Custody Arrangements Research Articles

32-Week Holding-Time Study of SUMMA Polished Canisters and Triple Sorbent Traps Used To Sample Organic Constituents in Radioactive Waste Tank Vapor Headspace

Two sampling methods [SUMMA polished canisters and triple sorbent traps (TSTs)] were compared for long-term storage of trace organic vapor samples collected from the headspaces of high-level radioactive waste tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site in Washington State. The two methods were found to provide generally equivalent results. Because safety, quality assurance, radiological controls, and somewhat complex sample custody arrangements frequently precluded rapid analysis, the long-term stability of the sampling media during storage needed to be addressed. Samples were analyzed with a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS) using cryogenic preconcentration or thermal desorption sample introduction techniques. SUMMA canister samples were also analyzed for total non-methane organic compounds (TNMOC) by GC/flame ionization detector (FID) using EPA Compendium Method TO-12 . The 31 target organic analytes studied represented compounds with widely varying polarities and volatilities. To verify the long-term stability of the sampling media, multiple samples were collected in parallel from a typical passively ventilated radioactive waste tank known to contain moderately high concentrations of both polar and nonpolar organic compounds. Two sets of sorbent trap samples were collected to compare the effects of storage under refrigerated (−20 °C) and room temperature conditions. Analyses for organic analytes and TNMOC were conducted at increasing intervals over a 32-week period to determine whether any systematic degradation of sample integrity occurred. Analytes collected in the SUMMA polished canisters generally showed good stability over the full 32 weeks with recoveries at the 80% level or better for all compounds studied. The TST data showed some loss (50−80% recovery) for a few high-volatility compounds even in the refrigerated samples; losses for unrefrigerated samples were far more pronounced with recoveries as low as 20% observed in a few cases. Long-term stability for the other compounds studied was deemed to be generally satisfactory at the 80% recovery level.

Mom's House? Dad's House? Attitudes toward Physical Custody Changes

Normative beliefs regarding postdivorce changes in the physical custody of children were examined. Four hundred and eighty randomly selected adults responded to a vignette about a divorced couple and their 16-year-old child. Conditions in the vignette included child gender, legal custody arrangements, and marital status. Quantitative and open-ended data were collected. Several themes emerged: (a) the parenting ability and lifestyle of fathers are suspect, (b) fathers are more obligated to sons than to daughters, (c) mothers are more obligated than fathers to take their children in when the children want to move, and (d) children's motivations for changing residences are important considerations. Implications for future research and legal custody decisions are discussed.

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.

Evolution of Residential Custody Arrangements in Separated Families

Summary This study tracks the evolution of three types of residential custody arrangements over a two-year period: sole custody with the father (n = 59 children), sole custody with the mother (n = 69 children), and joint custody (n = 69 children). Three categories of change were defined: (a) no change, (b) minor change (changing the schedule of visits or residence with a parent), and (c) major change (changing the custody arrangement). The results show that a minority of children changed custody arrangement but almost half the children in joint custody changed custody arrangements during the two years of the study. More young children and more girls changed custody arrangements, and girls who changed custody usually went to their mothers. With time, a type of polarization may be observed toward sole custody because there were less parents truly active in child custody at T2 than at Tl.

Predictors of Maternal Preference for Joint or Sole Legal Custody

The current study examined several demographic and psychosocial predictors of mothers' legal custody preference early in the process. Simple logistic regressions between these predictors and custody preference were completed. Variables that had a significant or marginally significant simple relation with legal custody preference were included in a simultaneous regression predicting custody preference. Only mother's perceptions of her ex-husband's parenting competence uniquely predicted legal custody preference. Key Words: children, divorce, joint legal custody. Kathryn L. Wilcox, Sharlene A. Wolchik**, and Sanford L. Braver Cherlin (1992) estimates that over 40% of the children in this generation will live in a divorced, single parent family before they turn 16 years of age. Further, researchers have shown that can have a negative effect on all family members (e.g., Amato & Keith,1991a, 1991b) and have argued that a better understanding of the factors that affect postdivorce adjustment is needed to develop effective policy and interventions to prevent these negative effects (Felner & Farber, 1980; Felner, Terre, & Rowlison, 1988). This paper examines maternal legal custody preferences, an early indicator of postdivorce custody outcomes. Custody options have expanded in the last 20 years (see Emery, 1994 for a review of current custody options). Joint custody, as well as the more traditional sole mother and sole father custody, is an option in the custody statutes of 40 states and noted in case law in several of the remaining states (Emery, 1994). Further, some states have a preference for joint legal custody, which requires that joint legal custody is awarded unless sufficient evidence is presented to show that another form of custody will be more adaptive (Ferreiro, 1990). Despite the growing number of custody options, Fox and Kelly (1995) note that knowledge remains quite limited regarding the conditions that are associated with mothers and fathers receiving custody of children at divorce (p. 693). Viewing as a process, it is reasonable to expect that many experiences related to the will predate and influence the final custody outcome. One important influence is maternal pre-decree custody preference, which has been closely linked to custody outcome (Maccoby & Mnookin, 1992). Custody preference, rather than custody outcome, is the focus of this study for three reasons. First, because custody preferences are established early in the custody decision process, they are likely to more accurately reflect what parents want regarding their custody arrangement, rather than what they believe they can get. Further, because preferences are not legal mandates and are, therefore, more malleable than outcomes, determining predictors of maternal custody preferences may help mediators, counselors, and intervention developers assist parents to select a custody arrangement that is more consistent with the needs of their children and themselves. Finally, custody preferences may affect the degree of satisfaction individuals have with their mandated custody outcomes. When parents get what they prefer regarding their custody outcomes, they will more likely be satisfied with the outcome. Arditti (1992) suggests that satisfaction with one's custody status is possibly more important than the final outcome itself. For example, custody satisfaction and parents' perceptions of conflict throughout the are correlated; therefore, greater custody satisfaction could be related to the successful navigation of the changes families must undergo throughout the process. Several researchers have observed gender differences in satisfaction with legal custody status. For example, fathers are very satisfied with joint legal custody (Arditti, 1992; Pearson & Thoennes, 1990); however, mothers are most satisfied with sole custody outcomes (Pearson & Thoennes, 1990). …

The Individual, the Family, and Social Good: Personal Fulfillment in Time of Change

Melton, Gary B., The Individual, the Family, and Social Good: Personal Fulfillment in Time of Change. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. 227 pp. IBSN #0803231857, cloth price $35; paper price: $20. This volume is the forty-second to be published from the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Anyone well versed in family policy and research may not find a substantial amount of new material in any given chapter, but the collection overall is broad enough (covering psychology, economics, anthropology, law and politics) that almost any reader will find something interesting and unfamiliar in it. As Melton states in this introductory chapter, this symposium is not only the most diverse of the entire Nebraska series, but much of it is also uncharacteristically cautionary in tone. (Actually, he claims the chapters are emotionally charged, which must be relative to the even more academic style of previous volumes.) The chapter by James Garbarino is typical of his work, both stylistically and substantively, and is one of the best parts of the book. Engagingly written, it argues that the reason that children and families face so many problems in the 1990s is that their social environment-in the form of television, violence, economic and other stressors-has become increasingly toxic. I have two minor complaints with this chapter. One section seems to blame our torn social fabric on the decline of and highrisk neighborhoods. My other complaint is that Garbarino's laudable solutions are somewhat divorced from current political and economic realities. Tom Tyler and Peter Degoey attempt to tie family and community approaches to the promotion of social good by viewing the dynamics of social good through a social-psychological lens. This sounds very promising and perhaps most central of all the chapters to the focus of this volume and series. It does include some interesting research on attitudes toward procedural justice in terms of the perceived legitimacy of various kinds of authority and of family and community social identification. But it may be a reflection of how far social psychology has strayed from its applied roots that this chapter ignores so much valuable family and community psychological theory, research, and intervention. Given that Mati Heidments is a professor of social and environmental psychology in Estonia, it is surprising that, except for a brief but enlightening section on communist housing policy, his chapter ignores environmental influences on individual behavior and family well-being. Although it provides an interesting counterpoint to the others, reflecting the recent macropolitical and social upheavals in Eastern Europe, it may be a little too philosophical to have much direct relevance for addressing family problems in either society, and its conclusions are overgeneralized in their point-by-point comparison of communism (bad) and his society's post-capitalist (good) future. The other three chapters seem more thorough and practical, perhaps because they are more narrowly focused on disordered social relations within the family. Allen Parkman examines the deterioration of the family from a law and economics perspective. Jill Korbin explores cross-culturally the positive and negative influences of social networks and family violence and Eleanor Maccoby discusses the rights, needs, and obligations of mothers, fathers, and children in divorce and custody arrangements. …

THE EFFECTS OF DIVORCE AND CUSTODY ARRANGEMENTS ON CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR, DEVELOPMENT, AND ADJUSTMENT

This article summarizes the consensus among a group of experts from developmental and clinical psychology, sociology, social welfare, and law who sought to evaluate existing empirical evidence regarding the ways in which children are affected by divorce and the varying custody arrangements that follow it. Divorce and/or single parenthood tend to have adverse effects on children's adjustment, with the magnitude of the effects varying depending on the psychological status of the two parents, the extent of conflict between them, and the financial circumstances, particularly after divorce. Children whose nonresidential parents continue to support them financially, those whose custodial parents are psychologically healthy, and those who have and maintain meaningful relationships with nonresidential parents tend to be affected less by the divorce, especially when there is no conflict between the parents. Interventions should thus be designed with these factors in mind.

Judges' Reliance on Psychological, Sociological, and Legal Variables in Contested Custody Decisions

Judges' use of case specific data in determining child custody arrangements was examined. Information collected on 60 contested initial disposition or disposition modification cases was used to model judicial decision-making. The sample was not representative of the full population of divorcing families in that it was disproportionately comprised of high conflict cases in which there were few unequivocally safe placement options. Our results indicated that judges generally followed the legal statutes, attended to the nature of family relationships, and did not rely on a general preference for one parent. Moreover, they demonstrated a strong reliance on the impressions and recommendations of Guardian Ad Litcm personnel. However, some notably important case information was not weighted heavily in judges' decisions. In particular, information regarding the degree of parental conflict, consistently found to be very important to post-divorce child adjustment, did not appear to be used by judges in these cases. Moreover, neither parental substance abuse nor a history of child abduction by a parent influenced decision-making. Implications of these findings are discussed.

An Icelandic Study of Five Parental Life Styles

An Icelandic family study1 of a nationwide random sample of 846 responding parents is presented. It consists of (a) a comparative group of married/cohabiting parents and four groups of single parent families, i.e., (b) widowed parents, (c) parents never in cohabitation, (d) divorced parents with custody (mainly women) and finally (e) divorced parents without custody (mainly men). Fathers without custody is a special group of single parent, families in Iceland (that relates to the social family profile, legislation, divorce rate and proportion of children born out of marriage). The main results of the fathers' situations, their complaints and wishes are presented. The fathers express more discontent with the custody arrangements than their visiting rights. For the other (single parent) groups family interaction is frequent and makes up a strong network of (social and emotional) support. The divorced fathers' marginal position in the family is reflected, i.e., in their restricted pattern of family interaction. The children of divorced parents lose more contact with their grandparents and other relatives in their fathers' family than with their mothers' family. The divorced fathers without custody have longer working hours and less good housing than the other groups. They express their unhappiness over loss of responsibility of their children, They suffer more than the other groups from sleep disturbances and sad thoughts.

The impact of illness disclosure and custody plans on adolescents whose parents live with AIDS.

To describe the disclosure and custody planning of parents living with AIDS and the impact of these on their adolescents' adjustment. An examination of the association of multiple behaviour problems in children and the illness disclosure and custody plans of their parents living with AIDS. Both mothers (87%) and fathers were significantly more likely to disclose their HIV serostatus to adolescents (73%), compared with younger children (23%); only 44% disclosed their illness to all their children; 11% disclosed to none. Most parents (80%) living with AIDS had discussed their custody plans. However, only 30% initiated legal plans, typically for younger children. Adolescents who were informed of their parents' serostatus engaged in more sexual risk acts, smoked more cigarettes, and reported more severe substance use and greater emotional distress than uninformed adolescents. Legal custody arrangements were not associated with adolescent adjustment at recruitment or follow-up. A longitudinal analysis of the impact on adolescents of the behaviours of parents living with AIDS is needed.

Cooperative Parenting Arrangements After Marital Separation

The identification of factors that predict cooperation and agreement between ex-spouses is important to understanding and promoting healthy post-divorce among parents and their children. This study of 64 separated and divorced parents was intended as an initial investigation of ex-couples who are able to negotiate and maintain mutually agreeable shared parenting arrangements, without legal or mental health intervention. As expected, these cooperating ex-couples selected from a wider range of custody and access arrangements than demographically similar ex-couples in disagreement about parenting arrangements. Also consistent with expectation, interparental cooperation and disagreements influenced the proportions of time children spent with their parents, whereas type of custody and access arrangement did not. Although all children tended to spend more time with their mothers than with their fathers, this discrepancy was greater for disagreeing than cooperating ex-couples. As hypothesized, histories of domestic violence were less likely among cooperating ex-couples than disagreeing ex-couples. Finally, the hypothesis that cooperating ex-couples are generally more satistied with their lives than disputing ex-couples was supported by the results of a MANOVA. However, subsequent univariate analyses revealed that cooperating and disagreeing ex-couples did not differ in their levels of satisfaction with their social lives and their financial situations. These findings and additional exploratory comparisons between the two groups were interpreted as potential avenues for subsequent investigations of cooperating ex-couples.

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.

The effects of divorce and custody arrangements on children's behaviour, development and adjustment

A group of experts from developmental and clinical psychology, sociology,social welfare, and law met at a conference centre in Middleburg, Virginiaon December 1-4, 1994, under the sponsorship of the U.S. National Instituteof Child Health and Human Development. The group's mandate was to evaluateexisting knowledge regarding the ways in which children are affected bydivorce and the varying custody arrangements that follow it. Many of thediscussions also addressed the ways in which the adverse effects of divorcemight be ameliorated by changes in policy or practice. This documentrepresents a statement co-signed by most of the participants summarizingareas of agreement regarding the current status of knowledge in this areaand outlining topics in need of further research. The report is designed toguide various legislatures, the judiciary, the bar, and the various mentalhealth professionals who are involved in counselling or educating familiesexperiencing separation or divorce, as well as those who mediate oradjudicate the disputes regarding the custody of minor children. Thepreliminary draft of this consensus document was prepared by Michael E. Lamband Kathleen J. Sternberg following the three-day conference, withadditional redrafting by Ross A. Thompson. The draft was reviewed andrevised by the other participants over the ensuing months. This report,revised in accordance with the participants' comments, is a product of this process.

Custodial Arrangements and Parental Conflict following Divorce: The Impact on Children's Adjustment

This article presents a review of the substantial literature concerned with the question of how children from divorced families adjust under different custodial arrangements. Existing empirical research tends to be methodologically weak, and the results reported have been inconsistent. Moreover, the level of interparental conflict present in the family before and after the divorce appears to be a powerful mediating variable that affects children's adaptation to different custodial situations. It is concluded that custodial decisions should be made on an individual basis, with no presumption that custody should be awarded to either the mother or the father. It is clear that regardless of the decision regarding custody, parents should be educated regarding the importance of avoiding overt hostility and establishing a workable co-parenting relationship.

Judicial Attitudes Regarding Custody and Visitation Issues

State judges in Louisiana were surveyed by mail with regard to their attitudes dealing with custody and visitation issues. The most preferred custody arrangement was school year with one parent and summer with the other parent, followed by (2) continuous custody by one parent, (3) alternate six months, (4) alternate months, (5) alternate weeks, and finally, (6) split week. The most preferred visitation schedule was every othcr weekend followed by (2) every weekend, (3) more often than every weekend, (4) one weekend per month, and finally (5) less than one weekend per month. When askcd to rate the importance of 12 factors which are considered in custody decisions, the highcst ratings wcrc given to factors dealing with parent-child relationships and the family unit. The lowest ratings were assigned to the preferences of younger children.

Attitudes of Quebec Superior Court Judges Regarding Child Custody and Visitation Issues

Judges of the Superior Court of Qucbec located in Montreal were surveycd with regard to their attitudes dealing with custody and visitation issues. The most preferred physical custody arrangements were School Year With and Summer With the Other Parent and Continuous Custody by Parent. The remaining arrangements which were considered were “Alternate Six Months, Alternate Months, Alternate Weeks, and Split Week. With regard to visitation schedules, clear preferences werc not apparent. Less Than Weekend Pcr Month was the lcast preferred of the options. There were no differences among More Than Weekend, Every Weekend, Every Other Weekend, and One Weekend Per Month. When asked to rate the importance of 13 factors which are considered in custody decisions, the highest ratings were given to factors dealing with parent-child relationships and the family unit. The lowest ratings were assigned to the preferences of younger children.

Culturally Specific Programs for Foster Care Youth: The Sample Case of an African American Rites of Passage Program

In tandem with increased recognition that many social interventions have been limited by their failure to deal with issues related to ethnicity, program developers are increasingly utilizing culturally specific programming in the design and implementation of programs for youth and families. We describe a culturally specific rites of passage program designed for African American youth in foster care as an adjunct to an independent living program. In addition, we present some preliminary evaluative data of this Africentric rites-based initiative. THE SAMPLE CASE OF AN AFRICAN AMERICAN RITES OF PASSAGE PROGRAM* Stephen id. Gavazzi, Keith A. Alford, and Patrick C. McKenry he literature concerning the impact of family system characteristics on adolescent growth and development is burgeoning (cf. Anderson & Sabatelli, 1990; Bartle & Sabatelli, 1989; Brody, Moore, & Glei, 1994; Gavazzi, 1993; Henry, 1994; Sabatelli & Anderson, 1991), as is the literature on the development of prevention and intervention efforts targeting adolescents and their families (Blumenkrantz & Gavazzi, 1993; Dumka, Roosa, Michaels, & Suh, 1995; Gavazzi, 1995; Guerney, Guerney, & Cooney, 1985; L'Abate, 1990; Sporakowski, 1992). However, at the same time, little attention has been directed to the study of adolescents who are experiencing out-of-home placement, including those who are placed within a foster care environment. In particular, inadequate information is available about the impact of foster family characteristics on adolescent adjustment. Concurrently, little emphasis has been given to the development of prevention and intervention initiatives that target youth in foster care placement (Schuerman, Rzepnicki, & Littell, 1994). All youth who are experiencing foster care are placed in a dependency relationship outside their family of origin. Upon removal from their families, certain normative developmental pathways toward self-sufficiency are altered for these youth. In particular, youth who are moving from a dependent custody arrangement to independent living status are faced with a relatively abrupt transition into adulthood. Research suggests that youth who are dealing with this critical life transition are placed at high risk of continued dependency on the community well into their adult lives. This continued dependency is most evident in the use of welfare and Medicaid and/or periods of institutionalization. Also, because of the declining economic opportunities within most metropolitan environments, urban youth are at even greater risk of continued dependency, a situation compounded by ethnic status (Jackson & Westmoreland, 1992). One response to this problem has been to use life skills training programs within the context of traditional independent living programs that have been designed to directly facilitate the youth's movement toward adult self-sufficiency prior to emancipation. Self-sufficiency most often is equated with the youth's ability to accomplish any or all of the following: (a) graduation from high school, (b) maintenance of a stable job, (c) accessing appropriate health care services, (d) avoidance of young parenthood, (e) establishment of a social network, and (f) development and maintenance of a positive self-concept (cf. Daniel Memorial Institute, 1991). National studies of independent living programs (Westat, 1991) have reported significant relationships between the exposure to life skills training programs and the accomplishment of many of these self-sufficiency criteria. However, this report also has noted the lack of programmatic impact on (a) avoidance of early parenthood, (b) obtaining higher levels of educational achievement, and (c) establishment of a social network (Westat, 1991). It has been hypothesized that life skills programs that do not focus on issues related to the cultural backgrounds of the program participants may achieve limited success. When youth are taken out of their family of origin's homes, often they are removed from their immediate social and/or cultural community as well (Gill & Jackson, 1983; Mullender & Miller, 1985). …

Determinants of Child Custody Arrangements at Divorce

Among the most difficult decisions made at divorce are those concerning child custody. Emotional attachments, fairness, and the economic consequences for children and parents are among the issues involved in arriving at a custody disposition. Given the difficulty of these issues, as well as the significant transformations in divorce law related to custody that took place in the 1970s and 1980s, it is not surprising that substantial and often-heated policy debates concerning legal and de facto custody arrangements at divorce are common (cf. Chambers, 1979; Fineman & Opie, 1987). Yet knowledge remains quite limited regarding the conditions that are associated with mothers and fathers receiving custody of children at divorce (Maccoby & Mnookin, 1992, pp. 11-12). Indeed, with a few notable exceptions (Seltzer, 1990; Teachman & Polonko, 1990), we lack well-controlled studies of representative samples of divorces that analyze the determinants of custodial outcomes. Development of comprehensive models of custodial outcomes has lagged despite their importance for law, social science, and public policy. From a legal perspective, it is notable that during the 1970s and 1980s state statutory and case law regulating the disposition of child custody at divorce became increasingly gender neutral. The prior maternal preference standard for children of tender years was replaced with a gender-neutral best interests standard. This change fostered debate over whether the apparently gender-neutral written law had actually resulted in a gender-neutral law. Some feminist scholars argued that gender neutrality in the law had created a bargaining advantage for fathers because it removed the presumption of a maternal preference for young children (Fineman & Opie, 1987; Weitzman, 1985). Others, notably fathers' rights advocates, argued that, in spite of changes in the written law, the living law exercised by judges and lawyers still operated with a powerful maternal bias (Roman & Haddad, 1978). It is interesting that, in spite of these contradictory claims concerning the impact of law on custodial outcomes, mothers continue to be the sole physical custodians of most children after divorce even though some increases have been registered in the formation of father-custody households subsequent to divorce (Furstenberg & Cherlin, 1991). Given the persistence of traditional custodial patterns in the face of significant legal change, it is imperative that we develop models to better understand the conditions under which custody is awarded. From a social scientific perspective, custodial dispositions are important because the arrangements that parents settle on, or have settled upon them, reflect to a great extent their relative preferences, resources, and power. Custodial outcomes reveal much about how parents and the law assess the well-being of children and about the state of gender relations among parents (Seltzer, 1990, p. 251). By developing analyses of the conditions that influence custody awards to mothers versus fathers, we should gain insights into gender processes as they operate through divorce. From a public policy perspective, it is important to recognize that legislators and the courts are deeply concerned about the consequences of the legal divorce arrangements made for children. With whom the child lives is important because it is this person who provides the daily intimate interaction critical for the child's development. It is also largely through the primary dare provider(s) that the child has access to economic resources. Yet, if we do not understand the processes by which custody arrangements are made, the task of assessing the impact of custodial arrangements on children becomes an uncertain endeavor. With these considerations in mind, we present the results of a comprehensive model of child custody arrangements in final judgments of a census of divorce cases from a large and diverse Michigan county. …

Home Is Where They Have to Let You In

Normative expectations regarding changes in the physical custody of children following divorce were examined in this study. Two hundred twenty-two women and 88 men whose names were drawn randomly responded to a vignette about a divorced couple and their 16-year-old son. In response to a variety of scenarious, participants indicated whether the child should be allowed to change residence. Forced-choice responses, analyzed using multinomial logistic regression, yielded no significant main or interaction effects. Several general themes, however, were evident in the open-ended responses: (a) The wishes of the child should prevail in postdivorce physical custody changes; (b) mothers have a more unconditional obligation to their children than fathers; (c) men's parenting skills and abilities are somewhat suspect; and (d) court-appointed custody arrangements have little influence on postdivorce physical custody changes. Considering that informal modifications in physical custody are common, it is suggested that future research move beyond court-ordered settlements to understand better the effects of divorce on children.

Normative Beliefs about Parents' and Stepparents' Financial Obligations to Children following Divorce and Remarriage

Family forms are changing rapidly, but are cultural belief systems changing at the same pace? For instance, what are the cultural norms regarding a parent's financial responsibility for his or her children following divorce? What are the financial responsibilities of stepparents toward their stepchildren? Understanding cultural beliefs such as these is an important step in the process of planning appropriate public policy and effective educational and intervention programs. Rather than basing programs and policy entirely on what experts believe to be the best approach, it may be more efficient to first ascertain what values and beliefs are extant in society and to build upon these. Experienced clinicians advise novice therapists to begin where the client is. This recommendation is fitting for social policy makers and family practitioners alike. The primary objective of this study is to assess societal expectations regarding family obligations following marital dissolution and remarriage. A key issue in these family transitions is financial responsibility for children. Therefore, normative obligations regarding the financial support of children are specifically examined. It probably is safe to assume that most Americans believe that parents are obligated to financially support their minor children until the children are capable of being self-sufficient. The institutions of society, including laws and social policy, are built around this expectation. Many people also would agree that divorce does not end parents' obligation to financially support their children. However, because there is a wide variation in noncustodial fathers' levels of involvement with their children and in the amount of economic support they provide for them, some researchers have concluded that there is an absence of clear norms or rules regarding fathers' responsibilities postdivorce (e.g., Seltzer, 1991b). Parents' financial support of children following divorce is by no means a uniform phenomenon. Despite the passage of stricter child support legislation in recent years, many divorced parents, usually fathers, either fail to pay child support, are negligent in their payments, or pay an insufficient amount to adequately support their children. According to 1987 U.S. Census Bureau figures, 50% of noncustodial fathers who are required to pay child support do not pay the full amount, and 25% of these fathers pay nothing at all (Peters, Argys, Maccoby, & Mnookin, 1993). Partly as a result of this reduced financial support, children whose parents divorce often find that their standard of living drops dramatically. Divorce can mean a decrease of 25% to 30% in household income for mothers and children (Hoffman & Duncan, 1988). Major reductions in household income can have severe consequences. For many children, it means that they must live at or below the poverty level. Of all the children eligible to receive child support in 1981, 35% were living in poverty and nearly 30% were receiving some form of welfare assistance (Nichols-Casebolt, 1986). The economic conditions that define poverty threaten children's immediate well-being and place them at risk of long-term disadvantage. Poor children are likely to experience a number of serious risk factors, including malnutrition, physical and psychological stress, abuse and neglect, chronic and untreated health problems, and learning disabilities (Chafel, 1993). Even those children who do not become impoverished following parental divorce may have their life course drastically altered due to reductions in household finances. For example, divorced women and their children are often forced to move into less expensive housing in a new neighborhood and school district. Such moves uproot children at a time when they are already having to adapt to major changes in their lives. The stress associated with these transitions adds to the stress of parental separation. The custody arrangement of children following divorce is often related to the level of financial support they receive. …