Psychiatric Legal Decision-making: the Child and the Divorce

The threat of divorce for children lies in the disruption of relationships with the parents. The struggle for and through the children embodies the intense conflicts that often accompany the failing marriage. This study deals with a case study of child custody decision-making after its parental divorce and it points out the psychodynamic aspect of psychiatric – legal decision-making. The objective of this case study is: 1. to analyse psychodynamic effects of divorce on children and parents; 2. to investigate the roles of postdivorce relationships, developmental factors and child gender differences in the process of custody decision-making; 3. to do a brief literature review in the field of child custody. The results and the conclusions: 1. postdivorce relationships and reactions among parents and children include important psychodynamic and psychological changes of quality and availability; 2. the study shows the important influence of postdivorce relationships, developmental factors and child gender differences in the process of child custody decision-making; 3. the study raised the question as to how important the custody arrangement by itself is to the psychological adjustment of the child; 4. child custody decision-making is a complex interdisciplinary problem which deals with psychological, sociological, psychiatric and legal aspects of the divorce; 5. professionals who are responsible for child custody decision-making must keep in mind that the custodial arrangement should fulfill the conditions for the child's psychological task-resolving and that, above all, the principle of acting in the best interest of the child or adolescent and the principle of avoiding harm as much as possible must prevail in custody decision-making.