Recently, the psychological and pedagogical examination of the child has been given great attention, because the parties are convinced that the court, when considering civil cases, focuses solely on the results of an independent study. In fact, this is just one of the pieces of evidence taken into account when making a decision. Let's dwell on it in more detail.
Reason for civil appointment
Psychological and pedagogical examinations can be of two types: voluntary and by court order.
If the interests of children are affected in the course of the proceedings, it is important to identify, for example, their emotional attachment to each parent, other family members, personality traits, intellectual development, etc. This requires the use of knowledge in the field of pedagogy and developmental psychology.
The parties to the proceedings may mutually agree on the need for such an examination and conduct itvoluntarily in the presence of both parents. In this case, its results will be treated as recommendations.
The appointment of a psychological and pedagogical examination by the court is required in the following cases:
- Appearance of a lawyer's request or petition of one of the parties.
- The judge has the right to make a ruling on his own, if he believes that there are no other objective ways to reveal the child's opinion, for example. So, according to the RF IC, only children 10 years old and older can be questioned in court. To reveal the position of a nine-year-old teenager, an expert opinion is needed.
In the second case, the psychological and pedagogical examination for the court will serve as one of the evidence in the case, but the decision will be made based on their totality.
Which disputes require expertise
In a complete family, both parents act as legal representatives of the child, between whom there may be disagreements on issues of education. If they cannot be resolved peacefully, one of the parties has the right to go to court. The first instance where family law recommends contacting is the guardianship authorities. However, their decision can be challenged in court if either parent disagrees.
Let's list the most frequently considered civil cases in which it is important to identify the interests of the child for making a decision:
- St. 59 of the RF IC on changing the name and surname of a minor. Mandatory consent of the child is required from the age of 10. Until this age betweendisputes can arise between spouses, especially if they do not live together.
- St. 65 of the RF IC on the exercise of parental rights. It refers to possible disagreements regarding the upbringing and place of residence of a minor with the separation of mother and father.
- St. 66 of the RF IC on the implementation of the rights to participate in the upbringing of a minor of one of the parents who does not live together with the child.
- Art 69 of the RF IC on deprivation of parental rights. This exceptional measure applies to a mother and father who abuse their rights and abuse children. The fact of physical or psychological violence must be established with the help of a medical-psychological-pedagogical examination.
Please note that any medical examination requires licensing, so you should elaborate on who has the right to be an expert.
Requirements for persons conducting the examination
By mutual agreement, the legal representatives of the child have the right to independently choose a specialist for the study. The main condition is the availability of professional education. This may be an employee of the department of pedagogy and psychology of the university, a school psychologist or an individual entrepreneur who has an appropriate diploma. But everyone who conducts an examination should be prepared for the fact that he may be invited to court to explain the results of the examination or the final conclusion.
Moreover, at the initiative of one of the parties or the court, the document may be subjected toreview by a highly qualified specialist. This imposes a certain responsibility on the one who conducts the survey. Examination requires the use of proven methods. It cannot look like a description of a counseling session followed by conclusions.
If a medical and psychological examination is required, for example, for a criminal case where a teenager is an accused or a victim, then only organizations or individual entrepreneurs that have received the appropriate license are en titled to conduct it. Thus, the fact of child abuse and the presence of psychological abuse can only be confirmed by an institution that has the right to do so.
Goals of psychological and pedagogical expertise
If the court is considering a case to determine the place of residence of a minor whose parents live separately, the examination is not en titled to prepare an opinion with a final conclusion - the mother or father should transfer the child to foster care. For this cannot be the purpose of the study.
The law says that when making a final decision, the court will take into account the child's attachment to mother and father, sisters and brothers, the age of the minor, the personal qualities of each of the parents and their relationship with the child, the possibility of creating conditions for the development of the minor. The last item includes: the type of activity and mode of work of each of the parents, their marital and financial status, etc.
The court will consider all aspects, many ofwhich are not within the competence of the educational psychologist. For example, the financial situation of the parties. But in the course of the examination, the methods make it possible to identify:
- emotional attachment of a minor to each family member;
- their relationship;
- personal characteristics of parents and the minor.
Expert opinion possible on whether the personality and parenting style of the mother or father can have a negative impact on the development of the child. It is done taking into account the age and personality characteristics of the minor.
Expertise conditions
Conducting a psychological and pedagogical examination requires compliance with a number of principles:
- voluntariness;
- lack of personal interest of the expert in the results of the study;
- science;
- flexibility;
- predictability.
For a more objective picture, the study should be conducted on neutral territory - in an institution where all conditions are created for a comfortable stay for adults and children, as well as for testing. In the room, nothing should distract the subjects: external noise, strangers, poor lighting.
Such expertise is often called complex. The examination of the child is carried out in the presence of both parents. This does not mean that they have to be in the room where the testing takes place - a waiting room must be allocated for them. And when revealing the attitude of parents to the child, as well as their influence on his upbringing and development, testing shouldpass and adults.
Preparatory stage of examination
Examination is carried out in several stages. One of the most important is preparation. It is important both from the point of view of the mood of the child and his parents, and from the point of view of observation. Inviting both parents who are in conflict is very important for the parties to have confidence in the results of the study, which should be conducted as transparently as possible.
Psychological and pedagogical examination of the child for the court begins with the collection of background information. You can watch who the minor will come with, how he will react to the second parent and how everyone will greet each other. A preliminary introductory conversation is very indicative, during which it matters how its participants sit down, how they will interact, what they will say on the merits of the dispute.
The expert needs to build friendly relations with the family and explain the essence of the study. The most emotionally significant parent will help set up the minor for testing. The study itself should take place without the presence of unauthorized persons, so that nothing distracts during its conduct.
Testing
For research, structured methods are most often used, where it is possible to rank quantitative indicators. The choice depends on the purpose of testing, the age of the child, the time available to the expert.
For children of primary school age, projective methods are used indrawing tests. For example, René Gilles' Drawing of a Family. For older ones, you can use the "Diagnostics of Emotional Relations in the Family" by E. Bene, the "Parent-Child Interaction Questionnaire" (VRP).
The expert must be prepared for the fact that all objective materials can be claimed by the court during the review, so a reliable interpretation of the results is very important. Recently, video filming has been increasingly used, where the process of conducting a psychological and pedagogical examination is recorded, since when performing a drawing test, for example, a child's behavior is very diagnostic.
Expert opinion
There is no special form of the established form for this document, but a competent conclusion should include:
- Date, time and place of the survey.
- Name of the subject, age and brief biographical data (address of residence, school, kindergarten, family composition, etc.).
- Who and in whose presence conducted the survey.
- Purpose of testing.
- Objective data revealed during observation.
- List of methods used.
- Test results.
- Conclusions.
- Recommendations.
Although the psychological and pedagogical examination is carried out for the court, recommendations are given to parents. If a child has increased anxiety, for example, and is traumatized by a conflict situation between parents, it is necessary to indicate what adults should do,to alleviate the condition of the minor. The court will take into account the readiness of each of them to serve the best interests of the child.
Conclusion: What parents need to know
In a civil case, a forensic psychological and pedagogical examination is carried out on a voluntary basis. Parents have the right to personally refuse to conduct it and not to examine the child. In this case, the court will interpret the refusal in favor of the party that filed the petition.
For example, a father wants to prove that the child is emotionally attached to him and wants to communicate with him. The mother refuses to bring the minor for examination, while proving that he has forgotten his father and does not want to see him. In this case, the court will take the side of the petitioner.
