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The welfare of the child : a literature review Georgie Hall.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: Family Court custody and access research reportPublication details: Wellington, N.Z. : Policy and Research Division, Dept. of Justice, 1989Description: 77 p. ; 30 cmISBN:
  • 0477076033
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 346.017 HAL
Family Court custordy and access research report 1Summary: This report is the first in a series of eight publications resulting from a research programme on custody and access issues in the Family Courts undertaken by the Policy and Research Division of the Department of Justice. The report reviews the literature on the custody and access debate of the previous two decades (1970s-1980s), and primarily focuses on the research findings of the effects of different custody arrangements on children. The report draws on literature from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Custody and access, and the law and practice in relation to this, are discussed in chapter 2. Chapter 3 provides a discussion on the issue of sole custody, looking at both sole maternal and paternal custody. The issues of split and non-parental custody are also briefly traversed. Chapter 4 focuses on joint custody and concludes that most of the research in this area has methodological shortcomings that should be taken into consideration when drawing conclusions from the research. Chapter 5 describes and discusses the primary caretaker principle (this states that the parent who has been the primary caretaker during the relationship or marriage should be awarded custody after separation in the event of a custody dispute, provided that parent is fit to do so). The report concludes with the main research findings relating to the different forms of custody and the implications associated with these. It also recommends the development of positive guidelines for determining optimal custody arrangements, and a suggestion is made for more research relating to the primary caretaker principle, as this is seen as of possible use in New Zealand.
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Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-77)

This report is the first in a series of eight publications resulting from a research programme on custody and access issues in the Family Courts undertaken by the Policy and Research Division of the Department of Justice. The report reviews the literature on the custody and access debate of the previous two decades (1970s-1980s), and primarily focuses on the research findings of the effects of different custody arrangements on children. The report draws on literature from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Custody and access, and the law and practice in relation to this, are discussed in chapter 2. Chapter 3 provides a discussion on the issue of sole custody, looking at both sole maternal and paternal custody. The issues of split and non-parental custody are also briefly traversed. Chapter 4 focuses on joint custody and concludes that most of the research in this area has methodological shortcomings that should be taken into consideration when drawing conclusions from the research. Chapter 5 describes and discusses the primary caretaker principle (this states that the parent who has been the primary caretaker during the relationship or marriage should be awarded custody after separation in the event of a custody dispute, provided that parent is fit to do so). The report concludes with the main research findings relating to the different forms of custody and the implications associated with these. It also recommends the development of positive guidelines for determining optimal custody arrangements, and a suggestion is made for more research relating to the primary caretaker principle, as this is seen as of possible use in New Zealand.

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