Ira Gorman, 59; Psychologist Was an Expert on Child Custody Matters

Ira Gorman, a forensic psychologist who specialized in child custody matters, has died. He was 59.

Gorman died of pancreatic cancer Saturday in Long Beach, said his daughter, Anna Gorman Metcalfe.

Testifying in more than 250 criminal, civil, juvenile and family law cases, Gorman helped judges and juries rule on child abuse, spousal battery, custody and other issues.

He was recognized throughout California as an expert on child custody, and wrote widely on the subject for such publications as the American Journal of Forensic Psychology.

A prominent psychologist in Orange County for more than 35 years, Gorman also was sought out by news media for his views on dysfunctional families and their connections to crime.

“In general,” he told The Times in 2003, commenting on a child abuse case then in the news, “people who are raised in dysfunctional settings tend to become dysfunctional adolescents and adults, and you’ll find that prisons are populated with individuals who are raised in abusive, dysfunctional and neglectful homes.”

Raised in New Jersey, Gorman earned his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers, master’s from Vanderbilt and doctorate from the California School of Professional Psychology.

From 1977 to 2004, he conducted therapy, mediation and testing at his Santa Ana-based Family Conciliation Services.

Gorman worked for the Orange County Probation Department and was a consultant to schools, police and child-help groups such as Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Gorman, who taught at Pepperdine and UC Irvine, also helped found the South County Child Abuse Task Force.

A former board member of the Orange County Psychological Assn., he received the group’s highest honor, the Orange Psi Award, in October.

In addition to daughter Anna Gorman Metcalfe, he is survived by his wife, Debra; two other children, Seth and Laurel Gorman; and two grandchildren.

Services are scheduled at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at Westminster Memorial Park, 14801 Beach Blvd., Westminster.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2221 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 131, El Segundo, CA 90245.