Abstract of Guidubaldi Minority Report

July 1996

For full text of this document: www.erols.com/afc/minority1.htm

1.0 Sound Bites

If the child enjoys greater financial and emotional support from both parents, how can one justify continuation of sole custody?

Neither parent should lose parenting priviledges or responsibilities as a result of divorce.

Not linking child support with physical visits is taxation without representation.

The depression of 1932-33 had the lowest rate of divorce and the highest rate in the 1980’s during the period of economic achievement. p.8

"But one should not forget that money can buy a bed but not sleep, finery but not beauty, a house but not a home, medicine but not health, luxuries but not culture, sex but not love and amusements but not happiness.

2.0 Facts & Figures

Over two million children experience either divorce or unwed motherhood each year.

We now have over 20 years of research studies to draw from for making laws.

The decline in socially responsible behavior by youths coincided with the rapidly escalating divorce rate. p.3

From 1970-73 serious assaults on peers increased by 85.3%

serious assaults on teachers increased by 77.4%

rapes and attempted rapes increased by 40.1%

homicides increased by 18.5%

Drug & alcohol offenses on school property increased by 37.5%

Number of weapons confiscated increased by 54.4%

The divorce rate doubled between 1965 - 1978.

From the mid-60’s to the late 70’s, there was a steady decline in nationally administered standardized test scores (SAT, ACT for high-schoolers and Iowa Tests of Basic Skills for mid-elementary). This could not be explained by differences across the years in pupil composition or alterations in tests.

William Bennett asks "How did American children fare during those 20 years of unparalleled financial commitment?

• • birthrate for unwed teenagers increased 200%

    homocide more than doubled

    juvinille arrests more than doubled

    no way to estimate drug use

From 1970 - 1990, the state of Ohio saw:

• • 35% increase in serious emotional disturbances in child and adolescents

    a 158% increase in learning disabilities

    a 65% increase in state facilities juvinille confiment rate for crime and violence

    175% increase in confiement rate in private facilities

From 1994 Kids Count Data Book (Annie E. Casey Foundation) from 1985 - 1991 Ohioans:

• • 74% increase in violent crime arrest rates

    31% increase in teen births (single teens)

    8% increase in teen violent deaths

    Children living in single parent homes increased from 9% to 22.5%

This study also concluded: (p.4)

• • 1. the effects of divorce are not temporary stressors but long-term influences.

    2. boys have more difficulties adjusting to divorce, particularly as they approach adolescence

    3. the decline in socioeconomic status after divorce is not a sufficient explanation for children’s decreased performance (contrary to Bane, 1979).

    4. authoritative child-rearing style and structure in home routines such as bedtimes, meal times and TV viewing habits relate to better child outcomes.

51% of children from sole mother custody families see their fathers "once or twice a year or never." p.4

the most frequent reason for fathers’ disengagement (90%) was obstruction of parernal access by the child’s mother and her desire to break contact between father and child. p.4

In 33% of the time, fathers mentioned that they ceased contact because of their inability to adapt to the constraints of the visiting situation. p.4

"...boys fare much more poorly than girls in post-divorce households. Since more than 88% of divorced family children are in sole mother custody homes and half of these have almost no contact with dads, it is clear that many boys are being reared without benefit of a same-sex parental figure.

In our studies of urban children in special education (Guidubaldi & Duckworth, 1996), we find that 70% of children (mostly boys) with severe behavioral handicaps have no father contact at all according to the mother’s rating.

Who initiates divorce? from Monthly Vital Statistics Report, May 21, 1991:

• • from 1975-88 in families with children, wives filed approx 67% of the cases each year

    In 1975, 71.4% of divorces were filed by women

    In 1988, 65% of divorces were filed by women

These statistics raise the hypothesis that some women anticipate the advantages to being single.

3.0 Books, Articles & Studies

Division 16 of the American Psychological Association - studies that support both parents are best.

Sen. Birch Baye’s Senate Subcommittee (1975) report on juvinille crime & violence over 20 years ago reports these problems.

"Families: Current Status and Emerging Trends", School Psychology Review, John Guidubaldi, 1980 p.3

unnamed, American Psychologist, 1987

This interpretation is supported by Kruk (1992) who notes the most frequent reason for fathers’ disengagement (90%) was obstruction of parernal access by the child’s mother and her desire to break contact between father and child. p.4

Beth Doll, VP for Social Council and Ethical Responsibility and Ethnic Minority Affairs, Div 16, American Psychological Association, June 14, 1995 reviewed the results from 23 studies on joint custody and found they support the conclusion that joint custody has positive effects on 1) father involvement, 2) best interest of the child, 3) financial child support, 4) relitigation and costs to the family and 5) parental conflict. p. 7

Albistoma, C. R., Maccoby, E. E., & Mnookin, R. R. (1990). Does joint legal custody matter? Stanford Law and Policy

Review, 2, 167-179

American Psychological Association. (1995). Preliminary summary: Empirical research describing outcomes of joint custody.

Washington, DC.

Annie E. Casey Foundation. (1994). Kids Count Data Book.

Bane, M. J. (1976). Marital disruption and the lives of children. Journal of Social Issues, 32, 109-110.

Bennett, W. J. (1987). The role of the family in the nurture and protection of the young. American Psychologist, 42, 246-250.

Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate. (1975). Our Nation's schools-a report card: "A" in school violence

and vandalism (Preliminary report of the Subcommittee to investigate juvenile delinquency). Washin ton DC, Government

Printing Office.

Furstenberg, F., Nord, C., & Zill, N. (1983). The life course of children of divorce: Marital disruption and parental contact.

American Sociological Review, 48, (Oct), 656-668.

Guidubaldi, J. (1989), Differences in children's divorce adjustment across grade level and gender: A report from the

NASP-Kent State nationwide project In S. Wolchik & Karoly (Eds.) Children of Divoce: Perspectives and adjustment (pp.

185-231). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books

Guidubaldi, J. (1988), The legacy of lost families: Divorce and the next generation. The World & I, Nov, 520-534. T

Guidubaldi, J. (1980). The status report extended: Further elaboration's the American family. School Psychology Review,

9(4), 374-379.

Guidubaldi, J., & Duckworth J, (1996, March). Enhancing fathers' involvement in child rearing: An empirical basis for

consultation and parent education, Symposium presented at the National Association of School Psychologists Annual

Convention Atlanta, GA

Guidubaldi, J., Perry, J., & Nastasi, B. (1987), Growing up in a divorced family: Initial and long- term perspectives on

children's adjustment In S. Oskamp (Ed.). Applied social psycological annual: Volume 7 family processes and problems:

Social psychology aspects, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Johnston, J. R. (1994). High-Conllict Divorce. In R. E. Behrman The Future of Children 4(1) (pp.165-182 ), The Center for

the Future of Children, The David and Lucile _ Packard Foundation

Kazi, N. I., & Azizun, N. I. (1994). Islam. Marriage and the Family in today's world: Interreligious colloquium, (pp. 65-74),

Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Pontifical Council for the Family, Vatican City, Rome.

Kohlberg, L. (1976). Moral stages and moralization. In T. Lickona (Ed.), Moral development and behavior: Theory, research

and social issues. New York: Holt, Rhinehart & Winston.,

Kohlberg, L. (1969). Stage and sequence: The cognitive developmental approach to socialization. In D. A. Goslin (Ed.),

Handbook of socialization theory and research. Chicago: Rand McNally.

Mondale, W. F. (1977). Introducing a special report: The family in trouble. Psychology Today, May, 39.

Wiley, D. (1977). Declining achievement scores: Do we need to worry? St. Louis: CEMRELL

4.0 People

4.1 Friends

Bennett, William, Sec of Education

Guidubaldi, John

Braver, Sanford, child research (pros of joint custody) p.5

Kelly, Joan, child research (pros of joint custody) p.5

Warshak, Richard, child research (pros of joint custody) p.5

Biller, Henry, child research (pros of joint custody) p.5

Zill, Nicholas, child research (pros of joint custody) p.5

4.2 Foes

Cathcart, Mary (-1), Commission Chair - didn’t do a sincere job.

Johnston, Janet, study that is anit-joint custody p.5

5.0 Quotes

Walter Mondale as VP, 1977 has a damning quote against govt programs in preface

"...it is abundantly clear that existing divorce procedures have not worked "in the best interest of the child."

"Repeatedly, in study after study, since the mid-1970’s, divorced-family children have been shown to function more poorly than children from biologically intact two-parent families on a wide range of academic, social and emotional issues. p.4

Guidibaldi’s study of 699 children from 38 states confirms the substatial decrement in performance of divorced family children on standardized tests, self-reports and independent ratings by parents and teachers. p.4

"...even after an average age of 11 or 12 years following the divorce event, adolescents who have good relationships with their ncp fathers have fewer teacher-ratings of behavior problems, fewer attention or aggression problems, higher grades in language and social studies and are less likely to abuse drugs or alcohol according to their own self-ratings.

"No study has ever found that joint physical custody is disadvantageous to children." testimony from Richard Warshak p.5

Only a few emperical studies raise concerns about joint custody - but upon closer examination, they contain data samples that are not representative - and even then, 97.5% of all families would be better off. The authors of these studies conclude themseleves that joint physical custody "is not detrimental to the majority of children." p.5

"...to expect mothers to be dependent economically on their divorced spouses neglects their capabilities to become self sufficient, productive wage earners and in fact, may promote attitudes of learned helplessness.

Sole custody has disadvantages including a feeling of continued economic dependency, inability to move forward into new employment and no chance to take a break.

"Coupled with economic independence, fertility control and cultural permissiveness, the "no-fault" divorce option provided the enabling legal vehicle for quick and easy exits from unfulfilling marriages. The judicial sole-mother custody award enabled millions of mothers to divorce with absolution. p.8

"If women can anticipate a clear gender bias in the courts regarding custody, they can expect to be the primary residential parent for their parent. If they can anticipate enforcement of child support by the courts, they can expect a high probability of support moneys without the need to account for their expenditures. Clearly, they can also anticipate maintaining the marital residence, receiving half of all marital property and gaining total freedom to establish new social connections and intimacy relationships. Weighing these gains against the alternative of remaining in a marriage with a spouse who may in the wifre’s judment, be oppressive, unfaithful or just plain boring, could result in a seductive enticement to obtain a divorce." p. 9

"Once the decision to divorce is seriously considered, a powerful set of forces that enable and promote this process is brought to bear. It includes judges, attorneys, psychologists, social workers, property appraisers, accountants and others who stand ready to make a profit from the misfortunes of the divorcing couple."

"To date, our tripartite government has defaulted on this topic to a monopolistic judiciary."

"Of all the parties in the divorce process, domestic court judges clearly play the most influential roles." p. 9

"Domestic court judges, at this moment in our history, are extremely powerful persons, controlling the most important decisions of childrearing privilege and asset distribution for millions of families. p. 9

The courts entrusted with these potentially earth-shattering decisions are amoung our lowest status courts and judicial personnel are often elected without regard to their knowledge and understanding of family dynamics, home economics or child development. Moreover, they are on the bench for extended periods of time and have little likelihood of public criticism from attorneys in their communities since these players in the divorce game depend on the goodwill of their local judges to ensure their success rate and financial livelihood. Finally, their decisions - good, bad or unfair - are largely impervious to modification." p. 9

"Thus, citizens desperately require a more effective set of remedies for bad judicial decisions and a more efficient and viable procedure for removal of judges who repeatedly abuse their power. Judges must be held accountable for the drastic changes they mandate in the lives of their constituents.

"From my professional experience, it seems that the combination of sympathy for the perceived underdog and envy for those more successful than ourselves has led to a Robin Hood approach that pilfers funds from those with deep pockets, extracts an exorbitant commission and distributes the rest to those considered too weak to fend for themselves." p. 10

6.0 Myths

MYTH: "Joint custody should not be awarded where conflict exists between parents." p. 2

MYTH: "There is no bias in the courts against fathers since they are likely to be awarded custody when they request it." p.2

MYTH: "...payment of child support and access to children are separate and distinct issues."

TRUTH: The attempt to artificially separate two forms of parental support that ordinarily go hand in hand is a distortion of modern society. p.2

MYTH: Political extrapolations have sometimes resulted in the conculsion that where there is conflict at the time of divorce joint custody should be precluded.

TRUTH: When isn’t there conflict?! That’s why you’re getting divorced. If you believed this myth, then it servers as an incentive to promote conflict for those who want joint custody.

MYTH: Psychological abuse is proof that joint custody should be denied.

TRUTH: This is an effective tactic used to confuse judges who cannot distinguish between truly menacing verbal behavior and harmless verbal expressions of anger which flow both ways in marital discord.

Psychological abuse has been elevated to the same level as physical abuse. Where do you draw the line? What if purple is psychologically abusive to me? Or a person’s voice?

MYTH: The mother should get custody because she has more experience raising the children.

TRUTH: When married, the most efficient arrangement is to have a bread-winner and a care-provider. Both roles must be fulfilled and neither role should be denigrated. Therefore, pre-divorce roles should not be used as a basis for post-divorce roles.

MYTH: Joint custody is hard on the children when they have to move from one parent’s home to another.

TRUTH: No evidence is brought to bear on this situation and indeed ample evidence exists to support the alternate conclusion that developmental capabilities of even young children enable them to make healthy transitions from one environment to another - as in home to day care, home to baby sitters and grandparents.

MYTH: The failure of marriage in American culture is largely the outcome of low wages, unemployment and general economic difficulties.

TRUTH: Several studies (in the US) prove that divorce rates declined in times of economic depression and rose during the time of economic prosperity. The depression of 1932-33 had the lowest rate of divorce and the highest rate in the 1980’s during the period of economic achievement. p.8

7.0 Legal Cites, Constitutional issues

The rights of parents to the care, custody and nurturance of their children is of such character that it cannot be denied without violating those fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all our civil and political instition and such right is a fundamental right protected by the 1st amendment, amendments 5, 9 and 14. Doe v Irwin 441 F Supp 1247; US DC of Michigan (1985) p.7

A parent’s right to care and companionship of his or her children are so fundamental as to be guaranteed protection under the 1st, 5th and 14th amendments. p.7

Federal and State courts under Griswald can protect under the "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" phrase of the Declaration of Independence, the right of a man to enjoy the mutual care, company, love and affection of his children and this cannot be taken away for him without due process of law. Griswald v Conneticutt

The US Supreme Court has made it clear that a "parent’s right to custody and companionship of a natural child has been specifically accorded protection under the Constitution. Smith v Organization of Foster Families, Stanley v Illinios and Caban v Mohammed