Deck 13: Child Custody

Question 1

Generally speaking, in the past when a marriage was dissolved, custody was granted to

A) the mother.
B) the father.
C) the extended family.
D) local foster homes.

Answer 1

the father.

Question 2

The Tender Years Doctrine

A) Separated issues of financial support and custody and said that the mother was the natural custodian of the child and, therefore, maternal preference should be the rule in divorce cases.
B) Paternal preference should be the rule in divorce cases because the father could support the child financially, which is very important during the early, "tender" years of life.
C) Was a document written by radicals of the day, advocating a higher tolerance of divorce in our culture.
D) Children should be able to choose which parent they would like to live with.

Answer 2

Separated issues of financial support and custody and said that the mother was the natural custodian of the child and, therefore, maternal preference should be the rule in divorce cases.

Question 3

In the 1970's, the "best interests of the child" doctrine

A) challenged maternal preference rules.
B) resulted in sharp curtailments of alimony in divorce cases.
C) shapes the evaluation that mental health professionals use in custody evaluations.
D) all of the above.

Answer 3

all of the above.

Question 4

Several problems created by vague best interest standards are

A) they make the outcome of custody cases difficult to predict
B) similar custody cases cane be decided differently, which seems unfair
C) both A and B
D) neither A nor B

Question 5

The Primary Care Doctrine was a doctrine that_______ and was _______

A) replaced the Tender Years Doctrine in West Virginia and other states soon after; appealing because it acknowledged the importance of the mother's traditional role, but, at the same time, gave custody to those men who have been deeply involved in the day to day life of their children
B) was instituted before the Tender Years Doctrine; appealing because it awarded custody of the child to the parent who had the best financial means to support him or her, and, therefore, was primary care-taker.
C) Was an amendment to the Tender Years Doctrine; was appealing because it guaranteed medical coverage for the child by designated him or her to the parent who was best equipped in this fashion
D) Never was passed; disregarded because of its implausibility

Question 6

The children of fathers who have sole custody

A) have more problems than when raised by a single mom
B) have fewer problems than when raised by a single mom
C) have a higher potential to become delinquent
D) have a lower potential to become defiant in school

Question 7

Advocates recommend joint custody because

A) the child's social support is increased.
B) it provides positive role models.
C) allows for greater financial stability.
D) All of the above
E) A and B only.

Question 8

Some clinicians and lawyers are against joint custody because

A) parental conflict is exaggerated.
B) children may not fully grasp and learn to deal with the issue of the divorce the family is facing.
C) the child's risk for poor academic performance and depression increases.
D) all of the above.

Question 9

The growing influence of developmental psychology has led courts to give greater consideration to

A) The child's biological attachment to the mother, and, therefore, giving preference to the mother
B) The child's financial attachment to the father and, therefore, giving him preference for custody
C) The child's point of view/emotional attachment, therefore, giving preference to the psychological parent for custody
D) Letting children remain in the courtroom during custody battle proceedings.

Question 10

The APA, The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The National Association of Social Workers, and the Virginia Psychological Association, researched the effects of gay parenting upon children. They discovered that

A) Those who are raised by homosexuals are more likely to have more psychological problems and are more likely to become homosexuals themselves, than those who are raised by heterosexuals
B) Those raised by homosexuals are less likely to have psychological problems and become homosexuals themselves, than those raised by heterosexuals
C) There is no overall difference in the overall psychological health or sexual orientation of children raised by homosexuals as compared with those raised by heterosexuals
D) Children with homosexual parents have an easier time adjusting in school than those raised by heterosexual parents.

Question 11

Problems with the above research may include

A) Parents with children who are doing well might be more likely to participate in the study than those whose children are not doing well.
B) Homosexual parents would be more likely to cooperate toward a researcher who was not unfriendly toward or skeptical about their parenting abilities.
C) Both A and B.
D) Neither A nor B.

Question 12

When determining whether or not a parent is fit to have custody over a child, if a parent has a mental illness,

A) they are automatically deemed unfit by the court, and the child is given to the "psychological parent."
B) the court looks at whether the parent's illness affects his or her parenting ability or relationship with the child.
C) the child is given to the parent without the mental illness.
D) It is possible that parent with the mental illness can get custody, but if he or she does, a live in nurse or chaperone must accompany parent and child at all times.

Question 13

The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act of 1970

A) Directs judges to consider the child's wishes in a custody battle.
B) Directs the judge to base his final decision solely upon the child's wishes.
C) Directs the judge to consider the wishes of the primary care parent..
D) Directs the judge to base his decision solely on the wishes of the primary care parent.

Question 14

In custody evaluations, the evaluator tries to discover which parent is the best fit for custody. Through this process, the evaluator

A) remain neutral and should avoid accepting any member of the family as a client after the evaluation/communicate with one side of the family.
B) should pick one parent to side with before and after the evaluation.
C) should side with and communicate with the child only.
D) none of the above.

Question 15

Research on mediation has shown that

A) Mediation reduces the number of cases going to litigation and allows settlements to be reached in about half of the time
B) Mediation leads to more joint custody awards, which is generally more satisfying to the non-custodial parent than sole custody with visitation
C) Mediated custody agreements tend to break down at a higher rate than other custody agreements
D) All of the above
E) Only A and B

Question 16

What is the tender years doctrine?

Question 17

What is the best interest standard?

Question 18

What has been the effect of the review of custody specific tests used in assessing the parents in a custody dispute?

Question 19

What evidence is there that divorce is bad for children?

Question 20

What is joint custody? How does it impact the children in the family? What contraindications would you see to joint custody arrangements?

Question 21

The term custody used in the context of divorce and separation means

A) the person with custody can make all decisions about the child
B) the person with custody has the legal authority to veto any orders made by a judge for visitation of the child with the non-custodial parent
C) the non-custodial parent is barred from going to court because the non- custodial parent has no rights at all
D) the non-custodial parent retains the right to veto the parenting plan ordered by the judge after a hearing

Question 22

In the past, when a marriage dissolved

A) under common law there was a maternal preference
B) under the common law there was a paternal preference called the tender years doctrine
C) in part because of activists and researchers who questioned the emphasis on gender in the law, the best interests of the child construct developed
D) because of controversy about gender free standards the law developed the idea of the giving custody to a third party psychological parent

Question 23

The court hearing a divorce and custody case can award

A) sole custody only to the parent whose relationship with the child has been legally terminated
B) joint custody which requires divorced parents to consult with each other about major child rearing decisions
C) divided custody if one parent is the psychological parent and the other does not have a good relationship with the child
D) custody of the child to an unrelated third party who is economically and psychologically capable of parenting the child in dispute even if the parents are not unfit

Question 24

In determining the best interests of the child,, the court looks at

A) the adjustment of the child to his or her home, school and community
B) thee interrelationships of the child with the parent and with siblings
C) the mental and physical condition of all individuals involved
D) all of the above

Question 25

Studies of children of divorce include

A) longitudinal methods that provide good information and are free from sampling bias defects found with other methods
B) samples of people who have sought mental health treatment and are therefore good informants about all families that have gone through a divorce
C) measures that define maladjustment more than measures of health
D) studies that show that measures maladjustment are just as useful as measures of positive adjustment and health for assessing the post- divorce adjustment of children

Question 26

Studies of children of divorce show that

A) children of divorce have more problems on average than children from intact families
B) only a small minority of children of divorce go on to become well- functioning adults
C) if the mother has sole custody, children do not suffer economic deprivation and associated maladjustment because mothers receive regular and adequate support payments from fathers
D) the surrounding socioeconomic context of changes in family structure, socioeconomic decline and parental stress during and after the divorce makes no contribution to children's post-divorce adjustment

Question 27

Custody arrangements are

A) easily arranged by the court in high conflict families
B) are usually worked out by the parents or with the assistance of attorneys and the court simply reviews and ratifies these arrangements
C) cannot be imposed by the court when the vague standards of the "best interests" results bring the parties back to court again and again
D) not studied very much because the outcome of custody litigation is so predictable and the law is so clear

Question 28

The primary caretaker is defined as the

A) female parent
B) person who can best support the child financially
C) person with most responsibility for care of the child
D) as the parent the child loves the most

Question 29

The primary caretaker doctrine

A) was the same as the tender years doctrine
B) violated the equal protection clause of the 14^th Amendment because it gave custody to mothers
C) completely ignored the importance of psychological bonding
D) was on its face gender neutral so fathers who had been deeply involved with their child's care could request custody

Question 30

Fathers who wanted custody or increased visitation and met obstacles challenged the psychological assumption

A) that a maximal amount of continuity and a minimal amount of disruption in relationships was essential for healthy child development
B) that children could not learn to adapt or to learn how to cope positively to differing parental styles
C) that having contact with two parents was detrimental to child well-being
D) all of the above

Question 31

The book Beyond the Best Interests of the Child, based on a psychoanalytic theory of child development

A) was important in divorce cases because it brought to the court's attention the idea of a psychological parent
B) was fully accepted by psychologists and the courts
C) recommended that only joint custody was preferable and that both parents should share custody equally
D) had a strong empirical base for its recommendations

Question 32

As a practical matter, as a result of divorce and custody actions

A) fathers are sometimes awarded custody, but research shows the outcomes for child adjustment are poor
B) most of the time, the mother is the person with whom the child resides
C) courts will usually give custody to the same sex parent even if it means separating siblings because research shows that living with the same sex parent was better for the child
D) fathers who are awarded custody after a divorce suffer because they get less support from their own families than do mothers of divorce

Question 33

Joint custody as a resolution to divorcing parents claim to custody

A) is a rare disposition of a contested divorce
B) rarely works out because the parents continue the conflict and fail to communicate
C) doesn't affect children adversely if the parents cooperate and communicate
D) is opposed by psychologists because so many divorcing parents have a mental illness

Question 34

The possibility of a joint custody disposition to a custody dispute

A) is strongly favored by women who see that it gives them a more favorable negotiating position about marital property
B) is strongly favored by advocates for battered women because they claim it gives the woman a means of controlling her abusive ex-spouse
C) is opposed by some men because it makes it easier for both parties to move on after a divorce
D) is opposed by some because the arrangement may allow men to use custody as a bargaining chip in negotiations about marital property

Question 35

Research on joint custody has shown that

A) joint legal custody fathers feel more satisfied after the divorce because they are involved with their children's lives
B) joint legal custody tends to heal the problems of high conflict families because the arrangement force them to cooperate
C) custody arrangements are extremely important for children's adjustment as measured by standard scales of depression, delinquency, aggression, social withdrawal, somatic complaints
D) the characteristics of parents who choose joint custody show they represent a random sample of all those who divorce

Question 36

In a custody dispute between a biological parent and a nonparent custodian, in court

A) at the outset, the nonparent has the same legal strength of claim as the biological parent
B) the law has a strong preference for the biological parent, but preference can be overcome in the best interest of the child
C) a nonparent cannot claim the status of de facto parent even if the person has taken care of the child and the mother seems to have no interest in the child
D) the nonparent is never successful because a parent's right to rear his or her own child is absolute.

Question 37

In a custody dispute, as a general rule. most judges in deciding who should get custody

A) will not consider extramarital sex as relevant to the decision unless there is evidence the behavior is witnessed or affects the child's adjustment
B) will not consider substance abuse as relevant to the decision unless there is evidence the behavior is witnessed or affects the child's adjustment
C) both a) and b)
D) neither a) nor b)

Question 38

Research on gay parents suggests that

A) gay friends of gay parents frequently molest the children
B) children raised by gay mothers are more likely than other children to become gay
C) children raised by gay parents are subject to severe social harassment and social stigma
D) there are few if any statistically significant differences between their children and children raised by heterosexual parents

Question 39

Alternative reproductive technologies

A) raise new psychological problems but no new legal problems
B) raise new legal problems, but no new psychological problems
C) raise neither new legal nor new psychological problems
D) raise both new psychological and new legal problems

Question 40

In a custody dispute,

A) the presence of mental illness in one parent will automatically make that parent unfit
B) the decision may depend entirely on what the other parent's therapist says
C) the presence of mental illness in one parent will be a factor if the mental illness affects parenting ability or the parent's relationship with the child
D) the presence of a diagnosis of mental illness alone in one parent should not affect the custody outcome because diagnosis doesn't predict parenting ability

Question 41

The settlement of custody disputes

A) can depend on racial considerations because these are still important in society
B) cannot depend on racial considerations as a matter of public policy
C) can depend on religious beliefs or practices because such evidence is always admissible in court
D) can depend on religious beliefs and practices because of the large body of developmental psychological evidence in support

Question 42

Parental moves and relocation from one part of the country to another can

A) become factors in decisions about changes in custody after custody has been settled
B) can become factors in the initial custody dispute because courts favor decisions that keep the parties in one jurisdiction
C) not become a problem in custody disputes because the court can easily choose on psychological grounds between one parent's right to move, and the other parent's right to have a relationship with the children
D) not become a problem because mental health professionals have worked out well validated methods to maintain relationships at a distance.

Question 43

In a custody dispute, courts pay attention to children's wishes as to which parent they will choose

A) even though most children are under six at the time of a divorce, because young children can anticipate the future very well
B) especially if the children are older
C) unless an expert testifies as to the Parent Alienation Syndrome determining the child's positive preference for one parent
D) because children find it easy to make a choice between parents

Question 44

The Parent Alienation Syndrome

A) claims that children are not caught up in parental hostility because most parents keep knowledge of their difficulties from their children, alienating their children when they find out
B) is well accepted by psychologists, advocates and lawyers because it is so well validated by extensive research
C) is not admitted through expert testimony in most courts
D) is one syndrome that is rarely considered "junk science"

Question 45

An allegation of sexual abuse in divorce cases

A) occurs a majority of the time
B) is almost always true
C) is very likely to be deliberately false
D) is most likely made in good faith, based on reasonable suspicion, but is not necessarily true

Question 46

Courts have ruled that when parents dispute custody

A) they put their fitness as parents at issue and so any mental health information is no longer confidential
B) confidentiality between a mental health professional and themselves will be honored and will not be broken by the professional
C) and they hire a mental health evaluator, the evaluator is obligated to defend the parents' interests "zealously within the law"
D) parents can refuse to cooperate with an evaluation without risk to how a judge will view the refusal to cooperate because it is their right to avoid self incrimination

Question 47

When an evaluator undertakes a custody evaluation, he or she should evaluate

A) the psychological developmental needs of the child including an assessment of the child's wishes
B) the parent's strengths and weaknesses as parents
C) the interactions and interrelations among all family members
D) all of the above

Question 48

When a custody evaluator is used for an assessment in a custody dispute

A) the judge steps aside and the evaluator makes the decision
B) the evaluator usually makes an explicit custody recommendation
C) the judge is obligated by law to follow the evaluator's recommendations
D) the evaluator's report is given to the court

Question 49

According to the findings of a survey of psychologists who did evaluations,

A) most evaluators who responded said they had specific training in custody evaluation
B) the evaluators spent on average of over 24 hours on a case
C) the fee for an average evaluation was about $3350
D) all of the above

Question 50

A review of measures used by evaluators in their assessments

A) showed that people taking the MMPI in a custody evaluation had a number of elevated scales compared to the norms for the test
B) the MMPI was a valid test for predicting parenting behaviors or parenting skills
C) custody specific tests such as the Bricklin scales have been demonstrated to be highly valid for predicting parenting behavior because they are custody specific rather than general
D) showed that even though the measures were valid, they were not reliable

Question 51

A proposal to settle custody disputes by a coin flip is said to

A) as fair, quicker and cheaper than custody evaluations
B) spare the parents' participation in the painful process of evaluations
C) be unfair because there is social value in maintaining a ritual of decision- making by a judge even if not psychometrically valid and coin flipping would not have that social value
D) all of the above

Question 52

Pro se representation (representing themselves) in divorce and custody cases

A) is not allowed because of constitutional considerations
B) has grown because divorce courts are relatively easy for untrained people to present their own cases especially in contested cases
C) may be unfair when the other party is represented by a trained attorney
D) because research shows that pro se litigants make surprisingly few legal errors in filing important papers and motions

Question 53

Mediation

A) is a special form of adversarial litigation in front of a judge
B) may be an alternative to custody assessments because parties are assisted in working out their own parenting plans
C) may be especially useful in cases of domestic violence and when the two parents are unequal in social power
D) does not reduce the amount of time nor does it reduce the number of people going to court

Question 54

Courts have been

A) unwilling to experiment with new approaches because the courts are inherently conservative
B) willing to experiment with new approaches because of their awareness of the problems with adversary litigation in divorce and custody cases
C) unwilling to experiment with new procedures for handling high conflict cases because they need the authority of the court to settle them
D) willing to experiment with new approaches to granting divorce, but not to custody and visitation issues