Court Phase 3: Family Law

Question 1

What does Family Law Deal With?

Answer 1

Marriage, civil unions, de facto relationships
Surrogacy
Family Violence
Termination of relationships and ancillary matters including divorce, property settlement, parenting arrangements
Child Abduction
Paternity Testing

Question 2

Recognition

Answer 2

• A task a child victim or witness may be asked to perform is an identification of a culprit from a lineup
• Children over the age of 5 produced comparable correct identification rates to adults, provided the culprit was present in the lineup
• Children as old as 14 produced greater false positives than adults when culprit was not in the lineup

Question 3

Lineup Procedure and Identification Rates

Answer 3

• Sequential lineup (In a standard sequential lineup, the suspects or their photos are presented one at a time to the witnesses only once) demonstrated to decrease false-positives when compared to simultaneous presentation (eyewitness views a lineup of individuals or a photo array; that is, all individuals are viewed at the same time.)
• Sequential lineup increased false-positive responding with a child witness

Question 4

Elimination Lineup

Answer 4

Lineup procedure for children that first asks them to pick out the person who looks most like the culprit from the photos displayed. Next, children are asked whether the most similar person selected is in fact the culprit.

1) All lineup photos are presented to the child, and the child is asked to select the lineup member who looks most like the culprit (relative judgement). Once this decision is made, the remaining photos are removed
2) The child is asked to compare his or her memory of the culprit with the most similar photo selected in the first stage and to decide if the photo is of the culprit

Question 5

Testifying in Court (Competency Inquiry)

Answer 5

Questions posed to child witness under age of 14 to determine whether they are able to communicate the evidence and understand the difference between the truth and the lie, and, in the circumstances of testifying, to see if they feel compelled to tell the truth.

Question 6

Courtroom Accommodations

Answer 6

1) A shield/screen to separate the child and defendant so that the child does not see the defendant’s face.
2) The child is allowed to provide testimony via a closed circuit television monitor
3) The child may have a support person with him or her while providing testament
4) A child may be video-recorded while being interviewed about the details of the crime
5) The judge may close the courtroom to the public and/or media to protect the privacy of the child

Question 7

Child Maltreatment: Physical Abuse

Answer 7

The deliberate application of force to any part of a child’s body that results in or may result in a non-accidental injury

Question 8

Child Maltreatment: Sexual Abuse

Answer 8

When an adult or youth uses a child for sexual purposes

Question 9

Child Maltreatment: Neglect/Failure to provide

Answer 9

When a child’s caregivers do not provide the requisite attention to the child’s emotional, psychological, or physical development

Question 10

Child Maltreatment: Emotional Maltreatment

Answer 10

Acts or omissions by caregivers that cause or could cause serious behavioural, cognitive, emotional, or mental disorders

Question 11

In need of protection

Answer 11

A term used to describe a child’s need to be separated from his or her caregiver because of maltreatment

Question 12

Incidence

Answer 12

Number of new child maltreatment cases in a specific population occurring in a given time period, usually a year

Question 13

Prevalence

Answer 13

In the study of child abuse, the proportion of a population at a specific point in time that was maltreated during childhood

Question 14

Risk Factor

Answer 14

A factor that increases the likelihood for emotional and or behavioural problems

Question 15

What is a Family Report?

Answer 15

A professional appraisal of the family from a non-legal, non-partisan perspective, independent of the case presented by either party to a dispute. This comprehensive and impartial social science perspective is otherwise not available to the court, and has a functional value of contributing to informed and child-centred judicial decisions

Question 16

What do family reports tell the court?

Answer 16

• Demographics
• Personal history- schooling, history, genogram
• Past relationships
• Current arrangements - living, legal, personal
• Individual culture - ethnicity, beliefs
• Physical, emotional, mental health (meds)
• Drug and alcohol use
• Criminal record
• DOCS involvement
• Conflict resolution style
• Optimal parental qualities
• Why here, why now, how come
• Preferences
• What the child likes/dislikes
• Any preferences? What’s that about?

Question 17

What is Family violence?

Answer 17

Family violence: Threats, physical/sexual abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, economic abuse, damage to property, injury to animals. Threatening, coercive, controlling and dominating behaviour that makes a family member fear for their safety, or for that of another family member.
In respect to children, family violence can also include a child hearing, witnessing or otherwise being exposed to any of these features outlined above

Question 18

Think about a Family Consultant’s role in the Family Court. Do you think there is any strain placed on these professionals (usually psychologists or social workers)? Is that what their training is designed for?

Answer 18

The adversarial nature of family law in Australia is an
anathema to the way in which most psychologists see
themselves and the work they undertake.
• Exposes psychologists and their work to intensive criticism.
Parties will critique and criticise family report to further their agenda. The report and psychologist come under critical scrutiny and frequently cross-examination in a very formal process within court. At cross-examination litigants are afforded considerable due process – at the expense of the expert’s feelings/sensitivities.
• Outside of the court, psychologists are “used” to gain
advantage or increased leverage.

Question 19

Results of working within family law

Answer 19

Psychologists working in the family law area are reported to registration boards more frequently than any of their colleagues in other branches of psychology.
• The families referred for a family report usually reflect the most embedded, conflict ridden and litigious group.
• Complaint boards are unfamiliar with broader context –
compromised ability to appropriately deal with complaint.
• Safety issues: anecdotally the reports of threats of violence, physical and verbal intimidation, property damage and harassment of psychologists have, unfortunately, become expected consequences of this work.