Art psychotherapy evaluations of children in custody disputes

Child custody disputes and divorce affect over 1,200,OOO new families each year in the United States (Jacobs, 1986). On the basis of these numbers alone, divorce has become a major American sociocultural issue. Divorce is deceptive. Legally it is a single event, but psychologically it is a chain of events, relocations and radically shifting relationships strung through time. This becomes a process that forever changes the lives of the people involved. Divorce can be a profound catalyst for psychological, social and economic change. This paper explores the art therapist’s role in the evaluation of children who are involved in custody litigation. Child placement in divorce and separation proceedings are never final and often are conditional. The lack of finality, which stems from the retention of jurisdiction over the custody decision, invites challenges by a disappointed or a disgruntled party claiming changed circumstances. This absence of finality, coupled with the concomitant increase in opportunities for appeal may very well be in conflict with the child’s need for continuity; nevertheless, it is the law. As a result of research into the impact of divorce on families (Wallerstein & Kelly, 1980), more and more states have considered a statutory preference for a joint custody arrangement. The hope is that the parents can both be involved to some extent in the raising of the children, and that this involvement will prove to be beneficial to the child’s post-divorce needs (Ilfeld, Ilfeld & Alexander, 1982; Irving, Benjamin & Trocame, 1984). Although this is seen to be the optimum solution because children tend to feel more secure when viewing their parents as having equal authority, it may not be feasible for various reasons. If the parents do not live in close proximity to one another, the expression “joint custody” is in name only, not in practice. Often children are used as pawns in a divorce battle in which each parent tries to prove the other unfit or, at least, themselves as the better parent (Kaslow & Schwartz, 1987). When custody of children is disputed, parents often seek professional and legal services to strengthen their case. Judges also are seeking the services of clinicians for help in determining the custody of children in family court matters. Because of the significant numbers of divorce and custody cases each year, more and more judges are requesting outside help to assist them in their rulings. One way that mental health professionals become involved in family matters that relate to the court is as a “friend of the court” or “amicus curiae,” as it is technically known (American Psychiatric Association, 1982; Westman & Lord, 1980). Professionals in the mental health field can conduct a comprehensive evaluation with recommendations to the court. Where the therapist has the option of interviewing all parties, the process can become lengthy and expensive. As Mansheim (in Combrinck-Graham, 1989) stated, it is critical to conduct one or more interviews with all of the adult parties in a custody dispute. Visits to each of the homes add to the weight of the evaluation. Interviews with all the children involved helps the thera-