Child Custody Disputes Study Notes

Child Custody Disputes

Intersection of Psychology and Civil Law

  • Family law pertains to domestic relationships, including marriage, divorce, adoption, and child custody disputes.

  • Types of custody determinations:

    • Legal Custody:

    • Pertains to parental decision-making and related responsibilities (e.g., healthcare treatment decisions, schooling).

    • Physical Custody:

    • Concerns the amount of time a child spends with each parent and the parent with whom the child predominantly resides.

Types of Custody

  • Custody types can be divided into sole or joint arrangements:

    • Legal Custody Types:

    • Sole Legal Custody:

      • One parent makes all major decisions without consulting the other.

    • Joint Legal Custody:

      • Major decisions must be negotiated between parents (everyday matters are not included).

    • Physical Custody Types:

    • Sole Physical Custody:

      • The child lives exclusively with one parent, possibly with visitation arrangements for the other parent.

    • Joint Physical Custody:

      • The child lives with both parents based on an agreed-upon schedule.

      • Typically involves at least 30-35% of time with each parent (Nielsen, 2018).

Custody Arrangement Trends

  • Research on custody arrangements has evolved:

    • Historically, sole custody favored mothers:

    • 68-88% of children lived with their mothers full-time.

    • 8-14% lived with their fathers.

    • 2-6% were in equal-sharing arrangements (Braver et al, 2011).

    • As of 2012, split physical custody arrangements gained popularity, occurring in approximately 33% of cases (Kohutis, 2018).

    • Joint custody is believed to be beneficial, but neither sole nor joint custody is a perfect solution (Costanzo & Krauss, 2021).

Pros of Joint Physical Custody

  • Potential benefits of joint custody include:

    • Higher likelihood of dual-parent engagement; decreased likelihood of paternal estrangement (Nielsen, 2018).

    • Improvements in father-child relationships.

    • Psychological benefits from both parents' involvement.

    • Higher likelihood of fulfilling child support obligations (Nielsen, 2018; Chen & Meyer, 2017).

    • Generally preferred arrangement by parents and children.

Cons of Joint Physical Custody

  • Joint custody has downsides:

    • Not always a viable option if one parent is abusive, incompetent, or battling addiction.

    • It may require collaboration between parents who harbor animosity (Krauss & Sales, 2000; Melton et al., 2018).

    • High-conflict relationships can lead to emotional dysregulation and poor adjustment outcomes for the child (Melton et al., 2018).

    • Some studies suggest joint custody may still be preferable in high-conflict situations, but only marginally (Baude et al, 2016).

Custody Litigation and the Best Interest of the Child Standard

  • Around 90% of custody arrangements are not litigated (Braver et al., 2011).

  • Judges usually honor agreements reached by parents.

  • For cases taken to court, conflict is prominent:

    • 8-15% of these conflicts continue outside of court (American Psychological Association, 2012).

  • Best Interest of the Child Standard (BICS):

    • All states require custody arrangements to favor the child's needs, as defined by BICS, which has evolved over time.

Historical Custody Standards

  • Tender Years Doctrine (ca. 1889):

    • Established the view that young children, especially girls, should be with their mothers, stemming from
      People v. Hinckley.

  • Primary Caretaker Rule (ca. 1970s):

    • Sole physical custody awarded to the parent primarily responsible for raising the child, based on factors such as:

    • Who handles daily care (clothing, grooming, discipline, homework, sickness, social interactions).

  • Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (UMDA) (1976):

    • Introduced five criteria for custody arrangements:

    • Parents’ wishes, child’s wishes, parent-child relationship, child’s adjustment to home/school, and all parties’ physical and mental health.

    • No standardized method exists for weighing these factors.

Problems with the BICS

  • The BICS can be vague, leading to:

    • Lack of guidance on factor weighting.

    • Uncertainty about the child's preferences and their importance.

    • Discretion can lead to judicial bias, including sexism and racism (Kahneman, 2011).

    • Example: Palmer v. Sidoti (1984).

  • Potential for conflict:

    • Parents may focus on proving one another’s inadequacy, exacerbating conflict and extending legal proceedings (Krauss & Sales, 2000; Melton et al., 2018).

    • Courts must predict the future welfare of the child, which complicates custody decisions.

Alternatives to the BICS

  • Preferred Custody Arrangements:

    • Courts select a default outcome unless parents prove otherwise, reducing litigation.

  • Approximation Rule:

    • Custody should approximate parents' pre-division responsibilities.

    • Criticized for favoring maternal sole custody according to fathers’ advocacy groups.

Role of Psychologists in Custody Evaluations

  • Forensic psychologists may evaluate parent-child relationships, providing recommendations to the court.

  • Psychologists who treated parents cannot operate as experts due to ethical concerns over dual relationships.

  • Conflict and bias in custody evaluations are a frequent concern, raising ethical complaints (Ackerman & Gould, 2015).

Psychologist Evaluation Findings

  • Study by Ackerman & Pritzl (2011) showed:

    • Over half of 213 psychologists received ethical complaints, with 20% facing malpractice suits.

    • Insufficient objectivity can compromise assessments.

  • Components of a “good” evaluation:

    • Review extensive information to obtain a holistic view of circumstances.

American Psychological Association Guidelines

  • Evaluators should focus on:

    • Child’s best psychological interests, parents’ strengths, child’s needs, and parental fit for these needs.

  • Evaluations may include parent interviews, collateral reviews, and psychological tests for parents and children.

Assessment Tools

  • The MMPI-2:

    • Most commonly used psychometric test in custody evaluations, encompassing:

    • Validity scales (response style) and clinical scales (symptoms).

    • Assessing test-taker's honesty regarding parenting capabilities.

  • Testing for children may involve personality, intelligence, and projective tests:

    • Bricklin Perceptual Scales (BPS):

    • Measures perceptions of parental behavior.

    • Ackerman-Schoendorf Scales for Parent Evaluation of Custody (ASPECT):

    • Integrates data from multiple tests and interviews for assessing parental effectiveness.

    • Perception-of-Relationships Tests (PORT):

    • Gauges child’s desire for closeness with each parent.

    • Note: Reliability of these assessment instruments is not fully established.

Assessing Judicial Response

  • Psychologists aim for objective evaluations, preferably using independent court-appointed experts to avoid bias (Bow et al., 2011).

  • Judges typically agree with expert recommendations in 60-90% of cases (Melton et al., 2018).

  • Critiques of expert testimony include lack of objectivity, ignoring legal criteria, and unsubstantiated conclusions (Costanzo & Krauss, 2021).