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

论文研究：父母身份的表征：儿童监护法、法院和家庭的分析

• 批准号: 9818801
• 负责人: Brian Powell
• 金额: $ 0.72万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-04-15 至 2000-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9818801&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Representations; Parenthood; Analysis

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.

在过去的50年里，围绕母亲和父亲的社会文化观念发生了迅速变化。离婚率和单身母亲所生子女的数量有所增加，而更多的妇女-特别是母亲-加入了劳动力队伍。家庭生活中的这些人口变化导致了美国人对母亲和父亲角色的看法的重大转变。这些变化影响了儿童监护法，使其从母亲的偏好转向更平等的标准：儿童的最佳利益。然而，证据也表明，在法律的制度中，传统的父母身份观念依然存在。因此，社会进程似乎使平等主义和传统的母性和父性观念永久化。本研究探讨文化观念的父母进行了四个独立的，但相互关联的分析，探讨概念的母亲和父亲。(1)州儿童监护法规将进行内容分析，以探讨州立法机构在多大程度上定义了良好的育儿指导方针。(2)儿童监护权判例法将在一个国家的子集进行审查，以探讨如何国家上诉法院纳入其决定的概念母亲和父亲。(3)法官将接受采访，以审查他们最近的儿童监护权的决定，探讨他们如何看待母亲和父亲，以及这些观点是如何反映在儿童监护权的案件。(4)通过对全国家庭和住户调查中离婚家庭父母的态度进行定量分析，将调查离婚家庭中父母身份的意义。这种对家庭和法律的制度的交叉进行社会学研究的贡献应该会引起包括政治学和法律在内的许多学科的学者的兴趣。此外，这项研究对儿童监护政策以及其他影响家庭的政策，如儿童抚养政策或福利政策具有影响。