Child Advocacy and the Scientific Model in Family Court: A Theory for Pretrial Self-Assessment

Behaving as a child advocate during expert testimony in family court can introduce sources of bias and distortion into a clinician's conclusions and reduce the extent to which the professional appears “scientific.” However, child advocacy within the justice system can be viewed as a professional responsibility for clinicians working with youths. This article operationally defines child advocacy. It outlines theoretical parameters of acceptable advocacy during testimony that can be used by clinicians during pretrial self-assessment of their anticipated statements to the court.