Principle D of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct for the American Psychological Association states:

Principle D: Justice
Psychologists recognize that fairness and justice entitle all persons to access to and benefit from the contributions of psychology and to equal quality in the processes, procedures, and services being conducted by psychologists.

Forensic psychology through the practice of child custody evaluations is in violation of Principle D of the APA ethics code.

Access to and benefit from…

Child custody evaluations cost between $20,000 to $40,000 each and take between six to nine months to complete, and child custody evaluations are required by forensic psychology in order for families to obtain input from professional psychology on child custody decision-making by the court.

The excessive financial cost of child custody evalutions of $20-40,000 per evaluation places the input of professional psychology into the court’s child custody decision-making beyond the financial capability of many families, in violation of Principle D that all persons are entitled “to access to and benefit from the contributions of psychology.“

By requiring an exceedingly extensive and exceedingly expensive child custody evaluation be conducted prior to allowing the formation of a professional opinion about child custody (arbitrarily nullifying alternative avenues of information relative to forming a professional opinion), the practice of child custody evaluations restricts “access to and benefit from the contributions of psychology” to only the wealthiest of clients.

Many divorcing families are financially depleted by the financial costs and legal expenses surrounding divorce and they cannot afford the $20-40,000 cost of a child custody evaluation.  These moderate to low income families are thereby denied input from professional psychology into the court’s decision-making on child custody and visitation, in violation of Principle D of the APA ethics code, which explicitly states that “all persons” are entitled “to access to and benefit from the contributions of psychology“

Equal quality in the processes, procedures, and services…

There is no inter-rater reliability to child custody evaluations, meaning that two different evaluators can reach entirely different conclusions and recommendations based on exactly the same data.   Child custody evaluations are thereby in violation of Principle D of the APA ethics code which requires that all persons have “equal quality in the processes, procedures, and services being conducted by psychologists.”

Forensic Psychology & Principle D

Forensic psychology and its associated professional organizations are in violation of Principle D of the APA ethics code through their continued reliance on a mandated practice of child custody evaluations that deny “access to and benefit from the contributions of psychology and to equal quality in the processes, procedures, and services being conducted by psychologists” as required by Principle D of the APA ethics code.