Dissertation Research: Representations of Parenthood: An Analysis of Child Custody Laws, the Courts, and Families

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Over the last fifty years, sociocultural beliefs surrounding motherhood and fatherhood have changed rapidly. The divorce rate and the number of children born to single mothers have increased while more women--especially mothers--have entered the work force. These demographic changes in family life have resulted in major shifts in the ways Americans conceive of both mothers' and fathers' roles. These changes have affected child custody laws, shifting them from a maternal preference to a more egalitarian standard: the best interests of the child. Evidence also suggests, however, that traditional notions of parenthood persist in the legal system. Therefore, social processes seem to perpetuate both egalitarian and traditional notions of motherhood and fatherhood. This study investigates cultural notions of parenthood by conducting four separate but interrelated analyses to explore notions of motherhood and fatherhood. (1) State child custody statutes will be content analyzed to explore the extent to which state legislatures define guidelines for good parenting. (2) Child custody case law will be examined in a subset of states to explore how state appellate courts incorporate notions motherhood and fatherhood into their decisions. (3) Judges will be interviewed to examine their recent child custody decisions to explore how they view mothers and fathers and how these views are reflected in child custody cases. (4) The meaning of parenthood in divorced families will be investigated by quantitatively analyzing the attitudes of parents in divorced families in the National Survey of Families and Households. The contributions of this sociological examination of the intersection of family and the legal system should be of interest to scholars across many disciplines, including political science and law. Further, this study has implications for child custody policy as well as other policies that affect families, such as child support policy or welfare policy.