Victimization of Non-Custodial Parents,Grandparents, and Children as a Function of Sole Custody

While the country has seen an increase in joint custody arrangements over the last two decades, many states still exercise a de-facto presumption of sole custody for one parent and "visitation" status for the other. However, during the last several years, evidence has mounted that sole custody/visitation arrangements create unnecessary and unwarranted victimization of non-custodial parents,grandparents, and children at the hands of the custodial parent. The purpose of this paper is to present the evidence on this victimization, in concert with the evidence from selected advocacy group publications for non-custodial parents, in an effort to expand the current investigations to a broader ecologically based perspective which includes all emotionally relevant extended family members. Methodological concerns and directions for future research will be highlighted.