Child Custody Evaluation. An Empirical Analysis of Trasformative Effects

The studies about the Child Custody Evaluation have recently developed and have showed the need to accomplish a clinical-diagnostic activity through specific and empirically validated tools and procedures. The research question is: what kind of transformative effects can produce a Child Custody Evaluation conducted according to a relational approach, not focused only on individual variables, but mainly on the relationships? The contribution is aimed to test the capability of the way we accomplish CCEs to elicit significant changes into family relationships. The leading hypothesis is based on a systemic-relational paradigm and it requires a strong connection among 4 dimensions: family background of each partners, kind of couple relation, type of divorce and quality of parenthood. The study concerns 80 CCE cases and has been carried out according to our paradigm, following a semi-standardized procedure. All data sources come from the CCE final reports and are coded through the tools used for the CCE. The tools are self report, interactive and projective and are addressed to different systemic levels: individual, couple and family conjoint. The analysis shows the presence of important transformative effects in the CCEs done according to our clinical and relational approach. The most significant result is the reduction of conflict in the couple and the increase of parental cooperation. The hypothesis of a significant association between the variables identified in the theoretic model was confirmed. Some matters need to be analyzed in future. First of all a quantitative enlargement of the sample and the cross-analysis between this paradigm and other approaches to CCE. Second topic: the process analysis of the CCE. In fact only such further research will get more accurate answers about the different factors determining the intervention efficacy and allow a further intervention standardization.