Social framework experts put clinical data in perspective, usually without any clinical relationship with the parties. The social framework expert clarifies the contradictions and misconceptions regarding domestic abuse. Such testimony is critical to explain victim behavior. The expert must educate the fact finder regarding the unfathomable dynamics underlying domestic violence relationships and the subtle, confusing facts of abuse. The hybrid expert offers a clinical opinion about the abuse and its effects in this particular relationship and explains the behavior of the abused person.
Rules regarding expert opinion specifically allow expertise based on experience.
Nonetheless, some courts refuse to qualify domestic violence workers as experts who can testify regarding their knowledge of abuse arising from their experience working with women in shelters or other settings. This view damages the expert s credibility, limits the effectiveness of the testimony, and may cause disqualification of the expert. Recent Supreme Court rulings on expert opinion may have had the effect of privileging scientific inquiry. This may increase the court s use of standard scientific requirements, like testability, peer review, publication, rate of error, and general acceptance. These scientific requirements often inappropriately assess the worth of social science studies or the clinical experience of the expert.