Forensic Mythologies and Custody Evaluations

Last month, we looked at several commonly held beliefs about forensic psychologists and psychiatrists who conduct custody evaluations for the courts. Many of them are not necessarily true. We conclude this discussion herein.

Myth #9: Once an Expert Is Aware of a Bias, the Bias Problem Will Be Attenuated

As a good friend and noted legal scholar, Timothy Tippins, Esq., has often proclaimed in his seminars for lawyers and mental health professionals, “We are walking bags of bias.” True enough for experts of any stripe. However, a common assumption is that if experts just become aware of their biases — if they just develop insight — their effects will be attenuated. The reality: Becoming aware of one's biases as a professional seems, according to the clinical judgment research, to have little or no ameliorative effect on the biases. Getting concrete, corrective feedback about one's judgments and actively implementing concrete steps in the assessment process to dampen the effects of biased attitudes are what is needed (and it is what is very often missing in the practices of custody evaluators).

Implications for Legal Practice

Most of the research behind the assertions offered In Parts One and Two of this article was done in the area of clinical evaluation. Much more research needs to be done, specifically on forensic evaluators. However, the misconceptions about mental health experts listed above are offered as a cautionary tale for lawyers and judges about placing blind trust in testifying experts. They also highlight the wisdom behind legal-procedural basics (cross examination, careful evidentiary gatekeeping, etc) that enshrine the importance of making sure that the information allowed into evidence is sufficiently reliable and not misleading.

Carefully research the expert. Carefully analyze his or her data, method, and reasoning. Verify before trusting. And remember that the errors and weaknesses noted in Parts One and Two of this article are not a function of being an evaluating mental health professional — they are a function of being a member of homo sapiens. However, the misconceptions about mental health experts that we have discussed are a cautionary tale, and the fact that many professionals make such errors does not forgive the fact that they can misdirect the trajectory of a child's life.

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Jeffrey P. Wittmann, Ph.D., a member of this newsletter's Board of Editors, is a licensed psychologist and trial consultant.