Family Court Decisions About Child Custody in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence

亲密伴侣暴力(IPV)在离婚父母中很常见，他们无法自行制定监护权和探视协议。尽管法令要求法院将IPV因素纳入拘留和探视决定，但研究表明，他们往往无法做到这一点。这项研究调查了当IPV已被记录在案时，在家庭法院环境中做出的关于监护和探视未成年儿童的决定。利用472个案件的行政法院记录，将解决以下问题：民事和刑事记录中知识产权保护文件的模式是什么，记录在案的知识产权保护文件如何反映在羁押和探视协议中？记录在案的IPV何时以及如何与更安全的监护和探视协议相关联？然后，在190个离婚案例的子集中，我们有来自母亲的自我报告数据，我们问：自我报告的身体和/或性暴力与记录在案的IPV是否相互关联？在记录IPV时，与监护和探视协议以及这些协议的安全性有关的其他风险和保护因素有哪些？最后，与那些自我报告没有记录在法庭记录中的身体和/或性暴力的母亲相比，监护和探视协议以及这些协议对有记录在案的母亲的安全性如何？这项研究解决了缩小研究与家事法院实践和政策之间差距的迫切需要，并将有助于推动几个领域的理论进步，包括知识产权、监护、法院和决策、法律实施和法律影响。此外，这项研究还可为在家事法院实践中确定IPV的议定书和评估工具的制定提供信息，并在确定后为确保注意羁押和探视协议的安全提供模式。这项两阶段研究的第一阶段将从离婚案件的四套行政记录中提取数据：离婚、家事法院、保护令和刑事案件。具体目的是：(1)描述民事和刑事记录中针对离婚母亲的知识产权保护文件的存在、形式和时间(即在离婚案件之前和/或期间)，并审查知识产权保护文件如何与监护权和探视协议以及这些协议的安全性相关联；以及(2)在离婚案件之前记录的IPV案件中，确定父母、子女、离婚过程和区分离婚案件档案中是否记录IPV的IPV相关因素，以及在离婚文件中记录IPV的案件中，确定父母、子女、离婚过程以及与监护权和探视协议以及这些协议的安全性相关的IPV相关因素。在第二阶段，第一阶段的管理数据将与最近完成的一项研究中收集的其他变量合并，研究对象是离婚申请后12周内招募的母亲。第二阶段的目的是：(1)探索自我报告的IPV与民事和刑事记录中存在的IPV文件之间的联系；(2)确定母亲自我报告的感知和态度因素(例如敌意、积极态度)以及与监护权和探视协议以及这些协议的安全性有关的风险或威胁指标(例如IPV的严重性、控制行为)。离婚案件档案中有自我报告和记录的IPV的母亲与自我报告但没有记录的IPV的母亲之间的差异将被审查。将进行双变量和多变量分析，以审查知识产权保护文件的模式以及与监护和探视协议以及这些协议的安全性有关的因素。在离婚过程早期纳入一部分母亲的数据提供了一个独特的机会来确定自我报告因素，这些因素与行政记录中的数据相结合，可以更好地了解IPV背景下的监护和探视协议。

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is common among divorcing parents who are unable to develop custody and visitation agreements on their own. Despite mandates requiring courts to factor IPV into custody and visitation decisions, studies indicate they often fail to do so. This study investigates decisions made in family court settings regarding the custody and visitation of minor children when IPV has been documented. Using administrative court records of 472 cases the following questions will be addressed: What are the patterns of IPV documentation in civil and criminal records, and how is documented IPV reflected in custody and visitation agreements? When and how is documented IPV associated with safer custody and visitation agreements? Then, among a subset of 190 divorce cases for which we have self-report data from mothers, we ask: Are self-reported physical and/or sexual violence and documented IPV associated with one another? What additional risk and protective factors are associated with custody and visitation agreements and the safety of those agreements when IPV is documented? Finally, how do custody and visitation agreements and the safety of those agreements for mothers with documented IPV compare to those who self-report physical and/or sexual violence that is not documented in court records? This study addresses a critical need to narrow the gap between research and family court practice and policy, and will contribute to the advancement of theory in several areas, including IPV, custody, courts and decision-making, legal implementation, and legal impact. In addition, this study can inform the development of protocols and assessment tools for identifying IPV in family court practice and, once identified, models for ensuring attention to safety in custody and visitation agreements. Phase I of this two-phase study will extract data from four sets of administrative records for divorce cases: divorce, family court, protective order, and criminal. The specific aims are to: (1) describe the presence, form, and timing (i.e., prior to and/or during the divorce case) of documentation of IPV against divorcing mothers in civil and criminal records, and examine how the documentation of IPV is associated with custody and visitation agreements and the safety of those agreements; and (2) among cases with IPV documented prior to the divorce case, identify parent, child, divorce process, and IPV-related factors that differentiate whether IPV is or is not documented in the divorce case file, and among cases with IPV documented in the divorce file, identify parent, child, divorce process, and IPV-related factors associated with custody and visitation agreements and the safety of those agreements. In Phase II, the administrative data from Phase I will be merged with additional variables collected during a recently completed study of mothers recruited within 12 weeks of a divorce filing. The aims of Phase II are to: (1) explore the association between self-reported IPV and presence of IPV documentation in civil and criminal records; and (2) identify mothers' self-reported perceptual and attitudinal factors (e.g., hostility, positive attitudes) and indicators of risk or threat (e.g., severity of IPV, controlling behaviors) that are associated with custody and visitation agreements and the safety of those agreements. Differences between mothers with self-reported and documented IPV in the divorce case file and mothers with self-reported but undocumented IPV will be examined. Bivariate and multivariate analyses will be conducted to examine patterns of IPV documentation and factors associated with custody and visitation agreements and the safety of those agreements. The inclusion of data from a subset of mothers early in the divorce process provides a unique opportunity to identify self-report factors that, in conjunction with data from administrative records, provide a better understanding of custody and visitation agreements in the context of IPV.