with link to Maryland Lethality Assessment Protocol

Child custody issues are interconnected with issues of maternity and pregnancy, primary caregiving, parental alienation, child development (education and attachment issues), father's rights, and other family law issues, as well as to issues involving forensic psychologists, guardians ad litem (GALs) and other mental health professionals in the family court system, so check related sections, including those on psychology for other relevant articles. NOTE: The LIZNOTES index page contains links to recommended off-site locations as well as the on-site articles. ALSO SEE, on this issue, the MYTHS AND FACTS pages.

This category includes the various forms of ADR that involve client-controlled negotiated alternate dispute resolution in the family court system. Also see section on PSYCHOLOGY

This category includes the various forms of so-called ADR (alternate dispute resolution) practitioners, such as GALs, parenting coordinators, parenting evaluators, forensic psychologists, recommending mediators, special masters, court-ordered therapists, other court-appointed mental health professionals, supervised visitation centers, and other profiteers of "therapeutic jurisprudence", whose methods involve -- in non-criminal cases -- intrusion and coercion under the threat of court sanctions, and actual or de facto extra-judicial decision-making. This website heavily criticizes all of these practices, which have multiple things wrong with them, not the least of which is denigration of due process, and the diminution of a publicly observable, regulated, and appealable "rule by law" by substituting the caprice of men and women. These practices have been promoted as "cures" for ailings of the court system and the litigants in it by self-serving persons who apparently are ignorant, or else just do not care about the harms they cause to children and their parents because they make money from the ideas they promote, churning profit in proceedings that fly in the face of the foundations of our justice system. The bulk of these materials are listed in the section on PSYCHOLOGY. Also see the sections on the specific substantive issues, such as child development or parental alienation.

Pregnancy and maternity/maternity issues are integrated with the issues of child custody, property and support issues rights, parental alienation defense theory used to counter allegations of abuse and otherwise discredit women's testimony and childcare histories, child development (education and attachment issues), father's rights, and other family law issues, so check related sections for other relevant articles. NOTE: The LIZNOTES index page contains links to recommended off-site locations as well as the on-site articles. Also see subsection on Attachment and Bonding in CHILD DEVELOPMENT, and Alimony in FAMILY LAW. For history of mothers' rights, see THE WOMEN'S LIBRARY.

NOTE: The LIZNOTES index page contains links to recommended off-site locations as well as the on-site articles. Also see Section onPSYCHOLOGY, because the entertaining of alienation theory (by whatever name **) has become integral to the plying of the therapeutic jurisprudence trades in the family courts. It is a primary creator of the relationship engineering industries, and spawns work for "experts" opining pro and con, as well as GALs, supervised visitation centers, court-ordered therapists, custody evaluators, parenting coordinators, and all of their respective lawyers. [** hostile-aggressive parenting, enmeshment, intrusive parenting, intractable hostilities, high conflict, etc.]

See comments under Guardians ad Litem, and then go to section on PSYCHOLOGY. Also see the sections on the specific substantive issues, such as child development or parental alienation.

Post-divorce relocation issues are interconnected with issues of maternity and pregnancy, primary caregiving, economics, parental alienation, child development (education and attachment issues), father's rights, and other family law issues, as well as to issues involving forensic psychologists, guardians ad litem (GALs) and other mental health professionals in the family court system, so check related sections, including those on psychology for other relevant articles. NOTE: The LIZNOTES index page contains links to recommended off-site locations as well as the on-site articles.

Criticizes "Relocation of Children After Divorce and Children's Best interests"

These pages, and the pages on custody evaluation and the joint custody, contain literally thousands of research citations. The sociological and psychological research on families and child well-being impacts public policy and the issues of child custody in family law. The research frequently is misrepresented, and mis-cited by mental health professionals, lawyers, forensic psychologists and others, as well as interest groups lobbying for laws. The "facts" on the research myths and facts pages refer to the "fact" of the actual research findings. Often what is cited instead is the "spin" or speculation in researchers' writeups. These pages are presented as a commentary on the flimsy rationales (of record) given for much of current public policy. Also review the other sections pertaining to the issues impacted by the research, such as child custody, parental alienation theory, and other family law issues, as well as the section on therapeutic jurisprudence, which in the family courts is economic opportunism (not science) under the pretext that engineering family affectional relationships is within the ability of mental health "science" to accomplish (this is misrepresentation), and moreover, that it is an appropriate goal of the government and court system using the specious rationale that these interventions are necessary or helpful for children's wellbeing (while ignoring the many iatrogenic effects on both families and the over-burdened courts).Also see subsection on Child Custody in FAMILY LAW

This paper is used as a teaching illustration of how to do critical reading, and of how the research is distorted and misrepresented in the sociology and psychology literature. It is a line-by-line analysis of propaganda techniques, logic errors, and outright fraud. The Lamb and Kelly article is presented in its entirety, interlineated with discussion and commentary, as well as annotations. The widely-cited paper,Using Child Development Research to Make Appropriate Custody and Access Decisions for Young Children (2000), is an example of pseudo-science posing as objective scholarship by "researchers" or "scientists".But it's a political position paper advocating (without sound basis for doing so), for joint custody for babies and very young children.

The sociological and psychological research on families and child well-being impacts public policy and the issues of child custody in family law. The research frequently is misrepresented, and mis-cited by mental health professionals, lawyers, forensic psychologists and others, as well as interest groups lobbying for laws. Also review the sections pertaining to the issues impacted by the "therapeutic jurisprudence", such as child custody, parental alienation theory, research pertaining to child development, the subsection for research Myths and Factsin FAMILY LAW, and other family law issues. Also see the subsection on Child Custody in FAMILY LAW. The Therapeutic Jurisprudence index page contains links to recommended off-site locations as well as the on-site articles

Custody Evaluator Quotes by liz (companion to above article)