Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

Custody disputes occur frequently in cases with a history of domestic violence.
For victims, a custody dispute often means a new cycle of abuse by their
batterers. In the course of the legal proceeding, victims may be pathologized or
stigmatized; their parental fitness may even be questioned. Many issues in
contested custody cases can only be understood if considered within the context
of domestic violence. The greater the appreciation attorneys and judges have of
the dynamics and history of domestic violence, the less likely they will be to
misinterpret symptoms of abuse as indicia of parental unfitness or instability
and the more likely they will be to make appropriate custody and visitation
determinations based on the best interest of the child.
The American Psychological Association recognizes that victims of domestic
violence are likely to be at a disadvantage in custody cases if the court does not
consider the history of violence:
. . . behavior that would seem reasonable as protection from
abuse may be misinterpreted as signs of instability. Psychological
evaluators not trained in domestic violence may contribute to
this process by ignoring or minimizing the violence and by
giving pathological labels to women’s responses to chronic
victimization. Terms such as “parental alienation” may be used
to blame the women for the children’s reasonable fear of or anger
toward their violent father. 1
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Litigating Custody and Visitation
In Domestic Violence Cases
by Kim Susser
This tendency to regard allegations of domestic violence with skepticism and
disbelief, coupled with misinterpretation of victims’ behavior, is the primary reason
that custody cases are so challenging for attorneys representing victims. Battered
women need help to avoid presenting themselves in court or during law guardian
interviews and psychological evaluations in ways that undermine their credibility.