Child-welfare recommendations in contested divorce and separation cases. Critical family situations and problematical behavior patterns on the part of parents and children.

Out of a collection of 121 child and adolescent psychiatric or psychological recommendations in family court cases, some 60 opinions were subjected to retrospective study. All the cases studied involved a single child to be recommended. In a retrospective analysis, the aim was to identify dangerous psychological constellations in the separating families, in particular typical behavioral and coping patterns of the parents in the process of separation and the typical reactive patterns of the children caught in the process. The study is designed as a descriptive analysis with the aim of sensitizing the helping-systems involved to better perception of such problem constellations. Thus it offers recommendations for parents, lawyers, judges and social-workers in the separation process.