Legal Change and Child Custody Awards

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2345952
AutoresJessica Pearson (0000-0002-7154-8212, University of Denver), Paul Munson (University of Denver), Paul J Munson (University of Denver), Nancy Thoennes (University of Denver)
Ano1982
Volume3
Fascículo1
Páginas5-24
Data de publicação1982-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Family Issues (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0192-513X • E-ISSN: 1552-5481
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/019251382003001002
OpenAlexW2128963988
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas9
Referências citadas10

This article compares custody award patterns in a sample of contested child custody cases filed in one jurisdiction of Colorado in 1966 and 1976, a time period which is prior to and follows the adoption of a sex neutral statute that stresses the best interest of the child in the judicial award of child custody. We find that legal change has had limited impact in the behavior of judges, evaluators, and couples themselves with mothers routinely acquiring custodial rights of the children following divorce unless shown to be unfit to parent. We also find an increase in the proportion of shared, joint, and split custody arrangements in 1976 and evidence that the new legal standards may be inspiring men to play a more aggressive role in contested child custody cases. This suggests that while new sex neutral standards may not translate into more father-only awards, they will mean greater paternal participation in custody in the years to come

Child custody · Child support · Criminology · Jurisdiction · Political science · Statute · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Law · Psychology