THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD |
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| Authors: | Joan B Kelly |
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| Institution: | Joan B. Kelly, Ph.D., is a psychologist with a background in child development, a researcher, an author, and a mediator. She is executive director of the Northern California Mediation Center and also maintains a consulting, psychotherapy, and Special Master practice. She conducts seminars in child development, divorce, and mediation research and practice and has published widely in these areas. She is past president of the Academy of Family Mediators, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, and recipient of the 1997 AFCC Stanley Cohen Distinguished Research Award. |
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| Abstract: | Despite heavy use of the concept of the "best interests" of the child, there is little consensus about what criteria constitute a child's best interests or how these criteria should be applied. This article explores some of the problems of the best interest concept, from the developmental and psychological perspective, and suggests that the concept is a worthwhile one if decision makers are able to go beyond cliches and superficial definitions. |
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