Characterization and operationalization of psychological expertise in custody dispute processes

Abstract

Documentary and retrospective study, with mixed methods, carried out between January and May 2018, considering the period from 2008 to 2017, in notary offices in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in order to characterize the psychological expertise in custody disputes in Family Courts. Descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis were used. Seven notary offices (of the 29 contacted), 45 processes and 54 psychological reports were considered. The cases analyzed involved 156 people, 53 plaintiffs, 49 defendants and 54 minors. Of the main results, expert psychologists interviewed the plaintiff in 87.03% of cases and the defendant in 79.62%. Of the children, 81.48% were evaluated; the use of a playful interview was mentioned in 18.18%, and in 81.82% of children's interviews, the evaluation technique was not described. The following categories emerged from the conclusions, court decisions and referrals: a) Procedures and methods used in the assessment (number of meetings for assessment, people included in the assessment, psychological instruments used); b) Conclusions, position of the professional psychologist and agreement with the magistrate. Results indicated that: a) there is no uniformity between the aspects to be evaluated; b) interview was the most used psychological technique; and c) there is agreement between the appointment of the expert psychologist and the decision of the magistrate. The analyzed psychological skills differ in terms of how they are operationalized.