Shared residence is best for children
Quantitative and Longitudinal Studies - 126 citations.
We have found 126 citations to published research showing that shared residence
is better for children than any other kind of post-divorce residence.
Sole residence is justified on the basis of Attachment Theory. Attachment
Theory suggests that stability and secure emotional attachments are crucial
to a child’s emotional development. However (as we discuss in a later
section) sole residence is an incorrect interpretation of Attachment Theory.
It is understandable why the Family Court initially gave Attachment Theory
such primary significance in the 1970’s. Then there were few divorces
and even fewer children in shared residence. With no facts, the court had
to make decisions on theory alone.
However the last 30 years has seen vast numbers of children grow up in
a wide variety of family circumstances and now, finally, there is an impressive
number of large, well controlled and often longitudinal studies that compare
whether children in shared residence actually do better, or worse in life,
than children with a single parent. These studies record whether they reached
their potential at school, whether they had emotional and behavioural problems,
whether they had problems with drugs or teenage pregnancy, whether they
have begun successful careers and so on…
These studies clearly demolish the idea that one primary parent and one
primary home is preferable than having a meaningful relationship with both
their natural parents.
So at last we can compare FACT with THEORY, and Attachment THEORY has been
shown to be lacking. It is clear that having a meaningful relationship
with dad is a greater benefit than any instability caused by having two
houses.
Understandably is impossible to prove that 50-50 is better than 49-51.
The research generally uses the concept of a ‘meaningful’ relationship
with both parents. This is explored in a later section, but the Family
Court’s standard every second weekend regime is clearly insufficient
to maintain a meaningful relationship.
Longitudinal studies [18 citations]
A huge 33 year study tracked the lives of 17,000 individuals born in
1958. The study released in March 2002 found that close paternal involvement
not only improves academic performance but also relationships and health.
The benefits are greatest for youngsters who establish a strong bond from
at least the age of seven. The highest scorers performed best at school,
socially and in their marital relationships. After inspection of all the
factors influencing a child’s later marital success, such as mental
health, academic achievement and emotional behaviour, the influence of
a father was most telling. Daughters benefiting from a strong paternal
bond were less likely to have mental health problems and boys were less
likely to get into trouble with the police.
Flouri E, Buchanan A. What Predicts Good Relationships With Parents In
Adolescence And Partners In Adult Life. Paper XXV International Congress
of Applied Psychology. Singapore (July 7-12 2002). See also, Flouri E,
Buchanan A, Bream A. Adolescents’ Perceptions Of Their Fathers’ Involvement:
Significance To School Attidudes. 29 Psychology In Schools (2002) pp 575-582;
Flouri E, Buchanan A. Childhood Predictors Of Labor Force Participation
In Adult Life. 23 Journal of Family and Economic Issues (2002) pp 101-120;
Flouri E, Buchanan A, Ten Beinke J. Emotional And Behavioural Problems
In Childhood And Distress In Adult Life: Risk And Protective Factors. 36
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry (2002) pp 521-527; Flouri
E, Buchanan A. Father Involvement In Childhood And Trouble With The Police
In Adolescence: Findings From The 1958 British Birth Cohort. 17Journal
of Interpersonal Violence (2002) pp 689-701; Flouri E, Buchanan A. Life
Satisfaction In Teenage Boys: The Moderating Role Of Father Involvement
And Bullying. 28 Aggressive Behavior (2002) pp 126-133; Flouri E, Buchanan
A. The Protective Role Of Parental Involvement In Adolescent Suicide. 23
Crisis (2002) pp 17-22; Flouri E, Buchanan A. What Predicts Good Relationships
With Parents In Adolescence And Partners In Adult Life: Findings From The
1958 British Birth Cohort. 16 Journal of Family Psychology (2002) pp 186-198
In the Impact of Divorce Project of Ohio’s Kent State University––the
first nationwide sample study of 699 elementary students from 38 American
states––children from divorced homes performed more poorly
in reading, spelling, and maths, and repeated a grade more frequently than
did children in intact two parent families.
(a) the effects of divorce are not temporary stressors but rather long-term influences,
(b) boys have more difficulties, particularly as they approach adolescence,
(c) the decline in socio-economic status after divorce is not an explanation for
children's decreased performance, and
(d) authoritative child-rearing routines such as bedtimes, mealtimes, and television
viewing habits relate to better child outcomes.
One of the most striking findings was that 51% of children from sole mother custody
families see their fathers once or twice a year or never. Even 11 or 12 years
following the divorce, adolescents who have good relationships with their non-custodial
fathers have fewer school behaviour problems, fewer attention or aggression problems,
higher grades in Language and Social Studies, and are less likely to abuse drugs
or alcohol.
Guidubaldi J. Differences In Children's Divorce Adjustment Across Grade Level
and Gender: A Report From the NASP-Kent State Nationwide Project. In Wolchik,
Karoly (Editors), Children of Divorce: Perspectives and adjustment. Lexington
Books, Lexington, MA (1989) pp 185-231. See also, Guidubaldi J, Perry J D, Nastasi
B K. Growing Up In A Divorced Family: Initial and Long-Term Perspectives On Children's
Adjustment. In S. Oskamp (Editor), Applied Social Psychological Annual. (7) Family
Processes and Problems: Social Psychology Aspects. Sage, Newbury Park, California
(1987); Guidubaldi J. The Legacy of Lost Families: Divorce and The Next Generation.
The World, I, (Nov 1988) pp 520-534.
Boys in joint residence reported fewer negative life experiences after divorce
than boys in maternal residence
Cowan D B. Mother Custody Versus Joint Custody: Children’s Paternal Relationships
and Adjustment (1982). Dissertation Abstracts International, 43A, 726, UMI order
number, 82-18213.
"Girls without a father in their life are two and a half times as likely
to get pregnant and 53 percent more likely to commit suicide. Boys without a
father in their life are 63 percent more likely to run away and 37 percent more
likely to abuse drugs. Both girls and boys are twice as likely to drop out of
high school, twice as likely to end up in jail and nearly four times as likely
to need help for emotional or behavioural problems."
US Bureau of Justice Statistics. Survey of State Prison Inmates. US Bureau of
Justice, Washington D C (1991)
Davidson N. Life Without Father. Policy Review (1990)
Low parenting time for either parent will lead to adjustment problems later
for the child.
Lund M. Parenting Arrangements In Divorce: Implications of Children’s Different
Developmental Needs. Psychiatric Office, Family Law Section Los Angeles Superior
Court (1996).
Kelly J B, Lamb M E. Using Child Development Research To Make Appropriate Custody
and Access Decisions. 38 Family and Conciliation Court’s Review (2000)
pp 297-311
A thirty-six year longitudinal study in the U.S. found that the children of
affectionate fathers were much more likely in their forties to be happily married
and mentally healthy and to report good relationships with friends
Franz C E, McClelland D C, Weinberger J. Childhood Antecedents of Conventional
Social Accomplishments In Midlife Adults: A thirty-Six year Prospective Study.
60 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1991) pp 586-595.
Furthermore, the child with an available father, both in the early and the
adolescent years, is more companionable and responsible as adults.
Warshak R A. The Custody Revolution: The Father Factor and The Motherhood Mystique.
Simon, Schuster, New York (1992)
Snarey J. How Fathers Care For The Next Generation. Harvard University Press,
Cambridge MA (1993) pp 163-164
Even after controlling for income it has been found that children whose parents
are divorced or separated have lower levels of educational attainment than children
from intact families.
Guidubaldi J, Cleminshaw H K, Perry J D, McLoughlin C S. The Impact of Parental
Divorce On Children: Report of The Nation-Wide NASP Study. 12 School Psychological
Review (1983) pp 300-323
Spruijt E, de Goede R. Transitions In Family Structure and Adolescent Well-Being.
32 Adolescence (1997) pp 897-911
A longitudinal study of males found that the divorce of parents before the
children were aged ten was one of the major predictors of adolescent delinquency
and adult criminality.
Farrington D P. Implications of Criminal Career Research For The Prevention of
Offending. 13 Journal of Adolescence (1990) pp 93-113
By the age of thirteen there is an average difference of half a year in reading
abilities between children of divorced parents and those from intact families.
Stevenson J, Fredman G. The Social Correlates of Reading Ability. 31 Journal
of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (1990) pp 689-690
Children raised in intact families complete more total years of education and
have higher earnings than children from other family structures
Hardy J B, et al. Self-Sufficiency At Ages 27-33 Years: Factors Present Between
Birth and 18 Years That Predict Educational Attainment Among Children Born to
Inner-City Families. 59 Paediatrics (1997) pp 80-87
Heiss J. Effects of African American Family Structure On School Attitudes and
Performance. 43 Social Problems (1996) pp 246-264
The divorce of parents reduces the likelihood of attaining a university education.
Studies indicate among women who completed university there was a massively lower
divorce rate (88 percent lower) among their parents compared to women who did
not get a college degree
Bumpass L L, Castro Martin T, Sweet J A. The Impact of Family Background and
Early Marital Factors On Marital Disruption. 12 Journal of Family Issues (1991)
pp 22-42.
Among university-age students who went to the same high schools in affluent
Marin County, San Francisco, only two thirds of the children from divorced families
attended university, compared with 85 percent of students from intact families.
Wallerstein J S. The Long Term Effects of Divorce On Children: A Review. 30 Journal
of The American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry (1991) pp. 349-360
Other quantitative studies [69 citations]
These comparative studies compare children in sole parent household to children
in other household types, and show that sole residence is the worst kind of residential
situation for children.
The United States Congress has found:
(1) Nearly 24,000,000 children in the United States, or 34 percent of all such
children, live apart from their biological father.
(2) Sixty percent of couples who divorce have at least 1 child.
(3) The number of children living with only a mother increased from just over
5,000,000 in 1960, to 17,000,000 in 1999, and between 1981 and 1991 the percentage
of children living with only 1 parent increased from 19 percent to 25 percent.
(4) Forty percent of children who live in households without a father have not
seen their father in at least 1 year and 50 percent of such children have never
visited their father's home.
(5) The most important factor in a child's upbringing is whether the child is
brought up in a loving, healthy, supportive environment.
(6) Children who live without contact with their biological father are, in comparison
to children who have such contact:
(A) 5 times more likely to live in poverty;
(B) more likely to bring weapons and drugs into the classroom;
(C) twice as likely to commit crime;
(D) twice as likely to drop out of school;
(E) more likely to commit suicide;
(F) more than twice as likely to abuse alcohol or drugs; and
(G) more likely to become pregnant as teenagers.
(7) Violent criminals are overwhelmingly males who grew up without fathers.
(15) For the future of the United States and the future of our children, Congress,
States, and local communities should assist parents to become more actively involved
in their children's lives.
US Senate S.657- Strengthening Families Act of 2003
Many researchers support the conclusion that children in joint residence situations
do have a much better prognosis for positive post-divorce adjustment
Roman M, Haddad W. The Disposable Parent: The Case For Joint Custody. Holt, Reinhart,
Winston, New York (1978) at 178.
Coller D R. Joint Custody; Research, Theory and Policy. 27(4) Family Process
(December 1988) pp 259-269
Kruk E. Promoting Shared Parenting After Separation; A Therapeutic/Interventionist
Model of Family Mediation. 15(3) Journal of Family Therapy (August 1993)
Thompson R. The Role of The Father After Divorce. 4(1) The Future of Children.
(1994) pp 210-235.
Children in joint residence were better adjusted than children in sole-residence.
Children in joint residence were better adjusted than children in sole residence
settings, but no different from those in intact families. Factors including,
general adjustment, family relationships, self–esteem, emotional and behavioural
adjustment, and divorce specific adjustment were considered. Moreover, joint
residence parents reported less current conflict than did sole residence parents.
Joint residence can be advantageous for children, by facilitating ongoing positive
involvement with both parents
Doll B (June 1995). Preliminary Summary: Empirical Research Describing Outcomes
Of Joint Custody American Psychological Association, Washington D.C.
Bauserman R. (2002) Child Adjustment In Joint Custody Verses Sole-Custody Arrangements:
A Meta-Analytic Review. 16(1) Journal Of Family Psychology
Reviews of the evidence on post-divorce adjustment indicate the importance
of a continuing meaningful relationship with both parents
Kelly J B. Examining Resistance To Joint Custody. In, J Folberg (Editor), Joint
Custody and Shared Parenting The Guildford Press (2nd edition), New York (1991)
pp 55-62. (See Appendix D for a transcript)
Lerman I A. Adjustment of Latency Age Children In Joint and Single Custody Arrangements.
Dissertation Abstracts International, 50B, 3704, Order No AAC8925682 (1989)
Equal groups in joint guardianship, sole maternal residence and joint residence
were compared and the amount of father-child contact were found to be significant
predicators of child adjustment, with higher father-child contact associated
with better adjustment of the children. The results in this study, as in the
vast majority of this research, suggest that joint residence is much more beneficial
for successful post-divorce adjustment of children than sole residence.
Lerman I A. Adjustment of Latency Age Children In Joint and Single Custody Arrangements.
Dissertation Abstracts International, 50B, 3704, Order No AAC8925682 (1989)
Steinman evaluated 24 couples who chose joint residence arrangements for their
children at divorce. The children felt that they were strongly attached to both
parents and were not were not troubled by the loyalty conflicts. A comparatively
low rate of the children experiencing confusion or anxiety to their shared residence
arrangement. Consequently the argument that children in joint residence experience
more confusion and frustration was not supported in that study.
Steinman S. The Experiences of Children In A Joint Custody Arrangement: A Report
of A Study. 51 American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (1981) pp 403-414
Goldstein also found children were strongly attached to both parents, but a
small number of these children felt a strong need to be fair to both parents
and were meticulous about dividing their time equally between them. While these
children did perceive their parents divorce as undesirable, and in some cases
harboured fantasies of reconciliation, they did not experience the overwhelming
sense of having been rejected that is common in the more usual maternal sole
residence/father-absent post-divorce arrangement (Wallerstein, Kelly 1980; Mitchell
1985).
Goldstein J, Freud A, Solnit A. Beyond The Best Interests of The Child. Free
Press, New York (1973)
Wallerstein J S, Kelly J B. Surviving The Breakup: How Children and Parents Cope
With Divorce. Basic Books, New York (1980)
Mitchell A. Children In The Middle: Living Through Divorce. Tavistok Publications,
London, New York (1985)
70% of children (mostly boys) with severe behavioural handicaps have no father
contact at all. These children and adolescents are often the most disturbed or
potentially dangerous students in school.
Guidubaldi J, Duckworth J. Enhancing Fathers' Involvement In Child Rearing: An
Empirical Basis For Consultation and Parent Education. Symposium presented at
the National Association of School Psychologists Annual Convention Atlanta, Georgia
(March 1996).
Father absence lowers cognitive test scores for young children in general
Powel M, Parcel T L. Effects of Family Structure On The Earnings Attainment Process:
Differences By Gender, 59 Journal of Marriage and the Family (1997) p 419, reporting
on unpublished research by Frank Mott (1993) prepared for NIH/NICHD.
Father absence lowers girls’ math scores. Girl’s verbal capacities
increase when the father is present and especially when he reads aloud to her
when she is young.
Popenoe D. Life Without Father. Martin Kessler Books, New York (1995)
Paternal availability seems to be especially important in the IQ performance
of boys of all ages and girls in later latency.
Parke R. Fathers. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1981)
Boys in sole parent households frequently lack a positive male role model and
miss the discipline exercised by most fathers. Half of Australian boys with separated
parents see their fathers on the average of only six times a year or less. It
is clear that many boys are being reared without benefit of a same-sex parental
figure.
Australian Institute of Family Studies. Parents and Children After Marriage Breakdown
Study. Australian Institute of Family Studies Report, Australian Publishing Service,
Canberra (1991)
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1997. Children, Australia: A Social Report.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. Catalogue 4119.0).
If economic hardship were the main predictor of school performance, there would
presumably be no difference between children in step-parent households and children
in intact families where both family types received similar incomes. Yet children
in stepparent households still generally perform less well, even after controlling
for income.
Amato P R, Keith B. Parental Divorce and The Well-Being of Children: A Meta-Analysis.
110 Psychological Bulletin (1991) pp 26-46
Children in step families also suffer educationally. Schools may expel as many
as one in four stepchildren.
Dawson D A. Family Structure and Children's Health and Well Being: Data From
The 1988 National Survey of Child Health. 53 Journal of Marriage and The Family
(1995) pp. 573-584.
Increased contacts in meaningful care giving situations, lead to improved behaviour,
improved peer relationships, more positive self-esteem, and even improved academic
scores in numerous subjects. Infrequent paternal contact, on the other hand,
has been associated with poor self-esteem, depression, and high levels of anger
in children
Kelly J B. Longer-Term Adjustment In Children of Divorce: Converging Findings
and Implications For Practice. 2 Journal of Family Psychology (1988a) pp 119-140
The argument that children in joint residence experience more confusion and
frustration was not supported. Based on this research result, and many other
similar studies, it is known now that the argument that children need the stability
of one home etc is not valid.
Luepnitz D. A. Maternal, Paternal, and Joint Custody: A Study of Families After
Divorce (1980). Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York At Buffalo.
UMI order number, 80-27618
Children obtain emotional stability from important emotional relationships
with two parents and two sets of grandparents, and these are much more important
than where a child sleeps.
Kelly J B. Examining Resistance To Joint Custody. In, J Folberg (Editor), Joint
Custody and Shared Parenting. The Guildford Press (2nd edition), New York (1991)
pp 55-62
Children in sole residence situations did not maintain strong healthy emotional
relationships with both parents, children in joint residence situations did.
The children in joint residence arrangements indicated that they were generally
satisfied with their level of involvement with both parents, in marked contrast,
children in sole residence indicated that they were not satisfied.
*
The claim that children of divorce need one primary parent and one primary home
is refuted.
*
There was no evidence that joint residence families sustained more post divorce
conflict than sole residence households;
*
There was no evidence that children experience disruption from living in two
houses. In fact, most children felt their new lifestyles held certain advantages
over the nuclear family household;
*
Children in sole residence desired more contact with their non-resident parents;
*
Many non-resident parents but no joint residence parents lost contact with their
children;
*
No joint residence fathers had ceased to support their children financially,
as many non-resident fathers had;
*
Joint residence children had maintained meaningful relationships with both parents,
in contrast with single residence children for whom the visit was a vacation;
*
Single residence parents reported feeling burnt out and overwhelmed in a way
that joint residence did not.
*
All of the joint residence children valued the arrangement and said they would
have chosen it. By contrast, half of the sole residence children were dissatisfied
with their arrangements and wanted more contact with the non-resident parent.
*
Children’s response to parental authority were not shown to be adversely
affected by the fact that their parents no longer cared for each other. Joint
residence should be a rebuttable presumption at law. She concluded that joint
residence at it's best is superior to sole residence at its best.
Luepnitz D. A. Maternal, Paternal, and Joint Custody: A Study of Families After
Divorce (1980). Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York At Buffalo.
UMI order number, 80-27618
There is a general consensus that children who are able to maintain a loving,
involved relationship with both parents after divorce adjust much better than
children who find their relationship with either parent curtailed.
Kelly J B. Examining Resistance To Joint Custody. In, J Folberg (Editor), Joint
Custody and Shared Parenting. The Guildford Press (2nd edition), New York (1991)
pp 55-62
Cowan D B. Mother Custody Versus Joint Custody: Children’s Paternal Relationships
and Adjustment (1982). Dissertation Abstracts International, 43A, 726, UMI order
number, 82-18213.
Shiller V M. Joint Verses Maternal Custody For Families With Latency Age Boys:
Parent Characteristics and Child Development. 56(3) American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
(1986a) pp 486-489
Lerman I A. Adjustment of Latency Age Children In Joint and Single Custody Arrangements.
Dissertation Abstracts International, 50B, 3704, Order No AAC8925682 (1989)
Ilfeld H Z. Children’s Perception of Their Relationships With Their Fathers
In Three Family Constellations: Mother Sole Custody, Joint Custody, and Intact
Families. Dissertation Abstracts International, 50B, 5318, Order Number ACC9003085
(1989)
Children who fared best after the divorce were those who were free to develop
loving and full relationships with both parents. (Relationships like this are
unlikely without shared residence, ed.)
Folberg J, Graham M. Joint Custody of Children Following Divorce. 12 University
of California Davis Law Review (1979) p 535
Family Law Council. Patterns of Parenting After Separation: A Report To The Minister
For Justice and Consumer Affairs. Australian Publishing Service, Canberra (April
1992).
Empirical and clinical evidence that shared residence encourages responsible
behaviour and is psychologically sound.
Roman M, Haddad W. The Disposable Parent: The Case For Joint Custody. Holt, Rinehart,
Winston, New York (1978)
Luepnitz D A. Child Custody: A Study of Families After Divorce. Lexington Books,
Massachusetts (1982
Coller D R. Joint Custody; Research, Theory and Policy. 27(4) Family Process
(December 1988) pp 259–269
Sharply C F, Webber R F. Co–Parenting: An Alternative To Consider In Separation
Counselling. 10(3) Australian Journal of Sex, Marriage and Family (1992) pp 111–117
Kruk E. Promoting Shared Parenting After Separation; A Therapeutic/Interventionist
Model of Family Mediation. 15(3) Journal of Family Therapy (August 1993)
Thompson R. The Role of The Father After Divorce. 4(1) The Future of Children.
(1994) pp 210–235.
Farrell W. Father and Child Reunion: How To Bring The Dads We Need To The Children
We Love. Tarsher/Putman, New York (January 2001)
Lately have we begun to understand that children suffer serious negative consequences
when fathers are marginalized.
Warshak R A. The Custody Revolution: The Father Factor and The Motherhood Mystique.
Simon, Schuster, New York (1992)
Farrell W. Father and Child Reunion: How To Bring The Dads We Need To The Children
We Love. Tarsher/Putman, New York (January 2001)
The usual way of divorce (mother gets residence (custody), father gets contact
and financial obligation), is based on outmoded, erroneous, and damaging concepts
of men’s and women’s parenting roles, abilities, and parent–child
relationships.
Fitzgerald H, McCread C. Fathers and Infants. 2(4) Infant Mental Health (1981).
Jacobs J W. Divorce and Child Custody Resolution: Conflicting Legal and Psychological
Paradigms. 143 American Journal of Psychiatry (1986) pp 192–197
Joint residence is the optimal post–divorce arrangement and that courts
should begin with a rebuttable presumption of joint residence.
Roman M, Haddad W. The Disposable Parent: The Case For Joint Custody. Holt, Rinehart,
Winston, New York (1978)
Children seem to benefit from increased time with the non-custodial parent
when certain conditions are met: low levels of inter-parental conflict and a
warm, consistent relationship with the non-custodial parent. They benefit from
authoritative parenting with the non-resident parent (i.e., advice and help with
projects, supervision of homework; discipline)... In other words, how often fathers
see their children is less important than what they actually do with them. (Alternate
weekend access leads to destructive ‘Disney Dad’ relationships, as
fathers are forced to try to maximise the joy in their infrequent visits – ed.)
Amato, Gilbreath, 1999; Clarke-Stewart, Hayward, 1996; Hetherington, Cox, Cox,
1982
Boys as a group are happier and show lower rates of delinquency and school
drop-out in father-custody homes. These results are consistent and robust. There
are no studies which find the reverse - that children function better with the
opposite-sex parent.
Camara, Resnick, 1988; Clarke-Stewart, Hayward, 1996; Gregory, 1965; Peterson,
Zill, 1986; Santrock, Warshak, 1979; Warshak, 1996; Warshak, Santrock, 1983;
Zimiles, Lee, 1991
Researchers recommend that in a child’s best interests, the job of the
courts is to protect children from emotional damage by safeguarding the child’s
relationship with each parent to the fullest extent possible
Williams F S. Child Custody and Parental Cooperation. Paper presented at American
Bar Association Family Law Section (1987).
Kelly J B (1988a). Longer-Term Adjustment In Children of Divorce: Converging
Findings and Implications For Practice. 2 Journal of Family Psychology pp 119-140
Continuing a broad based relationship with the child (eg joint residence) considerably
diminished the negative psychological effects on the non-resident father and
his child.
Greif J B. Fathers, Children and Joint Custody. 49 American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
(1979). pp 311-319 at 314
Luepnitz D A. Child Custody: A Study of Families After Divorce. Lexington Books,
Massachusetts (1982)
# Rejecting mandatory joint residence places the interests of parents ahead of
the best interests of the child
McIsaac H. The Divorce Revolution: A Critique. 10(5) California Family Law Report
(May 1986)
Kelly J B. Further Observations On Joint Custody. 16 University of California
Davis Law Review (1983) pp 762-770
Australian data indicates the proportion of children with mental health problems – including
behavioural, affective (mood), and attention deficit disorders – is lowest
in intact families. The highest proportion of children with problems occurs in
single parent households, but boys are most likely to suffer from mental health
problems in step/blended households.
Sawyer et al. The Mental Health of Young People in Australia. Mental Health and
Special Programs Branch, Department of Health and Aged Care, Canberra (2000).
In 1988, a survey of preschool children admitted to New Orleans hospitals as
psychiatric patients over a 34-month period found that nearly 80 percent came
from fatherless homes.
Block J et al. Parental Functioning and the Home Environment In Families of Divorce.
27 Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1988)
An important Australian study interviewed 402 Victorian children and asked
them about relationships with parents and their general feelings about family
life. It sought to connect their responses to how the children were doing in
their lives. For the broad range of children support from both mothers and fathers
was associated with positive development. When fathers had little association
with their children, these children had relatively low self-esteem, strongly
desired more contact with their fathers, and were doing poorly compared to other
children whose fathers were more involved in their lives.
Amato P. Children In Australian Families: The Growth of Competence. Prentice-Hall,
Sydney (1987)
The Western Australian Child Health Survey found that the proportion of children
with low academic competence was almost twice as high for sole parent households
as for couple families – 30% and 17% respectively
Zubrick S R, Silburn S R, Gurrin L, Teoh H, Shephard C, Carlton J, Lawrence D.
Western Australian Child Health Survey: Education, Health and Competence. Australian
Bureau of Statistics and The TVW Telethon Institute For Child Health Research,
Perth, Western Australia (1997)
Many studies have replicated the finding that boys fare much more poorly than
girls in post-divorce households.
Guidubaldi J, Cleminshaw H K, Perry J D, Nastasi B K, Lightel J. The Role of
Selected Family Environment Factors In Children’s Post-Divorce Adjustment.
35 Family Relations (1986) pp 141-151
Krein S F, Beller A H. Educational Attainment of Children From Single-Parent
Families: Differences By Exposure, Gender and Race. 25 Demography (1988) pp 221-234
Poor control of the custodial parent, inconsistency and family disorganisation
are often reported in single-parent households, and lead to inattention ultimately
resulting in poor performance on tasks requiring sustained attention
Hetherington E, Cox M, Cox R. The Aftermath of Divorce. In Steven and Mathews
(Editors), Mother-Child, Father-Child Relations Washington DC: National Association
for the Education of Young Children (1978)
# Divorce affects the educational level that children attain. Among girls who
have completed high school there is a 33 percent lower divorce rate among their
parents compared to girls who drop out of high school
Bumpass L L, Castro Martin T, Sweet J A. The Impact of Family Background and
Early Marital Factors On Marital Disruption. 12 Journal of Family Issues (1991)
pp 22-42.
Numerous authors have expressed concern about the injury to children when a
parent with psychological problems is given total responsibility for the children.
Decisions in favour of sole residence will result in awarding residence to a
small number of parents who have serious psychological problems. Given the total
authority which parents in sole residence situations have, the potential for
child abuse, in that context, is almost unchecked.
Williams F S. Child Custody and Parental Cooperation. Paper presented at American
Bar Association Family Law Section (1987)
Wallerstein J S, Kelly J B. Surviving The Breakup: How Children and Parents Cope
With Divorce. Basic Books, New York (1980)
Kelly J B. Longer-Term Adjustment In Children of Divorce: Converging Findings
and Implications For Practice. 2 Journal of Family Psychology (1988a) pp 119-140
Available evidence suggests that both sole residence mothers and sole residence
fathers are guilty of that form of child abuse.
McMurray A, Blackmore A M. Influences On Parent-Child Relationships On Non-Custodial
Fathers. 14(3) Australian Journal of Marriage and Family (1992) pp 151-159 at
p153
Lovorn R. Why Women Join Fathers Rights Groups. Athens Banner Herald. Athens
Georgia (Thursday, 3 October 1991)
These data could result from the increased stress associated with single parent
responsibilities, since the Ditson, Shay (1984) data also indicated that in married
families the abuse was evenly split between the mother and the father.
Ditson J, Shay S. Use of A Home-Based Microcomputer To Analyse Community Data
From Reported Cases On Child Abuse and Neglect. 8 Child Abuse and Neglect (1984)
pp 503-509
Child abuse is intimately related to later delinquency and violent crime, and
here too divorce is implicated.
Fagan P. The Child Abuse Crisis: The Disintegration of Marriage, Family, and
The American Community. The Heritage Foundation, Backgrounder No. 1115 (3 June
1997)
When parenting responsibilities are totally loaded totally on one parent, sole
residence may lead to increased parental stress, and research has associated
increased maternal stress with increased violence against children.
Whimple E E. The Role of Parental Stress In Physically Abusive Families. Dissertation
Abstracts International, 50A, 3354, Order No AAC900701 (1989)
Delinquency and crime [29 citations]
It has also been found that boys from divorced families often exhibit delinquent-like
behaviour and have difficulty in controlling their impulses (Biller 1981; Buckingham
2000). Investigators believe that boys need a firm, positive identification with
their fathers in order to be able to develop internalised controls over their
behaviour. The fact that post divorce boys have much less contact with their
fathers would explain their higher incidence of delinquent-like and generally
aggressive behaviour.
Biller, H. Father Absence, Divorce and Personality Development: The Role of the
Father in Child Development. Wiley, Son, New York (1981)
Buckingham, J. Boy Troubles – Understanding Rising Suicide, Rising Crime
and Educational Failure. Centre For Independent Studies, St. Leonards, NSW (June
2003).
Assault rates more than doubled in the decade from 1980 to 1990 and there is
a statistical association between rising crime and rising rates of divorce. (There
is no such association between crime and unemployment or the number of young
men in society).
Intact families are generally the most effective way to socialise the young.
Disturbed behaviour among young people was noted during World War II, when many
fathers were away from their families. Sullivan suggests that our present way
of dealing with this problem, through intervention at the individual level by
social workers and the police, has little effect, and calls for a public health
approach, preventing the problems before they occur by encouraging intact families.
Sullivan L. Rising Crime In Australia. Centre For Independent Studies, Sydney
(1997)
The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSR) implicates child neglect
is currently the most powerful social predictor of juvenile crime.
Weatherburn D, Lind B. Social and Economic Stress, Child Neglect and Juvenile
Delinquency. NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Sydney (1997)
"The high incidence of violent behaviour from boys was strongly correlated
to being fatherless but it was not, in my experience, prevalent among any one
community. It was not related to one race or community, but it was related to
having no father."
Harvey Brownstone (family court judge, North York Canada) quoted in "Put
kids first, judge tells parents His family court sees conflicts daily Complex
reasons why dads absent" ANDREA GORDON, Toronto Star newspaper, Jan. 16,
2006 http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename==thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c==Article&cid=
37365412343&call_pageid=–8867495754&col=–9483191630
Abuse has been shown to be related to violent juvenile crime, but not to property
crime
Farrington D F. The Family Backgrounds of Aggressive Youths, In L Hersor, M Berger,
D Shaffer (Editors), Aggression and Anti-Social Behaviour In Child hood and Adolescence.
Pergamon, Oxford (1978)
Patterson G R. Coercive Family Processes. Castalia, Eugene, Oregon (1982)
Widom C S. The Cycle of Violence. 244 Science (1989) pp 160-166
Children of divorced parents are significantly more likely to be delinquent
by age fifteen, regardless of when the divorce took place, than are children
of intact families
Frost A K, Pakiz B. The Effects of Marital Disruption On Adolescents: Time As
A Dynamic. 60(4) American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (1990) pp 544-555. Hereinafter
as Marital Disruption
Adolescents from single-mother households are consistently more likely to be
delinquent than those from intact families, though the same holds for children
from intact conflict ridden families
Demo D H, Acock A C. The Impact of Divorce On Children. 50 Journal of Marriage
and The Family (1988) pp 619-648
Among adolescent girls there is a strong correlation between family structure
and delinquency
Heimer K Gender, Interaction, Ad Delinquency: Testing A Theory of Differential
Social Control. 39 Social Psychology Quarterly (1996) pp 39-61
Among adolescent girls there is a strong correlation between family structure
and hostile behaviour
Pakiz B, Reinherz H ,z Giaconia R M. Early Risk Factors For Serious Antisocial
Behaviour At Age 21: A Longitudinal Community Study. 67 American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
(1997) pp 92-100
Among adolescent girls there is a strong correlation between family structure
and drug use, larceny, skipping school
Kalter N, Reimer B, Brickman A, Chen J W. Implications of Parental Divorce For
Female Development. 24 Journal of The American Academy of Child Psychiatry (1985)
pp 538-544
Among adolescent girls there is a strong correlation between family structure
and alcohol abuse
Frost A K, Pakiz B. The Effects of Marital Disruption On Adolescents: Time As
A Dynamic. 60(4) American Journal of Orthopsychiatry (1990) pp 544-555.
The divorce rate predicted the rate of robbery in any given area, regardless
of the economic and the racial composition, based on a study of 171 American
cities with populations over 100,000. In these communities, he found that the
lower the rates of divorce the less the crime.
Sampson R J. Crime In Cities: The Effects of Formal and Informal Social Control.
In M Tonry, N Morris (editors), Crime and Justice. University of Chicago Press,
Chicago, IL, (1995) pp 271-301
Other American data indicates that 43 percent of prison inmates grew up in
a single–parent household and an additional 14 percent lived in households
without either biological parent. Another 14 percent had spent at last part of
their childhood in a foster home, agency or other juvenile institution. (adding
this up, 70% of inmates didn’t have both natural parents, ed.)
US Bureau of Justice Statistics. Survey of State Prison Inmates. US Bureau of
Justice, Washington D C (1991)
Sixty percent of rapists and seventy-two percent of adolescent murderers in
America grew up in homes without fathers
Davidson N. Life Without Father. (1990)
The one factor that most closely correlates with crime is the absence of the
father in the family. Controlling for family configuration erases the relationship
between race and crime and between low income and crime. This conclusion shows
up time and again in the literature
Kamarck E, Galston W. Putting Children First. Progressive Policy Institute (1990)
According to the Western Australian Child Health Survey, children in single
parent and step/blended households have up to two times greater incidence of
mental health problems than children in intact families (two natural parents).
Silburn et.al. Western Australian Child Health Survey: Family and Community Health.
Australian Bureau of Statistics and the TVW Telethon Institute For Child Health
Research. Perth, W.A. (1996)
One U.S. study tracked one thousand families with children aged six to eighteen
for six years and found that those children living in intact married families
exhibited the least delinquency, while children with stepfathers had the greatest
risk of the most disruptive behaviour. In this study single-parent children fell
in between.
Rickel A U, Langer T S. Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Marital Disruption
On Children. 13 American Journal of Community Psychology (1985) pp 599-661
15 times higher prevalence of depression in 12 to 14 years olds not living
with both of their natural parents.
Garrison et.al. Incidence of Major Depressive Disorder an Dysthymia In Young
Adolescents. 36 Journal of American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry
(1997) pp 458-465.
At every income level except the very highest (over US$50,000 a year), children
living with never-married mothers were more likely than their counterparts in
two-parent families to have been expelled or suspended from school, to display
emotional problems, and to engage in antisocial behaviour.
National Health Interview Survey. United States Department of Health and Human
Services, Hyattsille, MD (1988) cited in Wilson J Q. In Loco Parentis: Helping
Children When Families Fail Them The Brookings Review (Fall 1993)
Higher divorce rates in a society lead to higher suicide rates among children. Prior to the divorce revolution of the 1970s unemployment was the biggest correlate
with suicide, but that has changed (McCall et al). The largest demographic indicator
of suicide is the family structure within which the person resides, and that
the divorced family structure is most dangerous. This link between the rise in
adolescent suicide in the past three decades with parental divorce has been found
again and again in the literature, and in cross-cultural studies of Japan and
the United States. For children the suicide is often triggered by thoughts that
their parents have rejected them or have lost interest in them (Wodarski et al).
McCall P.L, Land K. C. Trends in White Maile Adolescent, Young-Adult, and Elderly
Suicide: Are There Common Underlying Structural Factors? 23 Social Science Research
(1994) pp 57-81.
Nelson F.L. et al. Youth Suicide in California: A Comparitive Study of Perceived
Causes and Interventions. 24 Community Mental Health (Spring 1988) pp 31-42
Noevi Velez C, Cohen P. Suicidal Behaviour and Ideation in a Community Sample
of Children: Maternal and Youth Reports 27(3) Journal of The American Acadamy
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1988) pp 349-356.
Larson D. B, Swyers J. P, Larson S. S. The Costly Consequences of Divorce. National
Institute for Healthcare Research. Rockville, Maryland (1995) p. 124.
Wodarski J. S, Harris P. Adolescent Suicide: A Review of Influences and the Means
for Prevention. 32(6) Social Work (1987) pp 477-484.
Some experts to recommend paternal residence as a preference for boys and maternal
residence for girls. However, such a legislative mandate would be inappropriate
at present for two reasons. First, no child should ever be denied the right to
know and love two care-giving parents (except, obviously, in abuse situations).
Second, no parent should be denied his or her parental rights (i.e., human rights)
without conclusive evidence that the exercise of those rights is destructive
of the child). Thirdly, This can deny children from having a relationship with
their siblings.
Finally, this would fail to achieve the only justification of sole-residence – which
is to remove one parent from the children’s lives.
Rohman L W, Sales B D, Lou M. The Best Interests of The Child In Custody Disputes.
In L A Weithorn (Editor), Psychology and Child Custody Determinations. University
of Nebraska Press, Lincoln Nebraska, (1987)
Thompson R. The Fathers Case In Child Custody Decisions: The Contributions of
Psychological Research. In M E Lamb, A Sargi (Editors), Fatherhood and Social
Policy. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey (1983). pp 50-100
