Child Custody
Child Custody
LSTD 303 D001
Emily Smith
01/12/2014
Every couple enters a relationship with the romantic dream of getting married, starting a family, and living happily ever after. Truth is it may sound all good and well however not all relationships and marriages go the distance. According to the American Psychological Association, 40 to 50 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce (2014). After the divorce process comes the real complicated part, the child custody process. When a family separates and begins living in different households agreements have to be made regarding the welfare of the children.
Child custody has evolved greatly over the years and no longer favors one parent over the other. Assuming society was to once again adopt the customs of ancient times there would be no need for custody hearings because the fathers were responsible for the children. The term used was Patria Potesta which granted the man of the house automatic power over the family. Patria Potesta was mainly based on the fact that families worked the land they also lived on so the fathers were able to supervise the family while working.
Things would change dramatically following the industrial revolution. Men no longer worked their own land instead they now worked in factories in nearby cities. This shifted the balance of child custody because now mothers were the primary keeper of the household. “With the mothers dominant at home and responsible for meeting the children’s needs throughout the day the view point developed that a mother’s continuing presence was indispensable for the physical and emotional well-being of the minor children”. (Luppino, 2012)
In the years to follow the balance would once again shift this time to a mutual benefit. Women were now given better job opportunities so they worked outside of the home and quickly became bread winners of the house. So now the concept of the mother being indispensable because
LSTD 303 D001
Emily Smith
01/12/2014
Every couple enters a relationship with the romantic dream of getting married, starting a family, and living happily ever after. Truth is it may sound all good and well however not all relationships and marriages go the distance. According to the American Psychological Association, 40 to 50 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce (2014). After the divorce process comes the real complicated part, the child custody process. When a family separates and begins living in different households agreements have to be made regarding the welfare of the children.
Child custody has evolved greatly over the years and no longer favors one parent over the other. Assuming society was to once again adopt the customs of ancient times there would be no need for custody hearings because the fathers were responsible for the children. The term used was Patria Potesta which granted the man of the house automatic power over the family. Patria Potesta was mainly based on the fact that families worked the land they also lived on so the fathers were able to supervise the family while working.
Things would change dramatically following the industrial revolution. Men no longer worked their own land instead they now worked in factories in nearby cities. This shifted the balance of child custody because now mothers were the primary keeper of the household. “With the mothers dominant at home and responsible for meeting the children’s needs throughout the day the view point developed that a mother’s continuing presence was indispensable for the physical and emotional well-being of the minor children”. (Luppino, 2012)
In the years to follow the balance would once again shift this time to a mutual benefit. Women were now given better job opportunities so they worked outside of the home and quickly became bread winners of the house. So now the concept of the mother being indispensable because