Citation

Wallace SR, Koerner SS. Fam. Relat. 2003; 52(2): 180-188.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, National Council on Family Relations (USA), Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

To explore how child and family factors influence judicial decision making in contested custody cases, 18 family court judges participated in a semistructured interview that tapped (a) child and family factors considered relevant in determining child custody and (b) how these factors influence custody decisions. Judges cited a variety of factors as being influential, including the child's age and developmental status, the child's wishes regarding the custody arrangement, the child's stability, parental fitness, the history of the parent-child relationships, which parent has been the primary caregiver, each parent's willingness to foster the child's relationship with the other parent, and extrafamilial support. Results from a content analysis reflect the manner in which these factors influence judicial decision making. Emergent themes were identified based on four overarching factors.