I've been working, and as part of my work I have been reading the report by Professor Ireland: "Evaluating Expert Witness Psychological Reports: Exploring Quality". This preliminary study assesses the quality of expert psychological assessments presented in Family Courts. These are reports that may well have been used/relied upon by family courts when deciding whether children should remain with their families, or be placed under supervision/care, or be put up for adoption.I recommend that you take a look at the report. You can locate it at: http://www.uclan.ac.uk/news/files/FINALVERSIONFEB2012.pdf.
There has been much debate recently in The Times recently about the quality of expert opinion in family cases, with experts quick to defend their corner. However, much of the Ireland Report supports the case that all is not well with expert opinion evidence in the Family Courts. Two thirds of the reports reviewed were rated as 'poor' or 'very poor', with one fifth of the experts straying out of their remit for example, by trespassing upon the remit of social workers. There is a quotation from one report, where the expert commented: "The carpeted lounge area looked in need of a vacuuming". Now I appreciate that one has to be careful when one is considering the welfare of children, and I certainly don't advocate a return to Victorian squalor, but if the the touchstone of good parenting is whether or not your carpet needs a vacuum, I think that a lot of us are in trouble. My 'carpeted lounge area' is pretty much in constant need of 'a vacuuming': it's probably a miracle that my children have reached adult age without being terminally damaged by a marauding dust mite.
Some of the comments quoted in the report suggest that the experts concerned are either out of touch with modern family life, or perhaps even with life at all. One psychologist suggested ringing the employer of a parent, and when the parent became upset, described them as being 'cross'. They then discussed the possibility of the children being adopted with the parent in detail and, when the parent became upset, appeared to be unclear as to why this was the case, attributing the reaction to a 'learning disability'. Now I may be out of the ordinary, but if a psychologist interviewing me suggested that he have a chat with my boss, I am confident that the emotions that would surge through my being would be blind panic, followed by spine-curdling anger. Similarly, if someone had suggested that my children be adopted, I would have been very, very upset. Yet no-one has to date suggested that I suffer from a learning disability...
Some parts of the report would be funny, if they weren't so tragic. For example, page 28 provies examples of some of the inappropriate and/or irrelevant comments taken from expert reports. These provide helpful guidance as to what to do if you are being interviewed by a psychologist for family court proceedings:
"She was dressed in a low cut pink dress": Don't get your knockers out for the psychologist, girls.
"She had long auburn hair, which I think has been streaked and coloured in the current fashion": Make sure that you get your hair done before the interview.
"She was dressed appropriately for her age and weather, certainly demure": No hotpants or mini skirts for the over 25s and wear a mac if it's raining. Don't flirt with the expert.
On a more serious note, the report highlights real concerns in relation to expert evidence in family proceedings and makes very sensible recommendations in relation to the competence and instruction of experts and good practice in these cases. Last year the Law Commission also produced a report making sensible recommendations with regard to expert evidence in criminal proceedings, but the government has yet to do anything to implement these recommendations. Let's hope that the recommendations of both reports are implemented soon: experts play an important, frequently pivotal role in litigation, it isn't too much to expect competent, qualified experts to follow recognised good practice in their chosen field.
Enough. I'm off to do the hoovering...
