ABSTRACT
Clinicians who are commissioned as expert witnesses to assess families are often asked to give an opinion about the attachment of a child to their parents or other key relatives. The issue central to the proceedings will turn on whether the child has suffered significant harm and the question about attachment is usually given prominence when the court is considering the care plan for the child. The quality of the child’s attachments to birth parents is then considered to have predictive value if there is to be an attempt at rehabilitation or continuing direct contact, even when there has been a finding of maltreatment.
