Assessment of the Prospective Postdivorce Environments and Self-Ratings

Abstract

The proposed model for assessment presented in this volume has reflected the theoretical assumptions underlying behavioral assessment and is consistent with the research in the areas of interactionism, classical and operant conditioning, and observational learning. Thus far, however, attention has been given only to identifying the behavioral repertoires of the children and of the prospective caretakers and their interactions in the past and current environments. Emphasis has been placed on the acquisition, maintenance, inhibition, and disinhibition of behavior and the identification of specific competencies and skill deficits. Although we are most concerned with making predictions, we have yet to address this topic directly. Of the many potential environments and alternative living arrangements available for a child, which has the greatest probability of resulting in good future adjustment? The important groundwork needed to answer this question has been laid in the previous chapters on parental competence, the functional analysis of the child’s behavioral repertoire, and observational learning. In this chapter, two areas will be examined: the necessity of assessing each of the proposed alternative environments and the importance of self-ratings in predicting future behavior.