Within a child custody context, this article systematically reviewed the available qualitative research of post separation, high conflict, co-parenting relationships. Separated parents' experiences of high conflict were reportedly embedded in pervasive mistrust and disdain, and underpinned by concerns over differing parenting styles, or the other parent's ability to adequately care for the child. The factors that potentially maintained conflict were parental concerns regarding the child's safety and well-being when in the care of the other parent. The factor that potentially escalated conflict was disdain directed at the other parent's concerns. Recommendations for future research and implications for social policy for these families are discussed.
Drawing on interviews with separated mothers (N = 36) this Australian qualitative study explored "hate" in a child custody context within enduring parenting disputes. This preliminary study observed that hate may be present within enduring parenting disputes. A conceptualization of hate, being circular theory of hate in co-parental conflict was developed which tentatively proposes that in a post separation context, hate may functionally serve as a self-protective mechanism that enables a parent to avoid experiencing their own emotions; avoid confronting or taking responsibility for their own behavior; or avoid facing their own lived experiences. Three themes emerged from the study that may contribute to understanding hate's genesis, growth, and stability post separation. Firstly, an inability or unwillingness to self-reflect, secondly, inverse caring, and thirdly, relentlessness. Practitioners working with hate in a child custody context may consider these tentative observations when identifying barriers parents might experience that prevent them from keeping their child's needs front and center following separation.
This study identified the different categorizations of “living arrangements of adolescents” after parental separation in the literature and examined the situations in which health and wellbeing differences were observed among adolescents. Twenty-two peer-reviewed articles based on original data produced by self-administered questionnaires from quantitative studies were selected. Grouping studies according to the type of custody categorization allowed the comparison of different studies using the same categorization. It is of note that the same categorization of adolescent custody gave rise to inconsistent results in terms of health and wellbeing outcomes.
Existing research on child welfare removals has not fully contextualized the incipient trauma experienced by children during the removal process and has neglected ancillary impacts on intervening child welfare workers and intricate procedural challenges in rural environments. Applying a symbolic interactionist framework, this work presents a pilot case study consisting of semi-structured interviews with workers at a rural Child Protective Services agency who piloted a trauma-informed practice intervention and a program addressing workers' secondary traumatic stress (STS). Results demonstrate that respondents generally felt that trauma-informed practice yielded fruit in reducing trauma/mental distress experienced by clients and improving recidivism/placement outcomes. Key intervention implementation barriers included sparse local resources for mental health referrals, broad community-level socioeconomic barriers, inconsistent engagement from state and local government stakeholders, and organizational stressors. Additionally, respondents indicated that STS was substantially impacting their professional and domestic lives, noting ways the intervention helped them begin to purposefully address the impacts of their trauma exposures. Collectively, findings from this case study highlight the interwoven psychosocial and system-level challenges facing child welfare workers and the ways in which trauma-informed practice may clarify and mitigate these obstacles, providing direction for further research in this space.
This systematic review examines studies conducted since the year 2000 on the adjustment of children (0-18 years) in joint custody (30/70%) and on the associated family factors (i.e., parenting and interparental conflict). Studies were extracted following PRISMA. Sixteen quantitative studies met the inclusion criteria. Fourteen assessed internalizing adjustment and 10 examined externalizing adjustment. Only 2 were rated as having high quality. Limitations included cross-sectional design, reliance in single informant, failure to adjust for important characteristics and no theoretical approach. The results show that the adjustment level of children in joint custody is as good, if not better, than that of those in sole custody. It also shows however that interparental conflict, parental practices, and the parents' mental health generally play a more influential role. In regard to conflictual contexts, studies are beginning to identify, particularly in joint custody, risk factors such as strict arrangements and concerns about the children's safety.
It is understood that childhood exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) can contribute directly and indirectly to adult outcomes, including parenting behaviors. To further understand these associations, this study examined the relationship between mothers' childhood exposure to IPV and their parenting behaviors while using adult IPV as a moderator. The study included a sample of 133 mothers with children who could range in age from 11/2- to 5-years. Mothers provided ratings of their childhood exposure to IPV, their adult IPV experiences, and their parenting behaviors. Findings suggested that mothers' adult IPV experiences moderated significantly the relationship between mothers' exposure to childhood IPV and their parenting behaviors (i.e., positive parenting, negative/inconsistent parenting, and punitive parenting). These findings suggested that mothers' childhood exposure to IPV was related to how they parent their young children in the context of mothers' IPV experiences in their adult relationships. These findings further suggested the importance of preventing children's exposure to IPV, identifying interventions for mothers who were exposed to IPV in their childhood as well as in their adult relationships, and providing appropriate parenting interventions for these mothers. Such multi-targeted approaches will aid in potentially reducing the rates of intergenerational IPV in families.
Teachers are legally mandated to report suspected child abuse - a role that positions teachers as crucial figures in the detection and prevention of child abuse. It is, thus, important to explore underlying determinants of teachers' likelihood to report suspected child abuse. In this research, we explore teachers' and school administrators' (N = 299) knowledge of abuse reporting policy and their self-reported intentions to report hypothetical instances of suspected child abuse. We also explore the relationship between compassion fatigue (i.e., job burnout and secondary traumatic stress stemming from vicarious exposure to client trauma) and teachers' attitudes toward reporting suspected child abuse. A significant minority of teachers indicate that they would not report suspected child abuse - a finding that holds even after eliminating the 10.3% of teachers who were unaware of policy requiring teachers to report suspected child abuse. Supporting hypotheses, as compassion fatigue increased, negative attitudes toward child abuse reporting significantly increased. Additionally, increased compassion fatigue was significantly associated with increased job efficacy cynicism, psychological detachment from students, and diminished knowledge about reporting child abuse - all factors that statistically explained the relationship between compassion fatigue and negative attitudes toward reporting suspected abuse.
Trauma-informed or trauma-responsive programing has spread across many service sectors including child welfare. However, only a few evaluations of such child welfare programs have been published. The current mixed methods study assessed a trauma-responsive child welfare program implemented within a private agency located in the Midwest region of the United States. The intervention combined specialized training, assessment, case planning, and case consultation into a trauma-responsive case management model. Quantitative data, gathered through a quasi-experimental design (N= 598), revealed that program participation was associated with improved permanency but not with enhanced child safety. Qualitative data, gathered from staff interviews (N=10), helped to contextualize quantitative results, highlighting staff experiences and impressions of the program. Implications of results are discussed.
Given that young children of mothers with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) exhibit increased risk for maladaptive outcomes (including being maltreated by their caregivers), this study investigated a comprehensive model for predicting children's emotional and behavioral problems in the context of mothers' ACEs. A community sample of 146 mothers with children aged one and onehalf to five years provided ratings of their ACEs, depressive symptoms, parenting characteristics, mother-young child attachment, and young children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Mothers' ACEs and depressive symptoms predicted uniquely young children's internalizing problems. In contrast, mothers' ACEs, depressive symptoms, and punitive parenting behaviors predicted uniquely young children's externalizing problems. These results suggested the importance of trauma-informed interventions for high-risk mothers who may be involved with child welfare systems and for their young children who are likely to exhibit emotional and behavioral problems as child custody decisions are made.
Parental denigration is a phenomenon characterized by disparaging comments made by one parent about the other parent, in front of their children. It is an emerging area of research with implications that appear to follow from a conflict perspective, rather than a parental alienation perspective. In three prior studies of young adults, sibling pairs, and parents, denigration was found to be (a) measured reliably and validly, (b) reciprocally occurring, (c) related to children feeling more distant from both parents, particularly the more frequent denigrator, (d) associated with various measures of maladjustment, and (e) underreported by divorced parents. These results held across marital status and parent gender, in group and individual analyses, across sibling reports, and across studies. In the current study, parent reports of co-parent denigration behaviors were similar to child reports in both married and divorced families. However, divorced parents consistently underreported their own denigration behaviors compared to child reports, and their reports of parent-child closeness and attachment was not associated with child reports. This is consistent with findings from previous work that divorced parents may be less aware of their harmful behaviors and view co-parents in a globally more negative light than children perceive them.
Despite widespread rejection of Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), some custody evaluators use the presence of its components to invalidate abuse allegations and blame the preferred parent Although PAS supporters claim that the elements of PAS are unique to Parental Alienation (PA) and can, therefore, be used to diagnose it, no scientific study has yet demonstrated this. Reanalysis of Gardner's data, and our current knowledge of children, indicate that the dements of PAS are not unique to PA. Many PA/PAS advocates approach custody cases assuming that when children reject parents, it is probably the result of a denigration campaign by the preferred parent. Confirmation bias then leads the evaluator to spin, value, and vet information so that it support their expected conclusion. Children's avoidance of significant visitation with a parent is often driven by a desire to remain with their primary attachment figure, rather than a rejection of the other parent. Forcing visitation and cutting the children's time with the primary attachment figure leads to rejection of that parent, rather than solving it. The article suggests a method of scientifically assessing if a child's rejection of a parent is due to PA, affinity, or justified rejection.
In their frequently-cited "lost in the mall" study from two decades ago, Loftus and Pickrell claimed their findings "reveal that people can be led to believe that entire events happened to them after suggestions to that effect." The study continues to be cited by the media and by academics to support claims that adults who recover memories of childhood sexual abuse have been led to believe such claims by therapists. The study parallels claims that parents coach children to falsely accuse and thus alienate the other parent in child custody cases. We describe how laws passed by state legislatures led to the need for a new defense for abuse accusations and how a foundation was established to promote that defense. We report that Loftus, who designed the study to support the new defense, testified over 20 years later that the study results apply only to the 24 subjects and cannot be applied to other populations.
This article presents findings and recommendations based on an in-depth examination of records from 27 custody cases from across the United States. The goal of this case series was to determine why family courts may place children with a parent that the child alleges abused them rather than with the nonoffending parent. We focused on "turned around cases" involving allegations of child abuse that were at first viewed as false and later judged to be valid. The average time a child spent in the court ordered custody of an abusive parent was 3.2years. In all cases we uncovered the father was the abusive parent and the mother sought to protect their child. Results revealed that initially courts were highly suspicious of mothers' motives for being concerned with abuse. These mothers were often treated poorly and two-thirds of the mothers were pathologized by the court for advocating for the safety of their children. Judges who initially ordered children into custody or visitation with abusive parents relied mainly on reports by custody evaluators and guardians ad litem who mistakenly accused mothers of attempting to alienate their children from the father or having coached the child to falsely report abuse. As a result, 59% of perpetrators were given sole custody and the rest were given joint custody or unsupervised visitation. After failing to be protected in the first custody determination, 88% of children reported new incidents of abuse. The abuse often became increasingly severe and the children's mental and physical health frequently deteriorated. The main reason that cases turned around was because protective parents were able to present compelling evidence of the abuse and back the evidence up with reports by mental health professionals who had specific expertise in child abuse rather than merely custody assessment.
Within a child custody context, this article systematically reviewed the available qualitative research of post separation, high conflict, co-parenting relationships. Separated parents' experiences of high conflict were reportedly embedded in pervasive mistrust and disdain, and underpinned by concerns over differing parenting styles, or the other parent's ability to adequately care for the child. The factors that potentially maintained conflict were parental concerns regarding the child's safety and well-being when in the care of the other parent. The factor that potentially escalated conflict was disdain directed at the other parent's concerns. Recommendations for future research and implications for social policy for these families are discussed.
This introduction highlights the need for a special issue in the Journal of Child Custody on the misconceptions and misapplications of research within the family law arena. First, an examination of why these topic areas are relevant is conducted including an overview of the types of false assumptions and biases that are still very much present within the family legal system and child custody evaluations, and how they have an ongoing negative impact on the lives of children and families. Then, this introduction introduces and outlines the different ways that the articles included in this first of the double special issue address the misconceptions contributing to faulty practice, including false memories, and provide a critical examination of the different ways that parental alienation is assessed and treated. Both issues within this two-part special issue present articles that clearly identify better and more appropriate directions for future research in order to strengthen child custody evaluations and the family law system as a whole.
This article analyzes the evidence for parental alienation (PA) through the lens of construct validity. It defines PA as a theoretical construct. It explains why construct validity is needed to identify PA and reliably differentiate it from other causes of parent rejection. It discusses validity problems in using case examples to support PA and then focuses on empirical research. It makes recommendations for future research. Finally, it proposes a way to present evidence about PA in child custody cases that is responsive to the current state of the evidence regarding construct validity. It concludes that PA is a descriptive concept but is not yet a psychological construct because it has not yet achieved construct validity. The article suggests that the political context for PA has obstructed science. While some PA researchers are overcoming that obstacle theoretically, empirical research and forensic practice in child custody cases have yet to catch up.
False Memory Syndrome (FMS) and Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) were developed as defenses for parents accused of child abuse as part of a larger movement to undermine prosecution of child abuse. The lost-in-the-mall study by Dr. Elizabeth Loftus concludes that an entire false memory can be implanted by suggestion. It has since been used to discredit abuse survivors' testimony by inferring that false memories for childhood abuse can be implanted by psychotherapists. Examination of the research methods and findings of the study shows that no full false memories were actually formed. Similarly, PAS, coined by Richard Gardner, is frequently used in custody cases to discredit children's testimony by alleging that the protective parent coached them to have false memories of abuse. There is no scientific research demonstrating the existence of PAS, and, in fact, studies on the suggestibility of children show that they cannot easily be persuaded to provide detailed disclosures of abuse.
Following parental separation, child custody decisions continue to be made on the basis of the discretionary best interests of the child. The current study explored mothers and fathers (N = 40) in family violence, or high conflict past two years post separation, and their experiences within the Australian family law system. A thematic analysis was conducted on the interviews of separated mothers and fathers. Results revealed that the experience of engaging with the Australian family law system caused considerable anxiety and distress for these separated parents. Principal themes related to: (a) gendered narratives; (b) parents' concerns not been taken seriously; (c) perceived inadequacies in knowledge or competence of experts and decision makers in relation to family violence; and (d) coercion from some professionals within the family law system. These cumulative experiences tentatively pointed to an aftermath of long-term emotional and psychological trauma, not only for separated mothers and fathers, but also children in their care.
"How circle of security parenting can help you nurture your child’s attachment, emotional resilience, and freedom to explore." Journal of Child Custody, 16(2), pp. 209–210
