Children, Courts, and Custody
Interdisciplinary Models for Divorcing Families

An overview of trends in law, conflict resolution and mental health.

Andrew I. Schepard (Author)

9780521822015, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 March 2004

242 pages, 6 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.53 kg

'… an intelligent and humanely written book … presents a powerful case for the need to consider some form of joint custody arrangement and parenting plan as the norm, or default, option … considerable reference to psychological research and findings … this book deserves to be widely read by professionals (and parents) concerned with divorce and child custody issues.' Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology

Courts today seek to involve both parents in a child's life rather than choosing between them. Mediation and education have replaced the courtroom as the primary forum for resolving parental disputes. This book provides an overview of these trends in law, conflict resolution and mental health and the empirical research that supports them. It analyzes the principle challenges facing the child custody court of today: assuring the safety of parents and children from violence and providing access to justice and services. It examines how the roles of key courtroom players - judges, lawyers for both parents and children and mental health professionals - must change to promote the best interests of children. The book concludes with an agenda for reform of the child custody court based on interdisciplinary collaboration that can help courts meet the needs of twenty-first century parents and children.

Preface
1. Overview
2. Kramer vs Kramer revisited: the sole custody/adversary system paradigm
3. Divorce, children and courts: an empirical perspective
4. Parents are forever I: joint custody and parenting plans
5. Parents are forever II: Alternative dispute resolution and mediation
6. Parents are forever III: Court-affiliated educational programs
7. Contrasting child custody court paradigms: New York and California
8. Family violence
9. Differentiated case management
10. Lawyers for parents
11. The voice of the child, the lawyer for the child and child alienation
12. Neutral Mental Health Evaluators
13. The best interests test and its presumption-based competitors
14. Consolidating the new paradigm: the future of the child custody court
Acknowledgements
Endnotes.

Subject Areas: Psychology [JM]