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

亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）在无法自行制定监护和探视协议的离婚父母中很常见。尽管规定要求法院在作出拘留和探视决定时将IPV考虑在内，但研究表明，法院往往没有这样做。本研究调查了家庭法院在未成年儿童监护和探视时所做的决定，当IPV已被记录在案。利用472个案件的行政法院记录，将探讨以下问题：民事和刑事记录中IPV文件的模式是什么，IPV文件如何反映在监护和探视协议中？何时以及如何将IPV文件与更安全的监护和探视协议联系起来？然后，在190个离婚案例中，我们有母亲的自我报告数据，我们问：自我报告的身体和/或性暴力和记录在案的IPV是否相互关联？当IPV被记录在案时，与监护和探视协议以及这些协议的安全性相关的额外风险和保护因素是什么？最后，有IPV记录的母亲的监护和探视协议以及这些协议的安全性与那些自我报告没有在法庭记录中记录的身体和/或性暴力的母亲相比如何？本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，并将有助于在IPV，监护权，法院和决策，法律实施和法律影响等几个领域的理论进步。此外，这项研究可以为制定鉴定家事法庭实践中IPV的协议和评估工具提供信息，一旦确定，就可以制定确保注意监护和探视协议中的安全的模式。本研究的第一阶段将从离婚、家事法庭、保护令和刑事四组离婚案件的行政记录中提取数据。具体目的是：(1)描述民事和刑事记录中针对离婚母亲的IPV文件的存在、形式和时间（即在离婚案件之前和/或期间），并研究IPV文件如何与监护和探视协议以及这些协议的安全性相关联；(2)在离婚前记录IPV的案件中，确定区分IPV是否被记录在离婚案件档案中的父母、子女、离婚过程和与ipvv相关的因素；在离婚档案中记录IPV的案件中，确定与监护和探视协议及其安全性相关的父母、子女、离婚过程和ipvv相关的因素。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收集的其他变量合并，该研究是在离婚申请后12周内招募的母亲。第二阶段的目标是：(1)探索自我报告的IPV与民事和刑事记录中IPV文件的存在之间的关系；(2)确定母亲自我报告的与监护和探视协议及其安全性相关的感知和态度因素（如敌意、积极态度）和风险或威胁指标（如IPV的严重程度、控制行为）。将检查在离婚案件档案中自我报告和记录IPV的母亲与自我报告但未记录IPV的母亲之间的差异。将进行双变量和多变量分析，以审查IPV文件的模式和与监护和探视协议有关的因素以及这些协议的安全性。纳入离婚过程早期母亲子集的数据提供了一个独特的机会来确定自我报告因素，这些因素与来自行政记录的数据相结合，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.