Parent Trap Analysis

A state that undertakes custody of a child is declaring that it can do a better job providing protection. This system is a powerful agent of support, providing positive nurturing environments that enable a child to reach his or her potential. Nonetheless, when children suffer additional abuse in the system, this government intervention should be questioned.

One popular example is the case of Neville & Neville [2007] where there was a dispute on who had custody of the child. The courts ruled that since the child had a ‘strong emotional connection’ with the mother, that she was to live with her mother but also share substantial time with her father as both shares equal parental responsibilities. However, the best interest of the child is not necessarily what they personally explicitly want, as shown in the successful appeal by the father in the case Moose & Moose [2007]. In a situation such as this, despite the children apparently afraid of their fathers ‘sexual abuse’, the courts decided that a once- monthly visit in a supervised contact centre would be beneficial as he was a ‘person who can advance their welfare’ and that such a connection ‘should not be severed’. Such a decision may be deemed as questionable due to the severity of the claims.

Many law makers do not fully grasp the inherent problems with these laws. Instead, they place the responsibility on the defense lawyers to present the case well enough in hopes that a battered woman will be found not guilty of child abuse by omission (Askins). Beyond the legislature, the court system must also be held accountable for its part in the process. The prosecution in the Lindley case could not recall an instance in which a father was tried under these laws. In such cases, prosecutors essentially blame the victims for the abuse wrought upon them and their children. They continually beg the question, “why did she not leave” but fail to remember the abuser maintains power by threatening to take the woman’s life or that of her children. In the unlikely case a father is tried, he is rarely held responsible. A court found a father whose wife murdered their child to not have responsibility to protect their child and also found the sympathy of the

A ‘feminist perspective’ has “highlighted forms of abuse experienced by women that have largely been hidden” (Spalek, B. 2006 p42). The defining difference between the ‘feminist perspective’ and positivist are clear. Both ‘feminist’ and ‘positivist’ perspectives acknowledge the victimisation occurs as a result of characteristics of the victim, but the ‘feminist

The FLAct 1975 places the best interest5 of the child as paramount to any decision made concerning the parental responsibility for children and endeavours to place primary considerations towards the child’s right to maintain a meaningful relationship with both parents and the need to protect the child from harm. This notion creates fairness, equality and enforceability, as evident in the case Neville & Neville [2007] FamCA 19 as the court took into account the child’s views which were “strongly [in] favour [with the] mother’s proposal”. However, the law is only effective to a moderate extent because it cannot always simultaneously uphold both considerations. This is evidenced in the article, “Father Jailed for Bashing Partner Granted Access”6 as a father who was violent towards his partner and held a samurai sword to their daughters throat was still allowed weekly access to their child. This was due to the family court judge’s discretion, who believed that “the terrifying domestic violence case did not constitute a ‘change in the family dynamic’”. Whilst this case allowed the child to maintain a relationship with both parents, exposed the child to a violent parent and potential harm, thus disregarding the best interest of the child. Furthermore, another criticism of the court not upholding the best interest of the

Both sectors address the issues with the victims rather than addressing them with the batterers. Children are removed from their homes under the pretense that foster care would do less damage than staying with their non-abusive mother. I would argue that the current state of the civil and criminal legal systems and the lack of funding and lack of education regarding domestic violence within social services, are doing nothing short of re victimizing the victims. The systems need clear definitions of law and understanding of the realm of domestic violence in its entirety. These women aren't given viable options to escape their abusive homes, yet due to the societal construction of motherhood, they are held strictly liable for abuse suffered by their children, and for their own abuse being witnessed by their

At the societal level, the established laws and policies in relations to domestic violence may in fact fail to protect the victim and consequently re-victimize her. For example, domestic violence victims are increasingly being charged for “failure to protect” even when the partner is abusing the child and the mother (Beeman, Hagemeister, & Edelson, 1999). In addition, some states have considered legislation that makes a child’s witnessing of domestic violence a form of criminal abuse

In this essay I will be talking about how feminist have contributed to our understanding of family roles and relationships. There are several different types of feminist theory, but all of them share certain characteristics in common; there is a fundamental division in society between men and women, that women are to some extent exploited by men and that society is male dominant or patriarchal this means “rule by the father” but is used by feminist to indicate that men have more power than women and the interest of men largely shapes how society is run. They believe that these theories are also critical of existing sociology arguing that it has a pro male bias. They call male-dominated sociology malestream sociology calming that most

Child maltreatment and neglect increases the likelihood of criminal behavior and arrest as a juvenile. Studies have found that abused and neglected children are found to be at least 25% more likely to experience problems such as delinquency, teen pregnancy, and low academic achievement. Female victims of abuse are more likely to be involved in criminal behavior than male victims. Girls in the juvenile system have reported having a history of abuse prior to their incarceration. About 80% of girls admitted to being sexually assaulted or physically assaulted, some may have experienced substance abuse as well. “75 to 95 percent of girls in the justice system are former victims of abuse.” ( Lawyer Shop, 2015) This abuse often leads to a low sense of self-worth for young women.

Another con that the United States should evaluate is how violent women are given leniency in domestic violence cases. Engrained in the minds of the American people, women are still considered the weakest and fragile sex. For some people and feminists, domestic violence is only committed by men and women are always the victims. Additionally, it has been taught daily by the media and groups that men have the right to control women, which enforces the concept of women in an everlasting state of victimhood (Hines, Brown and Dunning, 63). Several studies and researches are able to challenge this mindset, for instance, the comparison study of arrested men and women done by Straus. Straus used the National Family Violence Survey (NFVS) on a sample

In child custody cases, the legal field approves the methods used by psychologists, yet argues that “psychologists must understand that lawyers are trained to work in an adversarial system in which their role is to advocate the client’s best interests” (Lee, Beauregard, & Hunsley, 1998, p.118). With that being said, lawyers in child custody cases are supportive and even encourage psychological involvement in the determination of the child’s best interests, yet also argue that it is essential for them to have some knowledge of family law. The main purpose of a lawyer is to defend his client regarding of what psychologists have to say. However, they still have a word about the methods used in custody evaluation (Lee et al., 1998,

Through an annual report conducted by the NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team (2013, p. 5) of the 238 victims who were killed in a domestic violence situation during the data collection period, “143 (60%) were killed by their current or former intimate partner; of these 143 intimate partner victims, an overwhelming 76% were women”. In an attempt to combat this prevalence element one of It Stops Here (NSW): “a strategic approach to prevention and early intervention” was introduced (NSW Government, 2014, p. 4). Through this first element, there has been a strong focus on prevention, early intervention and perpetrator accountability. However, in Rosie Batty’s case it shows the flaws in element one’s reforms and just how much work still remains to be done. For instance, the NSW Government (2014, p. 14) in It Stops Here (NSW) states that “to prevent domestic and family violence, we must challenge and change the disrespectful values, discriminatory attitudes and beliefs that underlie and allow violence to occur”. From the inquest inquiry into Luke’s death, Coroner Ian Grey acknowledged that there are "a number of gaps or flaws in the family violence system […] including the failure to engage the boy's father in the family violence system and make him accountable for his actions” (ABC News, 2015). There were also numerous occasions throughout Rosie Batty’s book where she had rung the police on Greg for various instances and very little was done by the police. Further, when child protective services got involved and failed to implement a care plan where it sheltered Luke from seeing his dad unsupervised, it ultimately meant that there was no possibility for an early intervention. By the police failing to intervene on these numerous occasions and with the coroner acknowledging the gaps in the system, it stresses just how much work

The Effects of Domestic Violence Allegations On Custody Evaluators’ Recommendations, is an article written by Jason Hans, Jennifer Hardesty, and Megan Haselschwerdt. The topic being studied is how domestic violence in a relationship effects the decision of custody evaluators deciding who should be awarded child custody in a separated relationship. Through previous research, it was discovered that after separation not only does violence usually continue, but also children are at an elevated risk of exposure to the violence and are at greater risk of direct child abuse. The experiment begins with explaining the different types of domestic violence; in this experiment they focused on control-based, conflict-based and mutual domestic violence.

Men and Women can be stripped of their parenting rights if charged with physically abusing children. However, the results of the woman charged the standard two to ten-year sentence is 40% unlikely says "The Effect of Gender on the Decision to Incarcerate Before and After the Introduction of Sentencing Guidelines." With a woman, the ruling is frequent to a significant decrease from two-ten years to two-six years.

Feminist jurisprudence is a complicated legal theory that covers an extensive range of issues affecting women. Feminist jurisprudence rose to prominence in the 1960’s while critical theory flourished in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Both movements provide a comprehensive and thorough analysis of the relationship that exists between law, women, and people of minority. Both critical race theory and feminist jurisprudence highlight how the law is the embodiment of the interests of the most powerful persons in any society (Culver 211). According to feminists, the law and legal concepts reflect an exclusively male or patriarchal view of the world. Two central themes are nearly agreed upon by all feminists. The belief that all male dominated institutions should be rejected and for effective and rapid reform to be introduced to amend existing laws and in the ways