Family Models in Germany: Children’s and Parents’ Well-Being in Joint Physical Custody Arrangements

根据从1 500个家庭收集的调查数据和第一个项目“德国的家庭模式"的其他综合工作，我们正在计划为题为“德国的家庭模式：共同实际监护安排中儿童和父母的福祉”的后续项目进行三次重大扩展。“（1）我们将调查在再婚家庭中典型的复杂家庭中儿童的幸福感。分居或离婚家庭的结构复杂，父母有新的伴侣，这对所有（新老）家庭成员提出了巨大挑战。然而，由于缺乏可用的数据，目前还没有关于继父母或同父异母和继兄弟姐妹对实行共同实际监护的家庭中儿童福祉的重要性的实证研究。此外，在判例法和判例法中，继父母与继子女的关系尚未被视为法院判决中的一个考虑因素。我们将在后续项目中讨论和质疑这一政策，并根据社会学分析的结果，从物质和程序两个层面得出判例结论。(2)虽然第一个项目侧重于儿童的福祉，但我们将在后续项目中转向父母的福祉，以填补另一个研究空白。由于实行共同监护的分居和离婚家庭通常是孩子与父母双方都有密切接触的家庭，我们将研究父母的幸福与孩子的幸福之间的相互作用。由于这一点在目前的共同监护制度的法律讨论中一直被忽视，因此，我们将根据分析的结果得出法理上的结论。(3)我们将进行国际比较。一方面，我们将进行社会学的定量实证分析。这一程序之所以可行，是因为第一个项目的数据收集采用的工具与其他国际研究中使用的工具类似。另一方面，从法律的观点来看，我们将把德国、法国和比利时的法律的制度的比较扩展到英语国家（英国和澳大利亚）。研究结果将与国际比较社会学分析联系起来。

Based on the collection of survey data from 1,500 families and the other comprehensive work in the first project, "Family Models in Germany (FAMOD)", we are planning three substantial expansions for the follow-up project entitled "Family Models in Germany: The Well-Being of Children and Parents in Joint Physical Custody Arrangements." (1) We will investigate children’s well-being in the complex family constellations that are typical for stepfamilies. The structural complexity in separated or divorced families, in which parents have new partners, presents an enormous challenge for all (old and new) family members. However, due to a lack of available data, there are no existing empirical studies on the importance of stepparents or half- and stepsiblings for the well-being of children in families practicing joint physical custody. Moreover, in jurisprudence as well as in case law, the stepparent-stepchild relation is not yet seen as a factor for consideration in court judgements. We will discuss and question this policy within the follow-up project, and, based on the findings from the sociological analyses, we will draw conclusions for jurisprudence on both material and procedural levels. (2) While the first project focused on the well-being of children, we will close another research lacuna by turning to parental well-being in the follow-up project. Because separated and divorced families practicing joint physical custody are usually families in which the child has intensive contact with both parents, we will examine the interactions between the well-being of parents and the well-being of their children. As this aspect has been ignored so far in the discussion of joint physical custody in the law context, we will draw conclusions for jurisprudence based on the findings of our analyses. (3) We will carry out international comparisons. On the one hand, we will perform sociological quantitative empirical analyses. Such a procedure will be possible because data collection in the first project employed instruments that are comparable to those used in other international studies. On the other hand, from a legal point of view we will extend the comparison of German, French, and Belgian legal systems already undertaken to English-speaking countries (England and Australia). The results will be tied back into international comparative sociological analyses.