Dear secondmom-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. The
function of the court appointed psychologist in custody cases is based
on the criteria established by the American Psychological Association.
Because of the legal and medical role of the court appointed
psychologist, the matter is quite complex and cannot adequately be
summarized by a layman in a mere paragraph with a reasonable
expectation of total accuracy. Having said that, you can read the
established guidelines yourself in this publication from the American
Psychological Association and get some great insight into their role
and purpose in a custody evaluation:
GUIDELINES FOR CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATIONS IN DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS
http://www.apa.org/practice/childcustody.html
Much more can be found on this complex subject using these search terms:
GOOGLE: Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Divorce Proceedings
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Guidelines+for+Child+Custody+Evaluations+in+Divorce+Proceedings+
As for your question about parental alienation, this term is also
quite universal and not specific to California. The alienation itself
is not a reference to how a parent might alienate himself or herself
from the child, rather it is indicative of the unhealthy or
inappropriate coercion of the child to choose the company of one
parent over another. This often comes in the form of one parent
vilifying another in an attempt to persuade the child to reject the
targeted parent.
?The term parental alienation syndrome (PAS), first described by
Richard Gardner, is also sometimes referred to as "brainwashing?
PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME
http://www.fact.on.ca/Info/pas/walsh.htm
I recommend you read this article that will give you an excellent
overview of parental alienation, and what it is. It is important to
keep in mind that genuine parental alienation is a manipulation of the
child to turn against a parent WITHOUT justified cause, and that a
child?s natural alienation of a parent for reasons that ARE justified
(such as abuse, neglect, etc) is NOT, for the purposes of this
syndrome, considered parental alienation.
PARENTAL ALIENATION DIRECTORY
http://www.parentalalienation.com/PASdirectory.htm
Your question, ?What generally happens when both parents are involved
with the children, but the parent that has the most time wants to move
an hour away?? is largely hypothetical and solicits an answer to a
question where few details are known. For example, if the court awards
custody to a parent and then the parent decides to move away, the
court then would retain jurisdiction over the case and custody or
visitation can be modified to the best interest of the child. This, of
course, is only one of an infinite number of scenarios. Suffice it to
say that there is no standard procedure or standard expectation that
is universal to all cases and the court will ALWAYS base its actions
contingent upon what is in the best interests of the child. It is also
important to note that ?the parent who has the most time? is not
always viewed by the court and the parent who can best provide for the
child?s mental, emotional and physical welfare. All things considered,
if one were to predict how the court might view such a move give a
hypothetical scenario, it is safe to assume that the parent who can be
the best parent under the circumstances is the one with whom the court
will show favor.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
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