PSY 205 3-3 Short Story The History of Child Custody 9-20-2020 PDF

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1 The History of Child Custody Arrangements

Nerka Eisenmann PSY 205 3-3 Short Paper Southern New Hampshire University Professor Tyler L. Cox September 20, 2020

2 The History of Child Custody Arrangements

An overview of how child custody arrangements have evolved over the years. The long history of custody and its awarding go back to Colonial times and the early Republic between 1630 and 1830 when people treated children as economic assets based on how much labor they can do daily. Thankfully, some things changed in the nineteenth century, and the emphasis focused more on the child's development and education. Consideration was the legal aspect of the child's best interest. As this view became more common, there was a shift away from the father always controlling the children, because considering children as labor assets. The mother had more of a reason to have custody of the child. The “best interest of the child” focused on which parent would be best at nurturing. In the typical tradition of men and women, this meant the mother. During the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, women took on more of an equal economic role, resulting in the shift of custody from one parent over the other to both parents, or joint or shared child custody, as long as it’s in “the best interest of the child.” This change influenced the child custody arrangements of the time by allowing for the tender years doctrine to be legalized. The cultural transformation of giving women more freedom affected the legal system and enabled women to gain custody of their children. In America, the Tender Years Doctrine extended the mother's custody indefinitely, which is the cause of the statistic describing mothers retaining child custody 90% of the time after a divorce. A discussion of the cultural changes that have affected the evolution of child custody in the United States, making sure to explain how specific societal changes influenced legal custodial arrangements. Child custody arrangements have evolved and transformed since the early 1600s, where orphans were the church's responsibility and old enough. The church sent the children to become

3 The History of Child Custody Arrangements apprentices. Before the 1800s, the legal doctrine known as Pater familias stated that children were property and, because women could not own property, fathers were automatically given sole custody of their children (Costanzo & Krauss, 2012). Divorce wasn’t common in early America. In 1753 English law mandated that no divorce was allowed, but the idea of child custody still existed. Common reasons for this issue included the inability or incompetence of caring for the child, the death of one or both parents, and an illegitimate child's birth. When these custody issues arose, two significant areas of consideration became the child’s labor value and the parents' ability or lack thereof to adequately support their child. The act permitted a mother to petition courts for custody of her children up to a 7-year-old child. In 1873, Parliament extended the period to 16 under the “Tender Years Doctrine,” which presumed that they are best cared for by the mother in a child's early years. In a marriage, the father had complete control and custody of the children because, under common law, he had power above his wife and children. Therefore, in the rare case of a divorce, the father retained his legal right to control the children's custody. This change influenced the child custody arrangements of the time by allowing for the tender years doctrine to be legalized. The cultural evolution of giving women more freedom influenced the legal system to enable women to gain custody of their children. Some popular psychological theories include that one parent should be the primary caregiver for a child, and that parent should be the mother. The other approach is that both parents should share custody and be involved with the child's development. Neither view favors the mother having custody or the “tender years” idea.

4 The History of Child Custody Arrangements

A summary of the current trends in child custody arrangements in the United States The current trends in child custody arrangements in the United States all revolve around the child's best interest. In 1979, California passed the first joint custody statute. By 1991, more than 40 states had statues with joint custody as an option or preference. Child custody norms have changed dramatically in the years since. A child custody dispute can be resolved by the courts using any combination of Legal custody, which concerns parents' rights and responsibilities. If parents have joint legal custody, they will need to negotiate a significant decision. If one parent has sole standard control, that parent can make all decisions regarding the child without consultation with the other parent. Physical custody refers to how much time a child spends with each parent. If parents have joint biological control, the child lives with each parent some of the time. If one parent has sole physical custody, the child lives with that parent exclusively, while the other parent has some rights to visit the child at regular intervals. Richard Gardner, described in 1985 Parental alienation syndrome (PAS), refers to a child's alienation from a child's separation from one parent in a custody dispute due to the other parent's attempt to make the child unfairly fear the targeted parent. Psychologists who play a role in determining a child custody arrangement after a divorce should be cautious and only provide information for a solid scientific foundation. At present, psychologists do not possess the ability to ascertain which arrangement meets the vague definition of a child's "best interest." As a result, psychologists should refrain from answering this ultimate issue question, and the legal system should refrain from asking them to do so. Both fields need to work more collaboratively so that the legal system more effectively uses psychologists' legitimate expertise.

5 The History of Child Custody Arrangements References: Costanzo, M., & Krauss, D. (2012). Forensic and legal psychology: Psychological science applied to law. New York, NY: Worth....