Who Deserves Custody
In this day of greatly increasing divorce rates, child custody decisions are still often being made in accordance with traditional assumptions on the roles of the parents in the lives of the children. The popular opinion that children of parents undergoing a divorce should reside with the mother is a result of judgmental biases that women are more suited for parental responsibilities. In cases where the father is the more suited parent for child custody, he may not be given proper consideration in official custody decisions. "Custody decisions are made in accordance to the most practical way to care for a child, with each parent pursuing the responsibilities they have had in the past." (Frequently Asked Questions) This is where the bias has the most weight in custody decisions, where women are more in favor. When someone thinks of the word "mother," that person will more than likely create an association to the caretaker of the household. While it is true that women have traditionally been responsible for the upkeep of the household and the general wellbeing of the children, this bias has carried over to child custody matters, leading to presumptions by judicial officials
In this day where "the best interests of the child" is being given ever-increasing consideration in child custody disputes, the bias of women's greater household responsibilities still has a great influence on the opinions of many. 1993 statistics show that nearly 75 percent of those surveyed would be inclined to say that, in a divorce settlement involving child custody, the Oftentimes, the mother is perfectly capable of raising the child but falls short in an area that should be equally considered: moral responsibility. For this I can offer personal experience. In my case, both of parents have been through a divorce involving children. When my mother and original father became divorced, the custody of the children (my brother and I) was given to my mother. This was a valid decision as my original father was incredibly irresponsible in all senses of the word. When my stepfather became divorced, custody of the children was also given to the mother. However, judgements on moral responsibility would have immediately seen her to be unfit for holding the parental responsibilities. Not only was she having an affair at the time of the divorce, but she also took advantage of
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Approximate Word count = 799
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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