The use of the MMPI-2 in complex issues of high conflict child-custody disputes Over the past decades, many families have required child-custody evaluations to determine with which parent the child's best interest will be served (Ash & Guyer, 1986; Otto et al., 2002). Child-custody evaluations involve interviewing the child and the parents as well as administering a variety of psychometric instruments to the family. The most popular instrument used in child-custody evaluations is the MMPI-2 (Ackerman & Ackerman, 1997). In the course of a child-custody evaluation, allegations of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and Parent Alienation Syndrome are commonly alleged. Domestic violence is a growing epidemic in the American culture and is a prominent allegation in child-custody disputes today (Ackerman & Ackerman, 1996; Jaffe et al., 2003). In the present study, approximately 60\% of the sample had a history of domestic violence. In this study, the psychological characteristics of male perpetrators of domestic violence and women who have been exposed to domestic violence were examined using the MMPI-2. It was found that Male Perpetrators of domestic violence were significantly different than men who have not committed acts of domestic violence. In fact, the findings suggest that men who have committed acts of domestic violence tend to over control their emotions and alienate themselves from others ( O-H). In addition, men who have not committed acts of domestic violence were more inclined to deny guilt (Ma1), be more callous about their goals (Ma1), as well as tend to be more hyperactive and labile (Ma2). It was found that the psychological characteristics of women who have been exposed to acts of domestic violence were not significantly different from women who have not been exposed to domestic violence. However, the Female Victim group had the tendency to have greater conflict with family members, and to be more irresponsible, egocentric, and unpredictable. Further, the Other Female group had a greater tendency to lack insight into their own behaviors, attempted to present themselves in a favorable manner, had trouble with the law, and had a tendency to control their emotions, to alienate themselves from others than women who were exposed to domestic violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved) https://www.upress.umn.edu/test-division/bibliography/2000-2009/2006/daskalakis_use_2006 https://www.upress.umn.edu/logo.png

Katherine Daskalakis (2006)

The use of the MMPI-2 in complex issues of high conflict child-custody disputes

PhD thesis.

Keywords

Abuse
ACT
Adults
Alienation
Alienation syndrome
APA
Behavior
Child custody
Conflict
Control
Culture
Domestic violence
Emotion
Emotions
Evaluations
Families
Family
Family members
Family violence
Goals
Guilt
Insight
Interviewing
Labile
MMPI 2
MMPI-2
Parents
Psychometric
School
Sexual abuse
Syndrome
Victim
Violence
Women

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The use of the MMPI-2 in complex issues of high conflict child-custody disputes