Who Determines the Custodial Arrangement

Article 3 states that, in all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration;

Social workers have to make sure that it is the best decisions for the child.

There are many Social, Economic and Cultural factors that will impact the lives and development of the Children and Young People in my care, these can include:

the preferred way of ensuring a child's welfare is through support of the child's family

Child custody have been an issue for many years but no clear rules have been established until approximately in the 1970’s. In the early colonial years, the arrangement was unappealing to children and their mothers and possibly doing psychologically damage. Luckily, history has evolved and children’s well-being has become a priority in divorce cases.

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.

     The purpose of this paper was to give some insight into the vicious battles that take place over child custody. It is important to mention that raising children is difficult even with two parents, now when there is only one parent the difficultly increases by leaps and bounds. The idea of joint custody seems to sound like a good solution however, Smith (2003) stated

While looking at the dangers and environment in a child’s home, advocates such as employees of the Department of Family and Protective Services of the State of Texas, have the moral obligation to take into consideration safety of children shelters and foster homes. Morally, advocates for the children should also take into consideration the psychological trauma that the child may or may not experience through being taken away from family and being placed, possibly multiple times, at new places away from everything they know.

having positive relationships and someone that knows the child 's needs interests, behaviour communication skills, likes and dislikes.

In the first few months of life, the sole purpose of any child’s behaviour is to survive. This, more often than not, results in actions that reduce the risk of harm and increase the chances of longevity. Of these behaviours, some argue that the most influential is attachment behaviour. “Attachment behaviour is any form of behaviour that results in a person attaining or maintaining proximity to some other clearly identified individual who is conceived as better able to cope with the world”(Bowlby, 1982). Therefore, children will make an effort to stay close to and under the protection of their primary caregiver. According to Webster, “through interactions with their primary caregiver, the child develops expectations and understandings about the workings of relationships. These mental representations of relationships become internalized to the degree that they influence feelings, thought and behaviour automatically and unconsciously” (1999, p.6). Moreover, the response of the identified individual plays a huge role in the child’s perception of the outside world. If the caregiver responds to the child’s needs in a caring and protective manner, the child will feel safe and comfortable in his or her surroundings. If, on the other hand, the caregiver is often emotionally and/or physically unavailable, the child is likely to

Other factors that are considered under act utilitarianism are: the quality of live the child will endure, the impact and financial status of the family, and societal

When the children are incapable, nurses have moral responsibility to assist parents in decision making in the children's best interest. "Substituting an adult judgement of what is in a child’s best interest is not necessarily equivalent with the child’s best interest (Coyne and Harder, 2011)." Acting in a child’s best interest requires parents and health professionals to take children's view seriously and give priority consideration to the impact of their decisions on children (Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children (CCRC). The adults have responsibilities towards their children to enable them in making decision but they do not have rights to make decision for their children (Lowden, 2002). Children should not be viewed as property. The first step in protecting the rights of children as outlined in the CRC is to view them as citizens (Van Daalen-Smith, 2010). When parents claim that the child belongs to them, they are establishing an ownership notion. Children should be respected as active contributor not as passive recipient of the health care (Maconochie and McNeill, 2010). Therefore, parental role in decision making for their children should be complementary not

One of the most important things that a caregiver provides a child is a healthy relationship. The relationship held between a child and their caregiver is extremely important for emotional

For the most part, parents have the best interest of their children at heart. However, there are unfortunately many cases throughout the United States where parents are unable to, for one reason or another, take care of their children. Sometimes, this can be seen as a health issue of the parents. Sometimes, parents are unable to raise their children well due to physical, financial, and/or emotional issues. Other times, parents do not have the best interests of their children in mind and can be neglectful or abusive to them. In these circumstances, the state may become involved and step into

They learn to trust that their needs will be met, or that they will not. The emotional domain includes the infant’s perception of herself and of herself in relation to others.”(Blackboard, 2013). The most important thing a caregiver can do to help a toddler’s emotional development is to create a safe and loving environment for the toddler to learn in. Caregivers should understand that each toddler is different and has different needs. Attending to each individual child in a well-organized and inviting learning environment is essential during his stage early childhood development.