Re: Use of traditional psych testing in determining reunification plans

["Rob Newell" <rmnewell@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

List,

I'm not sure who authored the post (BRubin) on the use of the Rorschach in 
child protection matters.  Unfortunately, I only have time for a brief post 
right now, but I am interested in further discussion on this topic, 
especially if my two cents can be helpful.

Although I make no claim to expertise on this issue, the Rorschach is a very 
controversial instrument, especially when applied to forensic issues. I 
subscribe to a couple of other lists on which the Rorschach was recently 
discussed ad nauseum, and I can summarize the issues as I understand them in 
a subsequent post.  I can also put interested folks in touch with various 
individuals from that list who do have expertise in this area.  As a 
starting place, however, the Dec. 2001 issue of Psychological Assessment has 
several articles on this very topic--the Rorschach.

Off the top of my head, a challenge of the eval should consist of at least 
two prongs: A challenge of the Rorschach's predictive validity regarding 
parenting ability, and the methodology empolyed by the evaluator.  In other 
words, challenge to (stated or implied) foundation for the evaluator's 
conclusions.  The referent post did not indicate the extent to which the 
evaluator used multiple methods for assessing competency to 
parent--obviously it's tough to speculate about rebuttal/critique strategies 
without actually reviewing the eval.  However, if the Rorschach was the only 
source of data, getting the eval thrown out should not be a problem.  There 
was recently a case in New Zealand where a psychologist was sanctioned for 
conducting a lousy eval--bad methodology...I can get some info on that, if 
needed.

As an aside, I'm not sure what was meant by "traditional psych testing," and 
I missed the past thread on this topic.  As with many things in life, I 
depends on who you talk to, but I consider myself trained in the use of 
"traditional" psych assessment, and as one source of data it can be very 
useful in determining parenting issues.

Hope this helps,

Robert M. Newell, Ph.D.
Seattle, Washington



Subject: Re: Use of traditional psych testing in determining reunification 
plans
Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 21:53:07 EST

I recently ran into a disturbing situation.  A client I had just begun to 
work with received a very negative psychological evaluation stating that she 
was not fit to have her kids based on her rorshach.  It looked like a shoddy 
evaluation, however, the social worker acted as if it came from Mt. Sinai 
and proceeded to block effort toward reunification.  The woman is six months 
sober which I would imagine would also compromise the validity of her 
rorshach.  I am going to appear in court to challenge this evaluation, as I 
feel the woman could and should continue to move toward reunification. I was 
going to challenge the report based on two points:  1.  I would assume the
Rorschach is not valid for determining either present ability to parent
children or one's capacity to effectively parent in the future.  2.  I would 
question the validity of a rorschach done on someone in early recovery.  I 
wonder if anyone on the listserv knows of articles or research done about 
the use of a rorschach in determining reunification decisions.  Also about 
the use of rorschach in early recovery.  I recall a while back reading 
e-mail critical of using traditional psychological testing in reunification 
decisions.

Thank You.





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