Many disturbed parents referred for parenting assessments do not present with acute mental illness, but with severe, emotionally unstable, borderline personality disorders. 'Child centred' views of the problem(s) see the child as the 'victim' of adult psychopathology or mental illness. This usually contrasts with the parents' perceptions that it is the child which is the main 'site' requiring treatment. Many parents with psychological disturbance are likely to focus on the child if only to manage their own distress. Furthermore, it is not uncommon that the partner of a disturbed parent colludes by making the child the prime concern and thereby the 'patient' who requires treatment. Assessments which test how the family and its individual members respond to change-inducing interventions permit informed decision making. The assessment of parenting capacity consists of putting together a whole variety of pieces of information gained from different levels of the larger system.