The Influence of Divorcing Mothers' Demeanor on Custody Evaluators' Assessment of Their Domestic Violence Allegations |
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Authors: | Jennifer L Hardesty Jason D Hans Megan L Haselschwerdt Lyndal Khaw Kimberly A Crossman |
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Institution: | 1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinoishardesty@illinois.edu;3. University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky;4. Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama;5. Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey;6. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois |
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Abstract: | A gap exists between empirical evidence demonstrating the risks posed by domestic violence (DV) and the weight that evidence is given by custody evaluators. This gap may result from common beliefs about DV that diminish or deny its seriousness, which include that mothers often make false allegations to gain advantage and that DV and high conflict are synonymous and do not require differential approaches. Using a multiple segment factorial vignette design, we systematically assessed how these beliefs influenced custody evaluators' (N = 603) recommendations and judgments of the believability of allegations. Mother's demeanor (i.e., hostile vs. pleasant) was the most consistent predictor of evaluators' recommendations and judgments of credibility. Findings have implications for providing research-based education and training for evaluators. |
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Keywords: | beliefs divorce child custody evaluation domestic violence false allegations |
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