Waubonsee Community College

Dividing the child, social and legal dilemmas of custody, Eleanor E. Maccoby and Robert H. Mnookin ; with Charlene E. Depner and H. Elizabeth Peters

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-363) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Dividing the child

bibliographystatistics

25247264

Eleanor E. Maccoby and Robert H. Mnookin ; with Charlene E. Depner and H. Elizabeth Peters

"Questions about how children fare in divided families have become as perplexing and urgent as they are common. In this landmark work on custody arrangements, the developmental psychologist Eleanor Maccoby and the legal scholar Robert Mnookin consider these questions and their ramifications for society." "The first book to examine the social and legal realities of how divorcing parents make arrangements for their children, Dividing the Child is based on a large, representative study of families from a wide range of socioeconomic levels. Maccoby and Mnookin followed a group of more than one thousand families for three years after the parents filed for divorce. Their findings show how different divorce agreements are reached, from uncontested dealings to formal judicial rulings, and how various custody arrangements fare as time passes and family circumstances change. Numerous examples of joint custody and father custody are considered in this account, along with the mother-custody families more commonly studied; and in most cases the point of view of both parents is presented. Among families in which children spend time in both parental households, the authors identify three different patterns of co-parenting: cooperative, conflicted, and disengaged. They find that although divorcing parents seldom engage in formal legal disputes, they are generally unable to cooperate effectively in raising their children." "Full of interesting findings with far-reaching implications, this book will be invaluable to the lawyers, judges, social workers, and parents who, more and more often, must make wise and informed decisions concerning the welfare and care of children of divorce."--Jacket

social and legal dilemmas of custody

Introduction -- Understanding the processes of divorce -- Characteristics of the families studied -- Initial residence and visitation -- Child custody: what parents want and get -- The economic provisions of the divorce decree -- Conflict over the terms of the divorce decree -- Continuity and change in children's residence and visitation -- Parenting and co-parenting apart -- Economic changes over time -- Facing the dilemmas of child custody