Custody of Children
The concept of child custody refers to the legal and hands-on relationship between a parent and his or her child. Custody includes the parents right to raise, care for, and make decisions regarding the child. The normal scenario would be for both parents to come to agreements on the child's’ arrangements concerning residence, education, and religious beliefs.
Unfortunately, when couples divorce or separate, not all of these decisions can be made amicably, leading to various issues with court. These dilemmas introduce the notion of child custody laws, and how frequently family courts rule in favor of the mother. This gender-bias totally liquidates the father’s chances of becoming a full-custody parent, even if they are an
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Mothers had no rights to their own children, even if the father died. This possessive doctrine stayed alive into the 19th century English common law, in which fathers had the responsibility of protecting, supporting, and providing some sort of education for their children, however they saw fit. Through all of this, the female guardian had very little say in final decisions in their children's endeavors. A term by the name of Landmark British Legislation, coined in 1839, courts were directed to award mothers custody of children under the age of seven, and to give mothers visitation right for older children. This goal was nicknamed the ¨tender years doctrine¨, and its motives were to have the children be under the mothers care until they were old enough to be returned to their …show more content…
The most common arrangements for custody are joint custodies. This refers to a shared legal custody even if only one parent has physical custody. In this type of arrangement, parents both share equal “legal custody” and “physical custody” rights. Both parents have say in decision in the child’s upbringing, welfare, and split care through everyday care and responsibility. An example of of a joint physical and legal agreement would be the idea of both parents coming to an agreement based on everything concerning the child’s major welfare and upbringing (legal custody), then the physical custody agreement would be the idea that both parents agree to a schedule where the child lives with one parent for one month at a
Children used to be considered to be the property of their fathers. This dates back to the Roman times as well as in English common law. The fathers had the rights to sell the children, had the right to enter them into enforced labor. However, he also had the legal obligation to educate, support and protect his children. Basically fathers had all the rights to the children, and the mothers had none. Thus, in divorce, the father had absolute right to custody.
Before the 1800’s, children were looked upon as only property. During this time, if a couple were divorced, the children would go directly to the father, because “women were not permitted to own property” (Costanzo & Kraus, 2012). This was practice in child custody was known as “the legal doctrine of Pater familias” (Costanzo & Kraus, 2012). However by the 1800’s thoughts on child custody had changed to what is known as “best interest of the child standard” or BICS (Costanzo & Kraus, 2012). BICS is pretty self-explanatory; its meaning is that the thoughts and feelings of a child or children caught in a divorce were taken into account over those of the adults involved in the case. The child (ren) was at that time placed within the best situation. Since not everyone was in agreement over what is for the best of a child or children caught in a divorce, once again things regarding child custody changed.
In the United States today more than one-half of all marriages end in divorce. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reason why women have typically received custody of the children far more often than the fathers. In order to better understand child custody one must first examine how fathers have often times been left out of the picture, and conversely why mothers have had such hard times raising children on their own. This paper will first examine the perspective of a father who has lost custody of his children.
Men didn’t believe women could manage their personal affairs. Once a woman’s husband passed away, she was considered unable to manage her own life and was assigned a guardian to oversee her various affairs by a council or court system. This acting guardian was also assigned to her children and would oversee the affairs of the children until they turned legal age. Since the woman lost control of her children, it was the guardian who made decisions based upon what he thought was best for her children. The father of her deceased husband often had more to say about the children’s future than the mother. The only time the mother had full control of her children were if the children were illegitimate (Weisner 231).
In this day and age there are many variations of what constitutes a couple or family in comparison to many years ago. Long ago the idea of a ‘nuclear family’ was considered the norm; it consisted of the conventional husband, wife and children . But as our society progressed through the years this definition became less conventional and criticisms were made, this definition of ‘family’ did not account for gay unions, soul parents nor did it acknowledge the prevalence of extended family. The definition of family has changed over time, as have the socially defined roles of mothers and fathers. Within these varied family units, situations occur in which divorces and separations take place and a lot of the times these tricky situations may involve children, which can make an already tricky situation even more problematic. There are pieces of legislation which are in place which aim to protect the best interests of a child during the time their parents are going through divorce but sometimes these avenues can be more problematic and ultimately destroy unions whereas other avenues of dispute resolution such as mediation, albeit with its own criticisms, helps to keep relationships afoot in that it provides an opportunity for peaceful and mutual agreements to be made in a more laid back environment.
Bartlett, K. T. (1994) Rethinking Parenthood As an Exclusive Status: The need for Legal Alternatives when the Premise of the Nuclear Family has failed. (pp. 879)
Child custody is a difficult and sensitive matter. During the disputes people go through multiple interviews, background checks, and other privacy invading matters. Child custody evaluations are need when parents are divorcing. This is all done in order to obtain custody of one or more children. The children do not have to be the parents biological children in order to be able to fight for custody of the child. In the evaluations multiple factors are taken into consideration. Through the entire process the most important aspect about the outcome of the evaluations, is that the child’s best interest is always the main factor. Child custody evaluations attempt to investigate and find the best situation for the child between the parties fighting over custody.
Adoption and child neglect are major issues in society today. Many children go through these processes everyday. By going through these trials, it changes the child's aspect on life. The movie, Losing Isaiah, is about a mother who neglected her infant to get a hit off of crack. After waking up from being passed out, she realizes that her child is missing. Another mother decided to adopt the baby and raise it in a fit environment. However when the child turns three, the birth mother decided to go to court to try and win custody of the child. In the movie Losing Isaiah, adoption and child neglect are portrayed; however they are not portrayed correctly.
In retrospect, joint custody causes children to obtain the best childhood possible and also provides stability within the mental and physical aspects of a child’s family
Divorce is becoming a worldwide phenomenon, significantly affecting children’s well-being. It radically changes their future, causing detrimental effects. According to (Julio Cáceres-Delpiano and Eugenio Giolito, 2008) nearly 50% of marriages end with divorce. 90% of children who lived in the USA in the 1960s stayed with their own biological parents, whereas today it makes up only 40% (Hetherington, E. Mavis, and Margaret Stanley-Hagan, 1999). Such an unfavorable problem has been increasing, because in 1969, the California State Legislature changed the divorce laws, where spouses could leave without providing cause (Child Study Center, 2001).
Coltrane, Scott, and Michele Adams. "The Social Construction of the Divorce "Problem": Morality, Child Victims, and the Politics of Gender." Family Relations 52.4 (2003): 363-72. Print.
Once upon a time, a traditional family structure was created by one man marrying one woman and procreating. Within the last few years, this has begun to change. Family structures are now being changed and created through divorce and remarriage, same-sex partners, and single-parents. When the leaders of these family structures can no longer co-exist, divorce or separation comes. If children are involved, a custody agreement needs to be arranged. A custody agreement never seems to be black and white especially with new family structures evolving. When it comes to same-sex parents, how are children supposed to split their time equally? The traditional belief of a child needing a mother and a father no longer applies in these relationships. This can be very hard on a child especially if the parents cannot agree, and it turns into a custody battle. Children are torn between the parents and many psychological issues evolve. Child custody battles are usually never easy on a child because they can create emotional conflict, academic stress, and other social related stress factors.
and it is the basic for creating a peaceful home for the family. According to Rowe, “This sense of home requires the dynamic participation of both women and men--the women to mother and the men to father--to fulfill the daily roles of teaching, nurturing and protecting children” ( 2). Parents have an obligation to take care for children, so that when they grow up they are able to become a person who is strong enough to support himself. But there are different opinions whether raising a child should be shared equally between parents. One group thinks that it is essential for a child to grow up with the love and care of both parents.
Divorce is more than just a legal dissolution of a married couple. It is a terminating process that breaks down a family that can leaves devastating consequences with the family. Society’s view on marriage has drastically changed from how it was viewed fifty years ago. Now of days people have easier access to divorce so instead of trying to work out conflicts they find it easier to simply sign some papers and rid themselves of their spouse. With divorce rates as high as they are today it seems as if people are not taking it considerations the potential devastating effects divorce may have on a child. Currently half of all divorces involve minor children (Portinoy, 2008), that is a lot of children
A parent-child relationship is a special relationship that has a huge effect on the way that the child will turn out. This relationship is formed through pregnancy, adoption, and step parenting. Parenting requires a great deal of adaptation. The parents want to develop a strong bond with their child but they also want to maintain a healthy marital relationship and adult friendships. Potential parents often ask themselves what they will be like when they are parents and try to recall some experiences when they were children.