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Best Interests of the Child

New Twists on an Old Theme

  • Chapter
Psychology and Law

Part of the book series: Perspectives in Law & Psychology ((PILP,volume 10))

Abstract

King Solomon may have been the first judge to determine a child’s custody; the standard he verbalized focused on equity, the sharing by each of two women in the physical custody of the child. In reality, King Solomon was testing the two women in order to determine which woman was the true mother and what was in the best interests of the child. So too, in the 1990s, judges in family law courts around the United States have had to make decisions about children’s lives in new and unusual situations. These decisions cover a wide range of issues (see Elrod, 1994, 1995, for a comprehensive review of court decisions and state statute revisions). Some are adoption cases, others, custody or visitation cases. Some are brought by one or more of the numerous adults vying for the custody of a child; in others, older children themselves have brought the cases to court. Some cases involve the creation of new families; others, the dissolution of what were once intact families or relationships. Some types of cases did not even exist prior to the last decade. Despite the wide range of issues they address, however, these cases share several common dimensions. In each case, the judge has had to invoke a definition or concept of the family and choose a standard for defining the child’s “family.” In some cases, but certainly not all, psychologists and other mental health professionals have been involved in evaluations and decision making.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Child Exploitation Section, U.S. Department of Justice, 1331 F Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC, 20530-0001, USA

    Marsha B. Liss

  2. Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030, USA

    Marcia J. McKinley-Pace

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  1. Marsha B. Liss
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  1. Department of Psychology and the Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Ronald Roesch , Stephen D. Hart  & James R. P. Ogloff ,  & 

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Liss, M.B., McKinley-Pace, M.J. (1999). Best Interests of the Child. In: Roesch, R., Hart, S.D., Ogloff, J.R.P. (eds) Psychology and Law. Perspectives in Law & Psychology, vol 10. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4891-1_9

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