Joint Custody

Research results on joint custody have changed and a consensus has emerged in the psychological literature which suggests that joint custody should be a rebuttable presumption of the court. Twenty states currently have joint custody as either a presumption or a preference. The available literature also supports the following conclusions: (1) Non-custodial parents are often intentionally victimized through visitation denial, and children are hurt when the relationship with either parent is broken in that manner; (2) Children adjust much better to divorce in joint custody compared to sole custody situations; (3) Children's attachment bonds to both parents are essential for healthy development, and those bonds should be protected by the courts; (4) Joint custody leads to much higher compliance with financial child support obligations; (5) Mothers are much better adjusted and supported more in joint custody situations; (6) Litigation and relitigation is lower in states which have a presumption for joint custody; (7) Joint custody is the preferred option in high conflict situations, because it helps reduce the conflict over time-and that is in the best interests of children.     

A Move in the Right Direction? Best Interests of the Child Emerging as the Standard for Relocation Cases

SUMMARY

Relocation cases have become more common in our increasingly mobile society. After a divorce the parent with primary residential custody of a minor child may seek to move to a new location for a new partner, spouse, job, or family. The nonmoving parent objects and the courts have to decide whether to allow the child to move. This article explores the various legal approaches taken by American courts in trying to solve these difficult custody cases. While some courts presume it is not in the best interests of a child to move, others presume that it is. The majority trend, however, appears to be toward a best interests of the child standard with no presumptions.     

Single Parent Families:

The purpose of this single parent families bookshelf is to provide potential users with a sampling of recent books that deal with various aspects of single parenting. Books are focused on the time period of 1980 to 1993. Resources include primarily North American and Canadian entries. The titles are presented in the fol- lowing categories: children and one-parent families, cross-cultural references, divorced single parents, ethnicity and single parent fami- lies, frameworks for examining single parent families, never-married biological teen mother headed families, practical guides to single parent family living, single fathers with custody following separa- tion and divorce, and special issues of journals focused on single parent families.     

Influences on Professionals' Child Custody Recommendations

Professionals' recommendations of child custody in divorce cases are being viewed as increasingly important determinants of children's divorce adjustment. This study examined custody recommendations and professional and personal influences on the advice of professionals working with divorce. Subjects were 12 clergy, 24 lawyers, 25 pediatricians, 11 family physicians, 25 social workers, 24 psychologists, and 9 psychiatrists. Professionals completed a questionnaire which addressed seven areas influencing their decision making and which related professionals' recommendations in hypothetical and actual divorce cases. Data were analyzed using analyses of variance, chi-squares, and multiple regression analyses. Lawyers were found to be more professionally constrained, to have more professional experience, to be less psychologically oriented in their practice, and to be the most likely of the professionals to make custody recommendations. Sole parent custody was most often recommended in the actual case, with professional experience, professional constraints, and personal values and experience being the best predictors for sex of the custodian. Psychologicalness of practice and knowledge were the best predictors of sole parent custody with the hypothetical case, although joint custody was most often recommended.     

Factors Influencing Custody Decisions in Contested Adoption Cases

In a number of recent controversial adoption cases, courts have been forced to decide if an unwed father should be granted custody of his child when the mother purposely fails to inform him of the child's birth or of her intention to place the child for adoption. The current study utilized three bi-variate independent variables from which eight vignettes were created depicting scenarios modeled on actual court cases. It was conducted as a preliminary investigation intended to examine the factors which are important to people when making custody decisions, to see if the importance of these factors varies with circumstance, and to examine their concurrence with factors utilized in judicial decisions. The results suggest that although subjects stress the importance of characteristics associated with being a good parent, the specific circumstances of each separate case and also the subject's gender have influential effects on custody decisions.     

A Meta-analysis of Parental Satisfaction,Adjustment, and Conflict in Joint Custody and Sole Custody Following Divorce

The literature on parental satisfaction, adjustment, and relitigation in joint custody (JC) versus sole custody (SC) following divorce is reviewed. Findings are summarized for custody differences in parental demographics; time spent with father; the father–child relationship; parental satisfaction with custody; parental adjustment, including self-esteem and parenting stress or burden; conflict between ex-spouses; and relitigation. JC was associated with equivalent or better outcomes than SC in the father–child relationship, parenting stress, parental conflict and relitigation, and overall adjustment. Satisfaction with custody is greatest for both mothers and fathers when they have SC, less in JC, and least for noncustodial parents. Future researchers need larger, more representative samples followed over time.     

Divorced Father with Custody

Telephone interviews were conducted with 56 fathers who had obtained at least one-third custody of their child, an average of 4.9 years prior. Contrary to the widespread assumption among divorce professionals, there were no significant difference on measures of divorce adjustment between those who had obtained custody through mediation (n = 16) versus through litigation (n = 16), and only one near significant difference comparing these two groups to those who obtained custody through mutual agreement with their former spouse (n = 24). The interview included the Self-Worth, Social Self-worth and Social Trust subscales of the Fisher (1978) Divorce Adjustment Scales, plus items on work adjustment, symptoms of distress, and self-improvement courses attended. Correlations of background variable's with these divorce adjustment measures suggested that single-parent fathers were likely to be better adjusted if they were older and had completed college, if they had older children and greater percentages of custody, and if they were dating.     

Abusers gaining custody in family courts: A case series of over turned decisions

Abstract

This article presents findings and recommendations based on an in-depth examination of records from 27 custody cases from across the United States. The goal of this case series was to determine why family courts may place children with a parent that the child alleges abused them rather than with the nonoffending parent. We focused on “turned around cases” involving allegations of child abuse that were at first viewed as false and later judged to be valid. The average time a child spent in the court ordered custody of an abusive parent was 3.2?years. In all cases we uncovered the father was the abusive parent and the mother sought to protect their child. Results revealed that initially courts were highly suspicious of mothers' motives for being concerned with abuse. These mothers were often treated poorly and two-thirds of the mothers were pathologized by the court for advocating for the safety of their children. Judges who initially ordered children into custody or visitation with abusive parents relied mainly on reports by custody evaluators and guardians ad litem who mistakenly accused mothers of attempting to alienate their children from the father or having coached the child to falsely report abuse. As a result, 59% of perpetrators were given sole custody and the rest were given joint custody or unsupervised visitation. After failing to be protected in the first custody determination, 88% of children reported new incidents of abuse. The abuse often became increasingly severe and the children's mental and physical health frequently deteriorated. The main reason that cases turned around was because protective parents were able to present compelling evidence of the abuse and back the evidence up with reports by mental health professionals who had specific expertise in child abuse rather than merely custody assessment.     

Post-Divorce Father Custody

Summary

This study examined the effects of different custodial arrangements following divorce and the impact they have on the adult romantic functioning of the children. It used 72 undergraduate participants coming from mother custody, father custody, or non-divorced backgrounds. Results indicated that custodial arrangement had largely no significant effect on the satisfaction felt in relationships, or in general attachment style. The gender of the participant was found to be a factor, with females exhibiting more security in romantic relationships and males showing a tendency to place relationships as secondary in their lives. While non-significant findings for the custody main effect seem discouraging at first glance, a discussion ensues speculating as to the utility of parental divorce as a useful sole independent variable in future studies. With divorce becoming commonplace in America today, it seems that studying parental styles may yield results more germane to current issues.     

Practice Guidelines In Child Custody Evaluations for Licensed Clinical Social Workers

Child custody evaluations and decisions are often complicated and emotionally charged. The following guidelines are offered as a framework for clinical social workers who are asked by the judicial system to undertake these evaluations. The historical background of child custody and the theoretical considerations that have guided the courts are reviewed. The traditional areas of consideration and the empirical data related to these areas are examined. The guidelines present pertinent information regarding ethical considerations, parent–child relationship, parenting style, gender issues, parental conflict, parental alienation, domestic violence, race, religion, sexual preferences, geography, parental psychopathology, substance abuse, child’s preference, physical health of the child, and behavioral health of the child. A format for the evaluation process is described and includes the role of the clinician, confidentiality, fees, and review of documents, interviewing, home visits, psychological testing, and the actual written report. Making recommendations to the court regarding child custody is an area of practice that clinical social workers encounter in ever-increasing numbers. Clinical social workers are called upon to give recommendations regarding child custody in neglect or abuse cases, in termination of parental rights proceedings, and in the area divorce and of guardianship. In an effort to provide clinicians with scientifically grounded parameters for rendering these recommendations, the following guidelines are recommended. These guidelines provide a framework of scientific principles, along with established and accepted clinical practice, to enhance the practitioner’s decision making in these challenging and complicated cases. The guidelines are specifically designed for clinical social workers doing custody evaluations in cases of marital divorce and are restricted to that area of practice.     

Locus of Control and Marital Termination:

Abstract

This is a pilot study which compares the effects of two divorce laws on the functioning of parents and children immediately after the separation and two years later. The Parenting Act of 1987 in Washington state is a novel approach to divorce, which was intended to reduce parental conflict by focusing on parenting functions and responsibilities rather than on custody. Parents divorcing under the previous law (a no-fault, joint custody permissible approach) and their children were used for comparison. Two hundred consecutively divorcing couples, for each law, divided equally between a heavily urban county and a rural county were invited to participate. Both parents were asked to rate their own adjustment and the adjustment of each of their children. Respondents were surveyed again two years later. Proponents of the Parenting Act expected that the new law would reduce interparental conflict, help fathers stay more involved with their children, improve the reliability of support payments, and reduce the impact of divorce on children. The expected benefits of the Parenting Act were not demonstrated in this study, although children were somewhat more likely to reside with their fathers than children whose parents divorced under the “no-fault” law. Furthermore, the Parenting Act appeared to have an adverse effect on parents' post-divorce adjustment. However, the low response rate limits the reliability of these conclusions.     

A Review of Data Based Studies Addressing the Affects of Homosexual Parenting on Children's Sexual and Social Functioning

Part of the intellectual and political movement to provide homosexuals equal rights and opportunities under the law extends to homosexuals and bisexuals seeking custody of their biological children after divorce and/or custody of an adopted child. Family courts take into consideration parents' sexual orientation when considering custody decisions. To date, the data based research on children reared by homosexual parents is sparse. A search of the published literature identified fourteen data based studies which addressed some aspect of homosexual parenting and its effects on children. Each study was evaluated according to accepted standards of scientific inquiry. The most impressive finding was that all of the studies lacked external validity, and not a single study represented any sub-population of homosexual parents. Three studies met minimal or higher standards of internal validity, while the remaining eleven presented moderate to fatal threats to internal validity. The conclusion that there are no significant differences in children reared by lesbian mothers versus heterosexual mothers is not supported by the published research data base.     

Correlates of Psychosocial Adjustment in Adolescents From Divorced Families

The study was designed to identify the factors which predict psychological adjustment among 15 to 18-year-old adolescents whose parents have divorced. Psychosocial adjustment was assessed by the Youth Self Report (Achenbach, 1978, 1991). Predictors included the type of custody arrangement, the psychological adjustment of the custodial parent, factors affecting the adolescent's relationship with the non-custodial parent, demographic characteristics, stressful life events during the two years following the divorce, availability of social support, and family adaptability and cohesion. New York City high school students from divorced (n = 221) and intact (n = 215) families completed the survey instrument. Results indicated that the adjustment of adolescents from divorced families was related positively to the psychological adjustment of the custodial parent, the availability of social support, and family adaptability and cohesion. Adolescent adjustment was related negatively to the degree to which the parents displayed anger or physical abuse before and after the separation, and to the number of stressful life changes following the divorce. The factors predicting the adjustment of adolescents from intact families were similar.     

Divorced parents and adolescent girls: The bouncing ball

In clinical work with divorced families and children, the continuing unfolding of developmental and familial issues has been observed over the spectrum of many years. While custody disputes soon after a divorce often reflect a playing out of control battles and ambivalence between the parents, changes in residence that occur during adolescence, years after a divorce, are seen as reflecting ongoing parental conflicts as well as phase specific adolescent developmental and divorce-related factors. Theoretical issues that deal with the resolution of adolescent developmental tasks in divorced families are explored and clinical experiences with these adolescent girls whose parents divorced during their earlier years are presented.     

Factors Related to Custody,Visitation, and Child Support for Divorced Fathers

This study explores factors associated with variables related to custody, visitation, and child support for divorced fathers. One hundred twenty-five divorced fathers were randomly selected from court records in Roanoke County, Va. The majority of these men were noncustodial parents. Survey questions fell into one of five categories: ( 1 ) children, (2) circumstances surrounding the divorce, (3) relationship with the former spouse, (4) economic variables and, (5) background variables. In an exploratory analysis, stepwise multiple regression was utilized in order to develop a subset of independent variables that were useful in predicting the following dependent variables: custody satisfaction, visitation frequency, visitation quality, child support paid, and satisfaction with child support. Results and implications are discussed.     

The Economics of Divorce

This paper reviews the economic consequences of the current laws of marital dissolution. Findings from seven states reporting primary data are compared on three judicial trends: the basis for property awards in equal and equitable distribution states; the frequency, amount, and duration of alimony awards; and current rulings on child custody and amounts of child support awards. The major consequence of these legal rules is a deterioration in the economic well-being of women and children following divorce.     

Ethical Issues in Child Custody and Dependency Cases

Abstract

The emotional and psychological risks to children of high conflict divorce have led to the increased involvement of mental health professionals in child custody cases. Numerous service models (Greenberg & Gould, 2001; Johnston, 2000; Johnston & Roseby, 1997) have been developed to assist divorcing families in minimizing family conflict and supporting children'S needs. This underscores the need for judges and attorneys to understand the ethical and professional standards that underlie competent mental health practice in forensic cases. The practices of mental health professionals providing court-related services may have a substantial impact on the validity of their professional opinions, the effectiveness of services provided to children and families, and children'S development and adjustment. The authors suggest core ethical and clinical issues to be considered by all psychologists who work in the context of custody disputes. It is hoped that these professional practice suggestions will also be useful to attorneys and judicial officers in assessing the quality of mental health professionals' opinions.     

The Impact of Parental Divorce on College Adjustment

The prevalence of families experiencing divorce has lead to an increase in studies examining the consequences of divorce for children. Few studies have focused, however, on the possible consequences for the late adolescent/early adulthood group, and the literature concerning the impact of parental divorce on collcge ad- justment is even more sparse. The purpose of this study was to examine: (1) the impact of natural parent marital status on college adjustment; (2) the impact of Ule marital status of the custodial parent on college adjustment; and (3) the impact of age al parenlal divorce on college adjustment. The sample consisted of 341 respon- dents, 65 of whom were from divorced homes. The resulls indicated Ulat no statistically significant differences existed among student's college adjustment scores due lo the natural parent's marital slatus or the marital slatus of the custodial parent for students whose natural parenls were divorced. Age of the studenl at the time of Ihe parcnt's divorce was found to be a variable effecting college adjusunenl. Student's who were preschoolers at the time of thcir parent's divorce had signilicantly higher college adjustment scores than students who were school-age at the time of their parent's divorce.     

Parent–Child Communicational Characteristics: A Comparison Study between Subjects from Post-Divorce and Intact Nuclear Families

ABSTRACT

The occurrence of divorce seems to have impact on parent–child communication, with subsequent implications on the children well-being and development. The present study aims to analyze the influence that divorce has on parent–child communication comparing 102 participants from post-divorced families and 100 participants from intact nuclear families. Measures consisted of a sociodemographic questionnaire and Perception Scale of Parenting Communication. Despite literature indicators, the main findings reveal the absence of significant statistical differences between both family structures, concerning to parent–child communication. Overall, it was registered some statistically significant differences concerning to specific divorce variables. These findings demystifying the idea that post-divorce families establish less positive communication patterns when compared with intact nuclear families.     

Joint Physical Custody in The Netherlands and the Well-Being of Children

The frequency of contact with fathers and mothers and the amount of parental support for boys and girls is an important issue after divorce, from emotional, legal, and empirical points of view. In the Netherlands between 1998 and 2008, joint physical custody after divorce (when children actually have shared residences) has increased from 5% to 16%. It is therefore interesting to compare the effects growing up in the following different kinds of families actually has on children: (a) mother families with low contact frequency with the father; (b) mother families with high contact frequency with the father; (c) co-parenting families (joint physical custody); and (d) father families. The main conclusion is that, on average, the effects of joint physical custody for children, mothers, and especially for fathers, are slightly positive.