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Books > Law > Laws of other jurisdictions & general law > Private, property, family law > Family law
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The Custody Wars: Why Children Are Losing The Legal Battle, And What We Can Do About It (Paperback, New edition)
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The Custody Wars: Why Children Are Losing The Legal Battle, And What We Can Do About It (Paperback, New edition)
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A fierce and informed plea for courts, parents, psychiatrists, and
social workers to consider "the best interests of the child" before
dividing custody, Solomon-like, between mother and father. Often,
the child is the trophy that one or another parent carries off in
vituperative clashes that have little or nothing to do with the
welfare of the vulnerable offspring, says family-law expert Mason
(Law and Social Welfare/Univ. of Calif., Berkeley; The Equality
Trap, 1988). Political, scientific, legal, and social trends carry
more weight in the courts that rule on custody than do
considerations about the children, she charges. As the role of
father is viewed more and more positively, courts are looking
kindly on fathers (including unwed fathers) as joint or even
primary caretakers in custody disputes and giving weight to
biological claims even though the biological father may have been
absent from the child's life for many years. Mason looks at these
issues plus stepparents' lack of legal standing, the troubling
rulings when domestic violence is an issue in divorce (fathers who
abuse their partners may still get custody or substantial
visitation because it was not shown that they abused their
children); the turmoil when parents before the court are
homosexual; and the morass of legal claims created by new
reproductive technology. What's missing in all of this - in many
cases, literally unmentioned in court documents or even in
mediation reports - is the child. Mason offers a clear, concise
plan to keep the best interests of the child in the forefront,
including determining the "primary parent" (that is, the parent who
is most responsible for everyday care), reviewing and possibly
changing custody arrangements periodically as the child reaches new
developmental stages, and most of all, consulting the children who
are the center of the legal wrangles. Mason offers sometimes
startling information regarding the absence of children's input or
consideration of their needs in custody disputes, and a zinging
denunciation of "one-sizefits-all" resolutions. (Kirkus Reviews)
How should the courts decide custody cases that involve adoption,
divorce, and single parenting? Should an abusive husband be given
custody of his child? What about unwed fathers? Gay parents? How
much say should young children have in court? In this text, family
lawyer and historian, Mary Ann Mason, casts a harsh spotlight on
these and other aspects of child custody. She argues that the legal
shift to equal treatment of men and women has translated into
parents' rights taking precedence over children's needs. Mason
insists that fairness to parents must not come at the expense of
children. Drawing on a wealth of legal cases and research, Mason
presents a bold programme for reform that aims to change the terms
of debate about child custody cases.
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