Citation

Dutton DG, Hamel JM, Aaronson J. J. Child Custod. 2010; 7(1): 1-31.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15379410903554816

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Because of a reliance on women’s shelter samples extrapolated to community or custody samples, both Jaffe, Johnston, Crooks, and Bala (2008) and J. B. Kelly and Johnson (2008) have developed a misleading evaluative framework for custody assessors, one that maintains a focus exclusively on males as perpetrators of family violence to both their spouses and children. We present extensive research to challenge and contradict this gender paradigm framework. Since custody assessments typically involve conflicts between a male and a female, generic assumptions favoring either gender must be avoided if justice is to prevail. The gender paradigm sets a framework for evaluation that is inconsistent with social science studies, many of which are unreported by J. B. Kelly & Johnson and by Jaffe et al. The implications of the gender paradigm for custody assessment are discussed and a more balanced view, consistent with the research literature, is proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)