BOOK REVIEW

Eric Baccino,
1
M.D.
Review of: Equivocal Child Abuse
REFERENCE: McPherson SB, Afsarifard F. Equivocal child
abuse. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2011, 287 pp.
The authors indicate that the goal of this book is to assist
courts, lawyers, guardians, psychologists, and physicians to deal
with the bad custody cases. But as they say He who grabs at
too much loses all: the focus and the targets of this book are
too vague and extensive. The result is a rich blend of legal
knowledge, psychological aspects, and practical cases. However,
the rationale for the organization of the book and the points of
each chapter and their titles are mostly unclear. The authors rely
more on experience and instinct than on science in their
approach to high-profile cases. For example, why does a para-
graph called Current Theory and Research on Brain Function
introduce the chapter Investigation? Weak organization of the
volume leads to repetition. Some explanations are unclear or
verbose. The use of practical cases is too extensive and repre-
sents too large a part of the book, especially considering the lim-
ited use of the expected synthesis tables and summaries.
References to Summit County and the state of Ohio permeate
this book, limiting its usefulness to non-Ohio readers.
In the first chapter Equivocality, interesting concepts are
presented and analyzed such as the parental alienation syndrome
and the child sexual abuse syndrome, as well as history of cus-
tody rights in the USA and UK, relationship of divorces with
unemployment, the organization of the family court of justice in
the United States, the application of best interest statutes in 48
states and the definition of therapeutic jurisprudence.
The second chapter The Courts is illustrated by cases and
local guidelines with the authors writing about their experiences
and points of view rather than about recognized guidelines or
scientific evidence. In their discussion on page 45 of Research
Findings, they suggest that there are no good studies to sup-
port any models, and on page 47, there is no statutory require-
ment in Ohio and some other states for selection of an expert.
The conclusion of this chapter appropriately relates the complex-
ity and enormous difficulty of attempting to provide rational
and effective frameworks
In chapter 3, Investigation, the authors describe complexity
without offering solutions. Moreover, their cases illustrate the
police work rather than the forensic practitioner activity.
Chapter 4, The Expert in the Courtroom, is a confusing mix
of law and psychology with presentation of some cases in an
attempt to make a link. The presentation of a Brown case is
too long, whereas sections on practical advice to experts (presen-
tation of expert evidence and preparing evidence) are too short.
Moreover, the conclusion should have been part of chapter 3.
The final claim that the role of the expert, rather that providing
truth and science, is to participate in the court implementing the
best interests standard while protecting the children involved is
respectable but not expected in a book for forensic scientists.
Chapter 5, Practitioner Hazards, presents a mix of statistical
data, personal cases, and the well-known Tarasoff case (this
book is clearly not for non-US citizens). The chapter does pro-
vide a potentially wise and useful checklist for defensive practice
that appears to represent the personal opinions of the authors.
Chapter 6, Intervention Options, relays many techniques to
deal with custody problems, including the so-called parental
alienation syndrome. Here again, the authors who are practitio-
ners rather than academics do not provide any gradation (except
maybe the relative importance of each situation within their own
practice) among the methods. As an example of the loose orga-
nization of this book, they include in this chapter advice regard-
ing how to be a good therapist (no references, just personal
opinion) and information about relative supervised visitation.
Chapter 7 on Mental Health Issues devotes 13 pages to a
discussion of borderline personality disorder that is too special-
ized for most readers and lacks rationale for its inclusion. It is
not clear whether the information related has a scientific basis or
merely reflects the authors personal experience. Also included
is a presentation of narcissistic and related personality patterns,
affective disorders (bipolar, major depression), and finally sub-
stance abuse with practical recommendations about psychologi-
cal and toxicological tests. Not presented are the rationale for
the choice of these diseases and their relative importance.
The short chapter 8, Working Model for the Forensic Evalua-
tor, presents a general list of the authors recommendations of
good practices. The summary, chapter 9, includes another case
discussion.
This volume might be useful as a field manual for US practi-
tioners involved in child custody cases, but I do not recommend
it as a learning tool or as a reference book.
1
Department of Forensic Medicine, University Hospital of Montpellier,
Montpellier, France.
2013 American Academy of Forensic Sciences 295
J Forensic Sci, January 2014, Vol. 59, No. 1
doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.12278
Available online at: onlinelibrary.wiley.com