Custody Arrangements Research Articles

Discrepancies Between Custodial Awards and Custodial Practices:

Courts specify custodial arrangements implicitly assuming that the arrangements for parental decision making and the children's day-to-day care will be followed. This paper reports on structured interviews with 63 parents which suggest that, in many instances, there are discrepancies between custody awards and custodial practices for both legal and physical custody. These departures from the custodial award were most common in families who had been granted joint legal custody with sole physical custody. Implications of these findings for families, for social policy, and for research are discussed.

Research on Stepfamilies

This paper identifies and elaborates the unique conditions that differentiate stepfamilies from first families and evaluates and critiques the theory and methods used to study stepfamilies. The paper begins with a summary of past and current demographic trends, followed by a discussion of children and their custodial arrangements, the factor that most profoundly distinguishes a stepfamily from a first family. Next, the difficulties associated with stepmother, stepfather, and stepchild positions are reviewed. Certain processes (e.g. commitment, cohesion, communication) are important for the formation and stable maintenance of all family groups. One of these processes, boundary maintenance, is used to illustrate the unique experiences of stepfamilies. The stepfamily as a high risk setting is next discussed. Suggestions that are offered in the literature to explain stepmember vulnerability to abuse are summarized. The paper concludes with a discussion of theory and methods and the progress, problems, and promising directions of this research topic.

Professionals' Influences on Child Custody Decisions

Custody arrangements define parent-child relationships after divorce and may subsequently impact children's adjustment. The goal of this study is to identify the sources which influence custody decisions and to determine the association between arrangements and changes in the child's and parents' lives. Subjects were 72 divorced parents referred from local professionals. They completed forms addressing changes in family members' lives and aspects of their custody arrangement, including the role influencers played in decision-making. Custody arrangements did not predict life change events. Attorneys were contacted most often, followed by friends and family, who frequently provide helpful emotional support (p <.001). Recommendations about custody and living arrangements and types of assistance offered did not differ by type of decision influencer. Physicians and clergy were considered most helpful overall (p <.0005). Data suggests that professionals need to be visible and helpful to influence parental decis...

A longitudinal examination of single custodial fathers: implications for treatment

Abstract Follow-up data gathered three years after a 1982 survey of fathers raising children alone provides a longitudinal examination of 28 fathers who remained single custodians and 22 fathers who remarried. At follow-up, the single fathers' custodial arrangements had not changed significantly overall, confirming earlier cross-sectional findings. The remarried fathers were likely to wed mothers with custody, tended to be more involved in housework in their present marriage than in their previous one, and reported that their ex-wives' involvement with the children had not been affected by the remarriage. Recommendations for family therapists are included.

When is a parent out of the picture? Different custody, different perceptions.

This study investigated how 200 children from mother-, father-, or joint-custody arrangements perceived their divorced families. The authors argue that it is not the type of custody that shapes the child's view of whether one parent is peripheral but, rather, the nature of relationships within the various custody arrangements.

Fathers with joint physical custody of young children: A preliminary look

Abstract Fathers with joint physical custody of children under age 6 report that this custody arrangement is of great benefit to the children, especially in circumstances where mothers have initiated the divorce and have sought less childcare responsibility. Joint physical custody fathers are highly available and provide closeness as the sole parent in charge. However, they also experience role overload and household management problems, and continue to feel hostility toward their former wives who have cut back on family responsibilities.

Healthy Single Parent Families

The purpose of this study was to investigate characteristics of healthy single parent families. The variables that were measured included socio-economic status, social support, communication, religiousness, problem solving, and the physical and mental health status of single parents and their children. The effects of the sex of custodial parents and the custody arrangements on health outcomes were also analyzed. A multimethod, multivariable approach was used. A total of 84 subjects participated in this study. Data collection included the completion of questionnaires and an interview in the home setting. Single parents and their children reported fairly high levels of both physical and mental health. Communication, social support, socio-economic status, religiousness and problem solving were also correlated with the mental and physical health of parents and children. Implications for practice and education are discussed and recommendations for further study are made.

Mothers without Custody and Child Support

Mothers without custody are a population of single parents about which little is known. Data drawn from a 1983 US self-selected sample of 517 mothers were analyzed to learn about 1 aspect of their lives: their child support payments. The mean age of the 517 mothers was 38.9 years and the mean number of years without custody was 3.95 years. 26% had split custody with at least 1 child 18 years old and under living with them and another 7% had split custody if children over 18 still living with the mother are included. Slightly less than 5% of the mothers had remarried. 66% had had their custody arrangement legalized and 61% had custody when the marriage 1st ended. About 50% said a step-mother was currently involved in raising the children living elsewhere. The mean annual income of the mothers was $16298. 14.3% said they paid some child support. The amounts of child support paid ranged from $1 to $125 per week with $50 being the most common amount paid. When the number of children being raised elsewhere is included the mean amount of support per child was $28.67. Mothers who paid support 1) earned a higher annual income $19210 than mothers who did not $15620; 2) were less likely to be living with one of their children of any age; and 3) tended to describe themselves as being more involved with their children living elsewhere. Some mothers pay support because they are required to by the court; some pay so that they can stay more involved with the children. Most mothers are not paying child support for financial reasons sometimes because the judge or the father did not reguire it.

Joint custody: Current issues and implications for treatment

Abstract This paper describes what joint physical custody involves, the kinds of families who currently have this type of custody arrangement, and what we know about the effects on parents and children. Some issues for future research and some considerations for family treatment are also discussed. The current research supporting two perspectives on joint custody, one emphasizing the continuity of psychological care from one parent, the other emphasizing the importance of the father's contribution to the child, are covered.

Joint Custody Awards and Children: A Theoretical Framework and Some Practical Considerations

Today there is great interest in forms of custody which involve shared legal and sometimes shared physical responsibility for children. The data reviewed in this article suggest that custody arrangements arrived at through the adversarial process tend to embody the conflicts and needs of the adults involved and fall short of addressing the needs of the children. Alternately, custody arrangements that rely on mediation, which involves counseling or legal advice, may predispose toward cooperation between parents. It is recommended that a careful mental health assessment be the cornerstone for making custody decisions. A frame of reference, which is based on principles of child development and takes into consideration the realities of the post-divorce parenting relationship, is presented in an attempt to formulate criteria for selecting and modifying custody arrangements. It is hoped that over time lawyers and judges will have available improved criteria for formulating and defending their recommendations according to a child's current and changing developmental needs.

Effects of Divorce on Children: Differential Impact of Custody and Visitation Patterns

The present paper reviews the research literature on children's experience of the restructuring of the family following divorce. Methodological issues in this area are addressed. Recurrent findings are identified and then discussed within a theoretical framework using cumulative stress and family systems concepts. The effects of divorce are organized according to differences observed as a function of the following variables: the child's age and gender, parental conflict, post-divorce family stability, and parent-child relationships. Custody arrangements and visitation patterns potentially minimizing the deleterious effects related to these variables are iden tified.

Systemic Assessment Criteria for Joint Custody

This paper reports historical trends and recent literature regarding joint custody. Based on a systemic theoretical position and over 300 clinical divorce cases, the authors present five criteria reflecting family structure and process from which to evaluate the efficacy of joint custody arrangements.

Custody in Dispute: Legal and Psychological Profiles of Contesting Families

The family disruptions engendered by divorce and its outcome for parents and children have both legal and psychological dimensions. These two critical aspects of marital dissolution are discussed in a description of the parental relationships and legal profiles of a group of contesting families. Patterns common to these families are disturbances in adult and child adjustment, minimal contact between former spouses, and the absence of parental accord. High rates of relitigation exist despite joint custody arrangements and reflect instability in parent-child relationships and patterns of access. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 5:575–582, 1985.

Joint Custody Reconsidered:

This paper presents five clinical criteria reflecting family structure and process from which mediators can evaluate the efficacy of joint custody arrangements. The criteria are based on a systemic theoretical position and over 300 clinical divorce cases.

Child Custody in Divorce: Parents' Decisions and Perceptions

A sample of 55 divorcing couples provided interview and questionnaire data regarding the factors they considered in reaching a decision about the custody of their children. Mothers and fathers were in agreement on the relative importance of various criteria (e.g., continuity in the child's environment, quality of the parent-child relationship) but did not agree on the extent to which each criterion favored one or the other to have custody. Parents rated themselves as more suitable to have custody than they were perceived to be by their partner. Generally fathers were less satisfied than mothers with the custody arrangement (75% of the couples agreed on mother custody, 13% on joint custody, and 10% had not yet decided). The results are discussed in the context of their implications for clinical work with divorcing families.

Maternal Versus Joint Custody: Children's Postseparation Experiences and Adjustment

The present study compares the experiences and adjustment of children in joint and maternal custody arrangements. The subjects were 133 children who had experienced parental separation within the past 30 months and ranged in age from 8 to 15 years. Children were interviewed about their recent divorce-related experiences and completed questionnaires that assessed anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and hostility. Parents also completed a questionnaire about their children's behavior problems. Children in joint custody arrangements reported a significantly greater number of positive experiences than children in maternal custody (p <.05). No differences in child symptomatology occurred across the custody arrangements; however, children in joint custody reported higher levels of self-esteem (p <. 05) and had more weekly contact with the parent with whom they did not primarily reside than did children in maternal custody (p <. 05). The importance of research on the effects of various custody arrangements for the...

Child Custody: Practices and Perspectives of Legal Professionals

To explore the attitudes and practices of both judges and attorneys involved in child custody determinations, the present study attempted to elaborate the views of legal professionals on different types of custody arrangements, the criteria that attorneys and judges employ in formulating child custody decisions (particularly joint vs. sole custody), the relative emphasis they accord to each, and policy recommendations for improving the context in which child custody decisions are made. The major findings reveal that legal professionals see joint custody as neither the most desirable nor the appropriate custody arrangement in most cases and they question the ability or motivation of divorcing couples to cooperate to the extent necessary for joint custody to be viable. Their policy recommendations demonstrate the openness of legal professionals to go beyond traditional judicial processes in arriving at custody decisions and underscore the need for close collaboration between the mental health and legal disc...

Receipt of Child Support by Single-Parent Families

Recent attempts to reduce welfare dependency have centered on collecting child support from absent parents. In this paper, data from a supplement to the April 1979 Current Population Survey are used to examine several issues related to child support. One important finding concerns the lack of a formal child-support obligation for a large number of single-parent families. Establishing such an obligation, maintaining stable, secure incomes for absent fathers, and liberalizing custody arrangements appear to be the major policies required to increase child-support collections for single-parent families.

Joint custody: a critical analysis and appraisal.

Joint custody, now in the statutes of over half the states, is becoming the legally preferred custody arrangement. It eases the burden on the courts, and is thought to benefit all family members. Research has indicated that children generally gain from maintaining a relationship with each parent; however, the assumption that joint custody promotes cooperation between divorced parents is a research question that has yet to be answered. There is a disparity between the strength of the joint custody movement and the sufficiency of evidence that this is the optimum approach for all children.

Joint Custody: Preliminary Impressions

Joint custody is currently a popular and debatable issue. It is felt that some of the controversy is due to the lack of agreement on a definition. Following some examples of the differences in personal and judicial definitions of joint custody, a classification of custody is offered. Four types of custody arrangements are described: Absolute Sole Custody, Sole Custody, Non-Alternating Joint Custody (disputed and undisputed) and Alternating Joint Custody (disputed and undisputed). A critical review of the literature follows. Finally, clinical impressions about the two types of joint custody are discussed.