Role of the Expert Psychologist in Hearing Proceedings

The paradigm shift that made it possible to recognize children and adolescents as rights-holders was consolidated with the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, UNICEF 1989), which established a focus on children's right to be heard and to have their opinions taken into account in judicial proceedings involving them. To ensure the realization of this right, measures were implemented to guarantee it; one such measure is the opportunity for children and adolescents to actively participate in hearings convened by judges for this purpose, with expert psychologists often being called upon to participate in these hearings as court-appointed experts. This study aims to characterize the specific role of psychologists in the Children and Adolescents' Hearing Sessions held at the Concepción Judicial Center in the Province of Tucumán, Argentina. It is a qualitative, exploratory, and cross-sectional study based on interviews with psychologists.