James R. P. Ogloff

Child maltreatment represents a significant public health, social welfare, and legal concern, with courts and statutory agencies increasingly relying on expert assessments to inform high-stakes decisions in child protection contexts. Despite this, practitioners lack consolidated, evidence-informed guidance on how to conduct such assessments, and existing guidance lacks the specificity required to meaningfully support them in this complex area. The present paper addresses this gap by presenting evidence-informed practice guidelines for forensic child maltreatment assessment, drawing on contemporary international research and principles of forensic psychological assessment. The guidelines address the full assessment process, including referral clarification, synthesis of collateral information, hypothesis generation, child interviews, caregiver-child observation, caregiver interviews, psychometric assessment, collateral interviews, risk assessment, formulation, and recommendations. Three distinct contributions are advanced: the introduction of behaviour chain analysis as a structured method for the functional assessment of maltreating behaviour; an extension of the 5P formulation model to incorporate prognosis; and a critical appraisal of the discriminative performance of available child maltreatment risk assessment instruments. These guidelines are intended to support, not replace, clinical expertise, and to promote consistency, transparency, and defensibility in professional practice across jurisdictions.

Assessments of parent-child relationships are central to child maltreatment evaluations, yet there is limited consensus regarding which aspects are most relevant. Although parent-child relationship factors are included in maltreatment risk assessment tools, these tools vary in the specific features they identify, and definitions remain vague. This meta-analytic review aimed to synthesise evidence regarding parent-child relationship factors associated with maltreatment risk. A comprehensive search was conducted across several databases and Google Scholar in June 2024. Studies were eligible if they included maltreating and non-maltreating parent samples, used objective measures of parent-child relationship factors, and reported actual maltreatment. Data extraction and quality assessment were conducted independently by two reviewers. Twenty-six studies encompassing 6,333 parent-child dyads met inclusion criteria. Risk-related parenting behaviours (aggression, control, criticism, defensiveness, withdrawal) demonstrated a large positive association with maltreatment (r = .32, 95% CI [.18, .49]). Protective parenting behaviours (approval, affection, sensitive caregiving) showed an equally large negative association (r = -.33, 95% CI [-.64, -.04]). Protective child behaviours demonstrated a small negative association with maltreatment (r = -.04, 95% CI [-.08, -.01]), while child emotional understanding and regulation showed a large protective effect (r = -.34, 95% CI [-.59, -.12]). Child age moderated several relationships. Findings identify specific parent-child relationship factors that are empirically associated with maltreatment. Substantial heterogeneity and methodological limitations constrain confidence in these findings, highlighting the need for rigorous longitudinal research to inform risk assessment practices.

Deliberate firesetting, legally referred to as arson, can cause severe harm including injury and death, as well as significant property and environmental destruction (Arson Prevention Forum, 2017; ...

Competency to stand trial evaluations rank among the most important assessments in forensic mental health (Melton et al., 2018). Each year, it is estimated that more than 140,000 evaluations of com...

Background: Expert psychological assessments in statutory child protection proceedings are high-stakes and complex, yet practitioner-level experiences of conducting this work remain poorly understood.Objective: To explore the challenges and complexities faced by psychologists conducting court-ordered child maltreatment assessments.Participants and Setting: Six psychologists employed at a specialist, court-embedded psychological assessment service in ***, Australia.Methods: Participants completed individual semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, adopting an inductive and semantic coding approach.Results: Four interrelated themes were constructed: (1) An inexact science, capturing the balance between structured tools and nuanced clinical judgement when assessing risk; (2) Synthesising multi-source and ambiguous information, reflecting the challenge of navigating large volumes of inconsistent and unreliable documentation and self-report; (3) Navigating cultural contexts and needs, involving the application of cultural humility when working with First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse families; and (4) Translating clinical opinion into specific and meaningful recommendations, addressing the complexity of conveying nuanced clinical opinion in ways that are actionable and appropriately tailored to individual children and families.Conclusions: Child maltreatment assessment is a high-complexity, high-stakes practice domain operating with limited empirical guidance. Findings highlight urgent priorities for research and practice, including validation of risk assessment tools, specialist practitioner training, development of culturally appropriate assessment frameworks, and transparent risk communication.

The use of aggressive, violent, self-harming, and suicidal behaviour is relatively common in prison populations, and can pose risks to those who reside and work in the environment (Butler & Karimin...

Competency to stand trial evaluations represent the most common psycho-legal assessment in the United States. Notwithstanding, evaluators may face additional complexity when they suspect malingering or overreporting of psychopathology. Despite the importance of routine screening for overreporting, there remains a lack of consensus regarding the most appropriate screening tool for this context. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to evaluate the utility of three commonly used screening tools-Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M-FAST), Evaluation of Competency to Stand Trial-Revised Atypical Presentation (ATP) Scales, and Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS)-in differentiating defendants who overreport psychopathology from those who do not ("comparators") in competency to stand trial evaluations. We hypothesized that all three tools would significantly discriminate between overreporters and comparators, with the ATP Scales demonstrating the largest effect size, and each tool would demonstrate high sensitivity but moderate specificity at their recommended cutoffs. We examined 14 research reports with 20 effect sizes, comprising a total of 1,929 participants (M_age = 31.22, SD = 3.98). Findings showed that the pooled effect sizes for the M-FAST (k = 13, g = 2.75, 95% CI [2.18, 3.32]), ATP Scales (k = 5, g = 1.96, 95% CI [1.37, 2.54]), and SIMS (k = 2, g = 2.99, 95% CI [2.50, 3.48]) were all very large, far exceeding standards for interpreting effect sizes in malingering research. Owing to a paucity of data, further analysis of the SIMS was not feasible. Moreover, the M-FAST and ATP Scales demonstrated psychometric utility as screening tools, with sensitivity rates of .87 and .91, respectively. Both the M-FAST and ATP Scales appear to be effective screening tools for identifying examinees who do not require further symptom validity testing. However, considering the elevated false positive rate, positive results necessitate follow-up assessment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

BackgroundStructured professional judgement (SPJ) tools are increasingly used in statutory child welfare contexts, yet evidence for their predictive validity remains limited.ObjectiveTo evaluate whether two SPJ instruments—the Child Abuse Risk Evaluation Version-2 (CAREV2) and the Child Protection Removal Assessment (Chi-PRA)— adequately predicted subsequent judicial outcomes in court-involved families with child maltreatment related concerns.Participants and SettingArchival data from 433 parent–child dyads assessed at the Victorian Children’s Court Clinic between (2017-2022) in Australia, were deterministically linked with court records to examine post-assessment order breaches of court orders and escalation to more restrictive orders.MethodsBinary logistic regression models examined associations between risk classifications and post-assessment breach and escalation outcomes.ResultsThe most consistent associations were observed for order escalation. The CAREV2 short-term (CAT-1) and long-term (CAT-2) risk ratings and the Chi-PRA rating were associated with higher odds of escalation, with moderate- and high-risk classifications showing substantially elevated odds relative to low risk. These associations were robust across sensitivity analyses; however, overall predictive performance was modest, with limited discrimination and calibration. In contrast, the CAREV2 severity judgement (CAT-3) was not reliably associated with escalation, and neither tool demonstrated consistent associations with breach outcomes.ConclusionsThese findings underscore the importance of evaluating validity using multiple performance indices. While SPJ tools may support structured reasoning in statutory contexts, claims about their predictive capabilities should be made cautiously and transparently, with explicit attention to base rates, calibration, and outcome choice.