The target sample consisted of 54 volunteer court-appointed special advocates serving throughout Alaska; 87 attorneys listed as practitioners of family law; 37 Alaska guardians ad litem; and 104 psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers listed as providing therapy to families in the 1990 Anchorage telephone directory. Results show that this sample of professionals did not hold double standards with respect to attributes important for mothers versus fathers. To the contrary, interpersonal sensitivity traits, traditionally identified as most prevalent among women, were valued equally in mothers and fathers and preferred for both parents to interpersonal potency, traditionally ascribed more readily to men. Further, decisions about custody and placement or abuse-likelihood were not affected by any sex-role stereotypes professionals held about parents nor by professionals' gender or specific occupation. The only factor that affected custody judgments and abuse likelihood ratings was the competence of the parent in question. These findings suggest that biases with regard to gender or traditional sex-role preferences for parents are disappearing among professionals who make important placement decisions in the lives of abused children. Future studies must assess whether these theoretical findings translate into actual behavior in real-life abuse cases for the professional groups represented in this sample. 6 tables and 12 references