Parents in child custody disputes: Why are they disputing?

The role of stepparents in child custody disputes.

Divorce has become a part of the fabric of an ever-increasing number of American families. Few extended families are untouched by its ramifications. In many families of divorce. boundaries are redrawn and relationships are redefined. Frequently, remarriage imposes yet another complicating factor for the members ofthe new families. Visher and Visher l have defined "stepfamily" as a family in whi...

Biological parents regaining their rights: a psycholegal analysis of a new era in custody disputes.

The evolving American family presents new psycholegal dilemmas. Recently many publicized landmark cases have involved custody disputes in which settlements turn on the genetic component. Although the court acknowledges the principle of "the best interest of the child" as important to the determination of custody, this interest is not absolutely paramount. Court rulings have taken the position t...

Parental Alienation Syndrome vs. Parental Alienation: Which Diagnosis Should Evaluators Use in Child-Custody Disputes?

Children who have been programmed by one parent to be alienated from the other parent are commonly seen in the context of child-custody disputes. Such programming is designed to strengthen the position of the programming parent in a court of law. Many evaluators use the term parental alienation syndrome (PAS) to refer to the disorder engendered in such children. In contrast, there are evaluator...

Toward a child-centered approach to evaluating claims of alienation in high-conflict custody disputes.

Theories of parental alienation abound in high-conflict custody cases. The image of one parent brainwashing a child against the other parent fits with what we think we know about family dynamics during divorce. The concept of a diagnosable "Parental Alienation Syndrome" ("PAS") developed as an attempt to explain this phenomenon, but it has been widely discredited by mental health professionals ...

New York Court of Appeals Rules in Lesbian Custody and Child Support Disputes