Gatekeeping by Allegations: An Examination of Verified, Unfounded, and Fabricated Allegations of Child Maltreatment Within the Context of Resist and Refusal Dynamics.

Autor: Saini, Michael, Laajasalo, Taina, Platt, Stacey
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Zdroj: Family Court Review; Apr2020, Vol. 58 Issue 2, p417-431, 15p, 2 Charts
Abstrakt: Allegations of child maltreatment and neglect, including child sexual abuse, in the context of child custody disputes pose particular challenges for child protection services, family law professionals and the courts to identify children at risk of harm, as well as children impacted and exposed to other risk factors. Accurately identifying child maltreatment requires assessing the background, the history and the context of the allegations in order to differentiate confirmed, unfounded, and fabricated allegations. The paper provides a review of the history and current understanding of allegations within the context of child custody disputes by considering the connections of fabricated allegations to the theory of alienation and the role of gatekeeping. The paper then examines the social science literature regarding allegations within child protection investigations (the prevalence, types of maltreatment, reporter of allegations, and case outcomes) and explores the factors that have contributed to the challenges faced by child protection services to investigate and make determinations regarding allegations within the context of child custody disputes. We argue for early assessment protocols for child protection services to screen child custody cases, to differentiate allegations of alienation from other types of harm, to enhance role clarity in these volatile situations, to refrain from "taking sides" and to work collaboratively with the family law community. Lastly, we offer legal implications to improve collaboration between child protection services and the family law field to better respond to these complex cases. Key Points for the Family Court Community: Allegations of child abuse in the context of child custody disputes pose significant challenges in determining the validity of maltreatment allegations.Fabricated allegations of child sexual are a particular concern within the context of high conflict child custody disputes.Fabricated allegations have been considered to be a weapon used by a separating parent, to effectively end the child's relationship with the other parent.The rates of malicious allegations are nowhere near the reported rates originally presented with the theory of alienation by Gardner and others in the last century.There is no reported research that specifically addresses allegations of child abuse within the context of allegations of alienationAllegations of physical or sexual abuse of a child arise in only a relatively small portion of cases where there are issues of child resistance and/or rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index
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