Mediate Michigan

Do child custody evaluators’ beliefs about domestic violence sometimes put divorced women and children in danger? A new University of Illinois study reveals that evaluator’s beliefs generally fall into two categories, and one group is far more likely to prioritize safety for women and children when making custody decisions.

“Some evaluators see conflict as a natural part of relationships. When domestic violence occurs, they reason that it takes two to tango. When a couple’s relationship is over, these evaluators see no reason the mom and dad can’t co-parent safely, especially if they’ve both attended court-ordered anger management classes,” said Jennifer Hardesty, a U of I associate professor of human and community development.

“The other group believes that anger management classes work for some couples, but they also know that violence can be used to control and terrorize women, and that children may be used as pawns in the relationship or as weapons against the mother. In such cases, these evaluators carefully craft custody arrangements that will keep the mother and children safe,” said doctoral student Megan Haselschwerdt who worked with Hardesty on the study.

The researchers would like to see standardized and mandated training that would teach custody evaluators how to discriminate between types of violence because different kinds of violence require different interventions.

“Unfortunately, many courts are applying a one-size-fits-all model to custody cases. It’s important to err on the side of safety. Safety precautions can be relaxed if it turns out that there’s not as much of a risk as was thought. That’s better than just assuming that there’s no risk,” Haselschwerdt said.

via One-size-fits-all approach to child custody can endanger moms and kids.