Joint vs. Sole Custody – Part 1
October 8th, 2015
{2:45 minutes to read} Is joint custody better?
The following is the first in a series of blog articles looking at the benefits/cost of sole vs. joint custody.
The 2006 custody law reforms in Australia drove many of the litigated custody cases into a joint, or shared, custodial arrangement, as opposed to one parent having sole, or primary, custody.
The new legislation in Australia mandated that parents, lawyers, and judges consider equal—or nearly equal (a minimum of 35%-65% split between the parents)—parenting and shared custody arrangements, rather than primary custody, which had previously been the norm.
This has spurred research looking at joint vs. sole custodial arrangements.
The first obvious questions in addressing this issue are: How does one identify good parenting, and what makes shared parenting effective?
With regard to the first question, researchers (Sandler et al. 2012) have identified two critical components of good parenting:
- Quality of the relationship – This refers to the presence of warmth, emotional support, encouragement, positive communication between a parent and a child.
- Effective discipline – The enforcement of age-appropriate rules in a positive manner with successful results.
What makes shared parenting effective?
A 2014 article by Marsha Kline Pruett and J. Herbie DiFonzo described shared parenting as joint decision-making (legal custody) and shared parenting time (physical custody). Effective shared parenting involves joint parenting plans in which each parent values the contribution that the other parent makes in the child’s life, and both strive to agree on how the child will be raised.
Pruett and DiFonzo (2014) argue that shared parenting has a positive effect on the child’s adjustment in cases where there is true parental collaboration. Their view is echoed by a literature review by Bauserman (2012) who concluded that children and adolescents with divorced parents are likely to be better adjusted on a variety of dimensions in successful cooperative post-divorce arrangements.
McIntosh & her colleagues (2012) argue that the advantage of successful shared parenting arrangements include:
- The child’s ability to enjoy relationships with both parents
- The child’s ability to maintain two active social support networks
- Lower risk of depleted emotional availability associated with single parenting
- Happier mothers who can maintain a better work/family balance
- Happier fathers who can maintain a gratifying level of involvement with their children
Lamb (2012) notes that research on children in postdivorce proceedings indicates that the majority of children express strong wishes and longing for more time with their father.
Lamb further notes that because the father’s active participation and effective parenting is beneficial to their children, the influence of maternal attitudes on the extent of parental involvement following divorce is critical.
Mothers can be influential gatekeepers of parental involvement through attitude and behaviors that limits or facilitate the fathers’ opportunity for meaningful contact with their children. Stated differently, the father’s involvement is likely to be influenced by the view that mothers have of fathers with respect to their parental competence and the desirability of their involvement with their children.
While the jury may still be out on joint versus sole custody, we do know that most children in post-divorce situations want and need to have continued contact with both parents. If you were an attorney involved in a high-conflict dispute, what would you advise your client on the best custodial arrangement in such difficult cases?
Please contact me at nycforensics@gmail.com with questions or comments.
Dr. Alberto Yohananoff
NYC Forensics
dryohananoff@nycforensics.com
P: (646) 284-5600
F: (212) 706-9136
