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Child Custody Research Portfolio

This portfolio, prepared in 1992, consists of seven documents which originally appeared as chapters in professional books or articles in professional journals, all published between 1979 and 1987.

One article reviews the literature on father-custody and contains an extensive reference list with complete bibliographic citations. (This item is available separately: See CR03 on this list for a more complete description.) One chapter describes characteristics of father-custody families, our society's prejudice against such families, and how therapists can assist these families. The discussion stresses the importance of having flexible guidelines for children's post-divorce living arrangements, promoting coparenting relationships, and preparing the children for the separation. There are sections on facilitating the mother-child relationship, the father-child relationship, and strengthening support systems. (This item is available separately: See CR19 on this list for a more complete description.)

The remaining five documents are the original studies of the Texas Custody Research Project, with appropriate statistical analyses, discussions of the implications of the results for custody policy, and complete reference lists (one chapter lists 59 references). The documents in this portfolio have been extensively cited in the professional literature on divorce. They have also been introduced as evidence in custody litigation and have been presented in legislatures throughout the country.

CR01, portfolio
Price: $39.00

The Custody Revolution (Simon & Schuster, 1992)

This book advocates fundamental reform of our custody policies and offers practical advice to parents and professionals dealing with custody decisions. After documenting the important role that fathers play in their children's lives and the hazards of traditional approaches to custody, the book provides a comprehensive, research-based, account of father-custody families. Special attention is given to the effects of different custody dispositions on boys and girls. The last part of the book examines joint custody, litigation, and mediation, and describes how parents can make enlightened, flexible, and individualized custody decisions that maximize their children's chances of coping with divorce.

Specific guidelines are offered in a number of areas including: how to cushion children from the harmful effects of divorce, how to decide whether or not to seek custody, how to deal with children's requests to change custody, how mothers can cope when they don't have custody, how to avoid common "psychological minefields" between single parents and their children, how grandparents can play a crucial role in helping children cope with divorce, how to select a custody mediator, and how to tell the children about the custody decision.

CR02, hardcover book
SORRY, THIS ITEM IS SOLD OUT

Father Custody and Child Development:
A Review and Analysis of Psychological Research

This 1986 journal article begins with a discussion of three different strategies used by social scientists to study father-custody families, and analyzes the benefits and drawbacks of each approach. The next section reviews the results of research comparing children's functioning in father-custody and mother custody homes. Children's reactions to the separation are examined as well as their attitudes about the divorce, their personality, their emotional and social development, and their relationships with their parents. The article then examines some factors associated with better outcomes for children in father-custody homes. Such factors include the sex of the child, the quality of the parents' relationship with each other, the parenting style of the custodial parent, the child's relationship with the noncustodial parent, and the reliance on nonparental child care. This article integrates the findings of the Texas Custody Research Project with the results of other studies of divorce. Because it is a review article, it does not provide detailed descriptions and results of the studies. (Such details are available in the portfolio described above.) The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of custody research for judicial policy and calls for an end to an a priori preference for mother-custody. A reference list is included with complete citations of divorce research (including 28 father-custody studies). NOTE: THIS ARTICLE IS INCLUDED IN THE PORTFOLIO CR01 DESCRIBED ABOVE.

CR03, journal article
Price: $6.00

How Children Fare in Father-Custody Homes

This 1993 article from Family Advocate (published by the American Bar Association) gives a very brief, nontechnical overview of some of the material presented in the review article described above (CR03). This article covers: biases held by professionals who deal with custody, why men seek custody, how fathers manage the responsibilities of custody, how children in father-custody homes initially react to the breakup of the family, attitudes about divorce held by father-custody children, a comparison of children's longer-term adjustment in father-custody and mother-custody homes, the crucial discovery that, in general, children adjust better in the custody of the same-sex parent, and the manner in which psychological research can play an important role in custody decisions and litigation.

CR04, journal article
Price: $2.00

The Custody Revolution: Beyond Fathers' Rights and Mothers' Rights

This speech inspired a standing ovation from the audience at the 1993 national conference of the Children's Rights Council. It begins by describing the context in which the Texas Custody Research Project originated, and then recaps the project's main findings, including "the gender connection." Dr. Warshak discusses the type of fundamental changes he advocates and, in a more personal vein, describes his pre-publication worries about how The Custody Revolution would be received and compares this to the astonishing range of responses he actually received from colleagues and the public. He stresses the importance of finding an effective strategy for promoting new ideas and gives examples of how psychological theory and research are misused in the defense of misguided custody policies. Dr. Warshak then argues against the concept of the "primary parent" and concludes with a unique discussion of the link between the popularity of Batman and the prevalence of father absence in our culture.

CR05, pamphlet
Price: $6.00

Joint Custody Is Feasible

This 1993 essay, based on remarks delivered to the Association of Family & Conciliation Courts, defends joint custody as realistic and beneficial. It discusses the facts that are often ignored by joint custody's detractors, and describes why some social scientists are reluctant to support joint custody. Dr. Warshak illustrates conventional custody's harmful impact on children by analyzing a parody ofJingle Bells that is currently popular among boys. He then argues for a cultural and legal presumption of joint custody, which he sees as our best hope for alleviating the problems experienced by divorced families.

CR07, pamphlet
Price: $3.00

Keeping Fathers Involved

This essay, based on remarks to the American Orthopsychiatry Association in 1994, focuses on the role mental health professionals play in perpetuating gender stereotypes that interfere with healthy father-child relationships after divorce. Dr. Warshak analyzes the biases that support such practices as discouraging overnight contact of young children. He advises therapists to avoid routine skepticism regarding the desire of fathers to spend more time with their children than they did before the marital breakup. Typically this is dismissed as a ploy in the custody battle, but Dr. Warshak believes alternative interpretations should be considered. The essay provides specific recommendations to help keep fathers involved even when severe interparental conflict exists.

CR08, pamphlet
Price: $4.00

Child Custody: Reform, Research, and Common Sense:
Testimony to U.S. Commission

In April 1995, Dr. Warshak was invited to testify before a hearing on custody and visitation conducted by the U.S. Commission on Child and Family Welfare. His remarks offer a detailed, but concise and clear review of the major conclusions reached by divorce researchers and seven specific recommendations to maximize the well-being of children after divorce.

Among the topics covered are the harm caused by conventional approaches to custody and access, the short and long term effects of divorce on children--particularly the erosion of father-child relationships, father-custody homes, factors associated with better outcomes in children, the feasibility of joint custody, parents' and children's reactions to joint custody, and the link between joint custody and child support compliance. Dr. Warshak advises the Commissioners to reject a primary caretaker standard. A two-page summary, two appendices, and 50 reference citations are included.

CR09, 27 pages (8 x 11)
Price: $7.00

Gender Bias in Child Custody Decisions

A few high profile cases in which working mothers have lost custody have captured the attention of the media and led to cries of judicial bias. Dr. Warshak was asked to address this issue in a plenary session of the 1995 annual conference of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and his remarks were the basis for this journal article.

It begins by discussing the manner in which gender stereotypes have shaped custody decisions throughout history and then takes up the question of whether, and in what form, gender bias is part of the current custody scene. Avoiding simplistic approaches to the topic, this article examines a range of criticisms leveled at the best-interests-of-the-child standard, from both women's and men's advocacy groups.

Dr. Warshak explains why allegations of systematic discrimination are difficult to evaluate and he gives examples of how advocacy groups and the media misrepresent the state of research in order to support their preconceived opinions.

Conceding that the absence of reliable data on the question of gender bias in court decisions invites rhetoric in place of reason, the article next addresses the wider issue of whether gender bias rules the ninety percent of cases decided outside of court. Dr. Warshak shows why the question "Which parent should get custody?" lies at the heart of gender bias claims. He then examines four explanations which have been offered to defend the mother's preferential claim to custody, and concludes that the best scientific evidence proves that neither nature nor experience gives women a monopoly on parental competence either before or after divorce. This section offers a more detailed analysis and criticism of the primary parent standard than in Dr. Warshak's previous work.

The article ends with a brief discussion of research findings which demonstrate the need for a new approach to custody decisions that guarantee children their birthright to both parents. A suggestion is offered to ensure that custody reform reflects the needs of children rather than the demands of adults. An abstract and 39 reference citations are included.

CR11, audiotape (20 minutes)
Audiotape SORRY, THE TAPE IS SOLD OUT. THE ARTICLE IS STILL AVAILABLE.

CR12, journal article
Price: $4.00

Overnight Access for Young Children

In 1994 the Texas Supreme Court Committee on Child Custody was considering a recommendation of no overnight access between children under the age of three and their noncustodial parents. In this written commentary to the Committee, Dr. Warshak argues that such a proposal is inconsistent with child developmental theory, research, and common sense. He points out the significant benefits to children of having overnight contact with both parents. An appendix and 11 reference citations are included.

CR13, 7 pages (8 x 11)
Price: $3.00

The Primary Parent Presumption: Primarily Meaningless

The proposal to replace the best interests of the child standard in custody disputes with a preference for the primary parent has been gaining increasing support among legal and mental health professionals. This brief chapter, from a book published by the American Bar Association (based on a 1993 speech), critically appraises this proposal and finds it markedly flawed. Research demonstrates that the parent who has provided more of the daily care of the children during the marriage is not necessarily better able to raise the children as a single parent. In addition, we have no grounds for designating one parent's contribution primary and the other parent's contribution secondary. Dr. Warshak concludes that the primary parent concept is misguided and fundamentally meaningless.

CR14, chapter
Price: $2.00

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