Is the Approximation Rule in the Best Interest of the Child?

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Since the late 1970s there has been substantial change in the judicial system regarding child custody hearings (Symons, 2010). The end of the 20th century sparked a public demand for more custodial options including joint physical custody (refers to the day-to-day care of children), joint legal custody (refers to a parents rights and responsibilities regarding major decisions involving children) and a general increase in paternal involvement in children’s lives post-divorce (Symons, 2010; Atwood, 2007), 1982 marked the first year where a father in North America was granted sole custody (Amato, 2001). As recently as 1970, there were custodial cases granting sole custody to mothers stating that mothers make the best parents simply because they are mothers (O’Connell, 2007). Today we see many custodial options that range far beyond the traditional scope of sole custodian mothers and fathers with visitation rights or financial responsibilities (American Psychological Association, 2010). Juby, Marcil-Gratton and LeBourdais (2005) found that in Canada, sole custody awarded to fathers remains stable around 10% while joint physical and legal custody range between 25% and 50%.
Although divorce has declined slightly since the 1990s, it is estimated that 33% of all marriages in Canada will end in divorce (Statistics Canada, 2006). Today, approximately half of divorces involve children (Symons, 2010); this is important to note because it could lead to an elevated number of youth exposed to excessive levels of parental conflict during litigation. The goal of the judicial system is to determine who will take responsibility for children while minimizing the harm experienced by children exposed to high levels of conflict (American Law Ins...

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...int Committee on Child Custody and Access. Retrived from http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=1031529&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=36&Ses=1&File=6
Saunders, D. G., Tolman, R. M., & Faller, K. C. (2013). Factors associated with child custody evaluators’ recommendations in cases of intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Psychology, 27, 473-483.
Statistics Canada. (2006). 2006 Census. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html
Symons, D. K. (2010). A review of the practice and science of child custody and access assessment in the United States and Canada. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 3, 267-273.
Warshak, R. A. (2007). Parenting by the clock: The best interest of the child standard, judicial discretion, and the American Law Institutes “approximation rule”. Child Development Perspectives, 1, 119-125.

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