such a set up. This paper will explore the various researches done on the topic, after which the researcher will come up with a conclusion based on the results of the exploration. Bibliography: Bogaerts, S. (2010). Emerging International Perspectives in Forensic Psychology: Individual  Level Analyses. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 10(4), 263-266. Clements, C. B., Wakeman, E. E. (2007). Raising the Bar: The Case for Doctoral Training in  Forensic Psychology. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 7(2), 53-63. Day, A. (2014). Competing ethical paradigms in forensic psychiatry and forensic psychology:  Commentary for a special section of legal and criminological psychology. Legal and  Criminological Psychology, 19(1), 16-18. Dutton, D. G. (2006). Domestic Abuse Assessment in Child Custody Disputes: Beware the  Domestic Violence Research Paradigm. Journal of Child Custody, 2(4), 23-42. Fridhandler, B. (2008). Science and Child Custody Evaluations: What Qualifies as â€Å"Scientific†?.  Journal of Child Custody, 5(3-4), 256-275. Pickar, D. (2008). Countertransference Bias in the Child Custody Evaluator. Journal of Child  Custody, 4(3), 45-67. Steel, J. (2010). Forensic psychology. Research, clinical practice, and applications. Journal of  Forensic Psychiatry Psychology, 21(2), 317-319. Young, S. (2008). Learning Forensic Assessment. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry Psychology,  19(4), 643-644.

Family Memoir: A Jobless Caregiver Essay

The sober statement that â€Å"we need to have a family meeting† foreshadowed bad news for several reasons.   First, we were not the type of family that had formal sit-down meetings.   We were casual, informal, and the very thought that news needed to be communicated around a table suggested that something bad or terrible had occurred.   Second, the tone with which the news was delivered was unusually stern and unsettling. Smiles were the rule in our house, laughter was contagious, and the look on my father’s face as he demanded the meeting was altogether foreign and fraught with trepidation.   If my father was worried then there was cause for worry among all of our family members.   Finally, as we sat down to the meeting, my father carried with him a pen and a small notebook. He opened the notebook as we took our places at the table and he clicked the pen to begin writing.   I glanced at the notebook and saw that he had written the words â€Å"monthly budget.†Ã‚   He set down the pen and said to open the family meeting that à  have lost my job and until I can find a new job we have to make some changes around here.† I was absolutely shocked.   We had never imagined my father without a job, we had always taken our comfortable standard of living for granted and then we were suddenly faced with the prospect of not having our basic needs met.   My mother cried and I waited to find out what would happen. In retrospect, this was probably the defining moment in my family’s existence.   It was a test for all of us, not simply for my father, and we all contributed to preserving the family despite the obstacles caused by an unexpectedly jobless caregiver.   At that meeting, for example, we set out a monthly budget for the family and then monthly budgets for the family members. All of us promised to make sacrifices until my father found a new job and it soon became apparent as we brainstormed how much money we wasted on a monthly basis.   We ate things that contributed little to our sustenance.   We rented excessive numbers of movies when other means for entertainment were readily available. What I learned from this intimate family tragedy, and the thesis of this family memoir, is that modern families spend far too much money and fail to properly plan for emergencies.   Providing for basic necessities, in short, is a far nobler goal than spending money for the sake of spending when little or no value is secured in return for this type of indiscriminate spending. The first thing that my father did, after assuring us that he would immediately begin looking for a new job, was to outline in his notebook the purchases that we could not do without.   He wrote down such things as rent, food, and electricity.   Rather than assuming these as fixed necessities, however, he instead asked how we might cut our expenses with respect to these expense categories. I admired my father for the way that he solicited or opinions as important members of the family unit, rather than dictating new rules and practices, and gradually we all began to come up with new ideas.   Food was an area where out family had effectively overspent for years.   In reality, human beings need nothing more than nutritional meals.   We promised to eliminate junk food from our   diet and to eliminate unnecessary trips to the local fast food restaurants and ice cream parlors. We needed, to be sure, nothing more than the grains, fruits, and vegetables that we all learned about in the elementary school’s food pyramid lesson.   My father calculated some eating practices on the notepad and it soon became apparent that we had been spending more on unnecessary dietary purchases than on necessary purchases.   Together, we calculated that we could save a significant amount of money by eating healthier and more simply.   The same conclusion could be drawn after examining our monthly electricity and leisure expenses. We all promised not to use the electricity for unnecessarily long periods of time and to reduce the purchases of movies and magazines when we could secure the same entertainment functions by playing existing board games or playing basketball outside.   It was a startling realization to discover that we spent a significant amount of money to entertain ourselves when we could have entertained ourselves without having spent a single penny.   It costs nothing, to be sure, to walk to the neighborhood park and shoot a couple of baskets.   It costs nothing to walk to the library and read more books than one might ever find in a commercial bookstore. This new set of experiences and the attendant realizations reminded me of something read as part of a school assignment in which a writer named Henry David Thoreau observed that â€Å"I see young men, my townsmen, whose misfortune it is to have inherited farms, houses, barns, cattle, and farming tools; for these are more easily acquired than got rid of. Better if they had been born in the open pasture and suckled by a wolf, that they might have seen with clearer eyes what field they were called to labor in. Who made them serfs of the soil?†Ã‚   (Thoreau 5). My family learned through deprivation what Thoreau learned more than a hundred years ago about life in a competitive world.   What we learned was that human beings create to a large extant their own financial dependence and that this painful cycle can be broken or tempered by living more basically.   That my father would find a new job within the next two months did not cause my family to forget the lessons learned; quite the contrary, these are lessons that are deeply etched   in my family’s collective memory and which are applied in our daily lives.   Life, in sum, is complicated by false needs and the failure to live simply and modestly. Works Cited Thoreau, Henry D. Walden. Ed. J. Lyndon Shanley. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971. Questia. Web. 7 June 2010.

The Street Lawyer

RUNNING HEAD: THE STREET LAWYER The Street Lawyer Social Work 3040-01I Apr. 30, 2008 SUMMARY John Grisham’s The Street Lawyer tells the story of Michael Brock a married wealthy attorney who has it all. Michael, a graduate of Yale University, works at Drake & Sweeny, one of the top and well respected firms in Washington D. C. While there he is making the money and rushing relentlessly to the top of Drake & Sweeny. He is only one step away from an early partnership. Until one rainy winter afternoon at Drake & Sweeny. An angry homeless man who only wants to be called â€Å"Mister† holds Michael and eight other lawyers hostage in an office at Drake & Sweeny. â€Å"Mister† demands the tax records be brought to him. After the tax records arrive he orders Michael to tell him what each lawyer including Michael has made in earnings for the year and how much of their money is donated to charities and the homeless. After several hours the hostage stand off is over leaving one man dead and another reborn. Mister† is shot in the head by a sniper policeman as he opens the office door to receive the soup he wants delivered from a local shelter. â€Å"Mister’s† blood and bodily fluids cover Michael’s entire face since he is standing directly behind him. The police escort Michael to a small gym in the building where doctors examine him and he is able to shower. After his shower Michael returns home. The next morning he returns to work at Drake & Sweeny. After reading an article in the Post he learns more about â€Å"Mister† whose real name is DeVon Hardy. After paying a visit to Mordecia Green the director of the 14th Street Legal Clinic, where â€Å"Mister† was a client, Michael begins to rethink his career as an anti-trust lawyer for Drake & Sweeny and his life as well. Leaving Drake & Sweeny to become a street lawyer would have profound affect on his home life and marriage as well. After telling his wife he will take a job with less money and no benefits the couple separate and eventually file for divorce. Michael moves to a smaller apartment on the rough side of Washington D. C. nd begins working at the 14th Street Legal Law Clinic with Mordeci Green. While working there Michael is harboring a dark secret: a confidential file. A confidential file from the law offices of Drake & Sweeny which contains information about the illegal eviction of â€Å"Misterâ€Å" and the other homeless people. Now Drake & Sweeny know their file is missing and want it returned immediately no matter what. Even if it means Michael losing his lic ense to practice law. His former partners have become his enemies and Michael is now the most dangerous man on the streets of Washington D. C. EXAMINATION Populations-at risk are the homeless in John Grisham’s The Street Lawyer and the environment that which they live in are considered the social environment. Populations-at risk are defined as populations or groups of people who share some identifiable characteristics that places them at greater risk of social and economic deprivation and oppression than the general mainstream of society. The social environment involves the conditions, circumstances, and human interactions that encompasses human beings. People are dependent upon effective interactions with their environment in order to survive and thrive. The social environment includes the actual physical setting that society provides. This involves the type of home a person lives in, the type of work that is done, the amount of money available, and the laws and social rules by which people live. â€Å"Mister† and the other homeless who were illegal evicted from their makeshift apartments are to considered members of a social environment. In reference to the social environment the actual physical setting that society provided to the homeless were homeless shelters. But once the homeless shelters do not begin to taken in borders because they are over crowded the homeless are forced into the streets in hopes of finding a safe and warm place to stay for the night. Sleeping on park benches and makeshift warehouses are the only means of shelter available to them. Even if they are working at a job the wages are usually not enough to provide adequate shelter. Society tends to blame the homeless for their choice of life and for being homeless. But at times it not the fault of the homeless but the fault of the government. For example a working middle class family loses their home to foreclosure because of lay-offs and budget cuts at their jobs. With being laid off both lose their pension and benefits that came along with their jobs. Even if both parents would find another job paying minimum wage it would not be enough to pay the $1000. 00 monthly mortgage and other expenses. Therefore, those individuals cannot be held at fault for becoming homeless the fault lies with the budget cuts made by the federal government to their jobs. At other times the fault lies with the individual themselves for becoming homeless. For example a woman works as a nurse in a hospital becomes addicted to prescription drugs and is later fired from her job because of stealing the prescription drugs to which is addicted to. Since the prescription drugs are no longer available to her she becomes addicted to crack/cocaine because it is accessible to her. She files for unemployment until she can find another job but her unemployment checks are going to support her habit instead of paying her monthly rent. She is evicted and thrown into the streets where and begins prostitution to support her habit. Receiving a â€Å"fix† has become her main priority in life. In that particular situation the individual is the blame for their choice to become homeless. ELUDICATION John Grisham’s characters Michael Brock and Mordecia Green worked not only as attorneys for the homeless but also as social workers too. Throughout The Street Lawyer Michael and Mordecia counseled each individual to gain a knowledge of what their lives were before they became homeless and why they have become homeless. Most lawyers would not take the time find out if whether or not their client had a place to sleep or food to eat the night before. Many lawyers would not offer their services free of charge. Michael and Mordecia worked as lawyers as well as social workers. Each day Michael and Mordecia traveled to a local homeless shelter to interview potential clients and help them with whatever they needed. Most of their clients were generally homeless people or individuals who were laid off from their job recently. The two helped these individuals fill out government forms, obtain job applications, and sometimes a rehab center for those who were addicted to drugs and alcohol. At times some clients could not be helped but Michael and Mordecia provided their counseling service as a means of help. Some individuals only needed some to talk to about what was going on in their life at that time. He wants his readers to see the similarities between social workers and attorneys. His examples with Michael and Mordecia with their clients express key elements in the career of a social worker. EVALUATION/CONCLUSION The Street Lawyer by John Grisham conveys its readers to the unknown world of homelessness and the cause. He wants his readers to see the cruel dark side of humanity and how society views homelessness. By having the story take place in Washington D. C. , the capitol of the United States, a place where many would not believe crack houses are a block away from the White House. Homeless women, men, and children are forced to seek shelter anywhere when all the shelters in the city are full. These same people are usually victims of layoffs and budget cuts by Congress. Grisham wants his readers to see the reality of homelessness and that it can happen to anyone. One’s whole perspective on their life can change in an instance because of one individual or many. He gives thorough examples throughout his book about the day and life of a homeless person and their family. The struggles they face day to day not knowing if he or she will have something to eat or a place to sleep by night fall. He contributes to the study of social work by having his main characters act as counselors to the homeless, employment agencies and location of rehabs for those who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. The Street Lawyer is a learning tool in the world of social work for those who want to gain a better understanding of what a social worker does on a daily bases. One who enjoys helping others and making a difference in someone else’s life will definitely enjoy reading this book. After reading this book I now have a better understanding of homelessness and I will eventually use this book as learning tool while furthering my education in the study of social work. â€Å"

Understanding Participial Phrases

A participial phrase or clause is a wonderful tool for writers because it gives color and action to a sentence. By employing verbals—words derived from a verb—along with other grammatical elements, an author can craft clauses that function as an adjective, modifying nouns and pronouns. The participial phrase contains a participle and the other words in the phrase that modify the noun or pronoun. They cant stand alone as complete sentences. Present or Past Participial phrases or clauses consist of a present participle  (a verbal ending in ing) or past participle (a verbal ending in en ed,  d, t, n, or ne), plus modifiers, objects, and complements. A participle may  be followed by  an  adverb, a  prepositional phrase, an  adverb clause, or any combination of these.  They are set off by commas and function the same way adjectives do in a sentence. Past-participial phrase:  Invented by an Indiana housewife in 1889, the first dishwasher was driven by a steam engine.Present-participial phrase:  Working before unfriendly crowds, the referee has orders to exude poise under the most trying circumstances. Here, for example, the participial phrase consists of a present participle (holding), an object (the flashlight), and an adverb (steadily): Holding the flashlight steadily,  Jenny approached the strange creature. In the next sentence, the participial phrase includes a present participle (making), an object (a great ring), and a prepositional phrase (of white light): Jenny waved the flashlight over her head,  making a great ring of white light. Placement and Punctuation Participial phrases can appear in one of three places within a sentence, but  be careful not to risk awkwardness or confusion by placing it too far from the word it modifies. For example, a participial phrase that indicates a cause usually precedes the  main clause and sometimes follows the  subject, but only rarely appears at the end of the sentence. No matter where they are, they always modify a subject. Correctly punctuating a sentence that contains such a clause depends on where it is placed in reference to the subject. Before the main  clause, the participial phrase is followed by a comma: Speeding down the highway, Bob didnt notice the police car. After the main clause, it is preceded by a comma: The gamblers silently arranged their cards, losing themselves in thought. In mid-sentence position, it is set off by commas before and after: The real estate agent, thinking of her profit potential, decided not to buy the property. In each sentence below, the participial phrase clearly modifies the subject (my sister) and suggests a cause: Discouraged by the long hours and low pay, my sister finally quit her job.My sister,  discouraged by the long hours and low pay, finally quit her job. But consider what happens when the participial phrase moves to the end of the sentence: My sister finally quit her job,  discouraged by the long hours and low pay. Here the logical order of cause-effect is reversed, and as a result, the sentence may be less effective than the first two versions. While the sentence absolutely works grammatically, some may misread that the job is feeling discouraged, instead of the sister. Dangling Participial Phrases Although participial phrases can be an effective tool, beware. A misplaced or dangling participial phrase can cause embarrassing errors. The easiest way to tell whether a phrase is being used correctly is to look at the subject it is modifying. Does the relationship make sense? Dangling phrase: Reaching for a glass, the cold soda called my name.Corrected phrase: Reaching for a glass, I could hear the cold soda calling my name. The first example is illogical; a bottle of soda cant reach for a glass—but a person can pick up that glass and fill it. Be careful when combining sentences and converting one to a participial phrase to keep the subject of the sentence that goes with the adjectival phrase. For instance, you wouldnt want the following sentences: I curled my toes and squinted.The doctor prepared to puncture my arm with a needle. to turn into: Curling my toes and squinting, the doctor prepared to puncture my arm with a needle. Here the participial phrase refers to  the doctor  when it should refer to  I—a pronoun thats not in the sentence. This kind of problem is called a  dangling modifier, dangling participle, or misplaced modifier. We can correct this dangling modifier either by adding  I  to the sentence or by replacing the participial phrase with an  adverb clause: Curling my toes and squinting,  I waited for the doctor to puncture my arm with a needle.As I curled my toes and squinted, the doctor prepared to puncture my arm with a needle. Gerunds vs. Participles A gerund is a verbal that also ends in ing, just like participles in the present tense. You can tell them apart by looking at how they function within a sentence.  A gerund functions as a  noun, while a  present participle functions as an adjective. Gerund:  Laughing  is good for you.Present participle: The laughing woman clapped her hands with joy. Gerund Clauses vs. Participial Phrases Confusing gerunds or participles can be easy because both can also form clauses. The simplest way to differentiate the two is to use the word it in place of the verbal. If the sentence still makes grammatical sense, youve got a gerund clause: If not, its a participial phrase. Gerund phrase: Playing golf relaxes Shelly.Participial phrase: Waiting for takeoff, the pilot radioed the control tower.