1FINAL PROJECT: CASE ANALYSISCase Analysis: A King Solomon’s Solution?Gabriella TorrilloPSY545 Forensic PsychologyDr. ChannellSouthern New Hampshire University23 October 2022
2FINAL PROJECT: CASE ANALYSISThe case study that I will be analyzing is “A King Solomons Solution?”. In this case, twowomen met at an event for single parents. Kim, a pharmacist, and single mother with a son,meets and befriends Halle, a consultant company owner and divorced mother of 3 girls. The twoend up marrying about a year and a half later and having two more children through in vitrofertilization in the first 5 years of their marriage. Kim and Halle decide that Kim can quit her jobas a pharmacist and Halle can more than comfortably support the family.7 years of marriage go by, and Halle wants a divorce, and would like to remarry her firstwife. Kim also ends up finding out that Halle had been having an affair with her ex-wife for thepast three years. In terms of child custody, Halle demands custody of the two children theyadopted together, along with Kim’s biological son, who apparently, has built a strong relationshipwith her. It is important to note that Kim had her son from a previous relationship, beforemarrying Halle; Halle had her 3 girls from her previous marriage and before being married toKim; the pair had two more children together through in vitro. Halle and her ex-wife nowdemandfullcustody of all 6 children and threaten Kim with taking her to court. Kim ends upcountersuing Halle and her ex-wife forsharedcustody of Halle’s three children since they haveall developed a strong familial bond.According to Horvath et al. (2002), “When family members cannot agree to a custodyarrangement in a divorce or other legal matter…a mental health professional conducting acustody evaluation” is one of the standard practices used in custody battles. My assigned forensicpsychologist would obviously be the said mental health professional. According to theGuidelines for child custody evaluations in divorce proceedings (APA, 1994) custodyevaluations consist of determining “individual and family factors that affect the bestpsychological interests of the child”. The forensic psychologist, while they do not make the final
3FINAL PROJECT: CASE ANALYSIScall, play a detrimental role in relaying unbiased information to the court. Another issue thatwould need to be addressed would be the needs of the children, what would be the leasttraumatizing for them, as well as what is the safest option. We knew that Kim was a pharmacist,is there any reason for the court to worry that if she does not get shared custody she may turn todrugs since they are so easily accessible? Or is there reason to think that Halle would be unableto take care of all 5 kids on her own? Or even if the children would even like Halle’s wife if theyknew that she was the main reason of their parent’s divorce? While these may sound crazy to sayout loud, these are possible scenarios that need to be thought of beforehand.
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