Who gets custody? Current perspectives of social work students

Society and the American family are changing, leading to an increasing amount of single parent households. This study investigated the attitudes of social work students regarding non-traditional child placement by surveying 23 participants at a small mid-western university. It was hypothesized that the students would have more of a negative feeling toward the non-traditional child placement versus the traditional child placement (which refers to the child being placed in the custody of the biological mother). Results indicated that there was no significant negative attitude towards the non-traditional child placement situation and that custody is generally viewed as equal. Findings did not support the hypothesis and literature in that more of a negative attitude would be placed on the non-traditional child placement. Implications for practitioners is the need to be educated on child custody practices to continue a trend of equality. Introduction The American family structure is changing and therefore leading to an increasing amount of children who live in a single-parent household. Of the 19 million children living in single parent households in the United States, 84% live with only the mother, whereas 16% live with only the father (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002). As family structures are changing, so must attitudes and knowledge about the non-traditional child placement. Although an increasing amount of fathers are involved in a child’s life, there still are significant disadvantages to the non-traditional custody seeker financially and emotionally. Our broad research problem is the perceived lack of support in society for non-traditional child placement in divorce situations. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2002) children are more than four times as likely to live with a single mother (23%) than to live with a single father (5%). Does this indicate that fathers are not capable of parenting, or does this represent the gender bias in custody decisions? Custodial mothers are more likely than custodial fathers to have custody of two or three children versus one child. Can mothers provide better care for their children than non-traditional parents? For the purpose of this study non-traditional child placement includes anything other than the child being placed in the custody of the biological mother (Cohen, DeVolt & Strong, 2005). Literature was reviewed and the attitudes surveyed of social work students regarding non-traditional child placement. Social work students were selected for this study because professional social workers will most likely have some involvement in the child placement process. Who Gets Custody? Current perspectives of Social Work Students Literature Review In researching custody placement in non-traditional situations there was a lack of studies in support of the non-traditional custody placement over the traditional custody placement. The search engine EBSCO Host was the main source of finding literature. There is little research on homosexual parents and custody placement. There is also a lack of domestic research regarding non-traditional child placement and most research in this area was conducted in European countries. Much of the research involved the controversy of father versus mother in questions of custody, and the minimal literature found in support of non-traditional custody suggests that there is gender bias in decision making regarding child placement (Braver et al., 2002). Research affirms that there is an increasing amount of fathers awarded custody and the number of fathers who stay at home to care for children is increasing; there still lies a gender bias against this increasing number of non-traditional custody placements. Society needs to be aware of the potential dangers of gender bias for rewarding traditional custody placement and focus on the well being of children (Cooly, Hall & Pulver, 1996; Braver, Cohen & Cookston, 2002; Silverberg Koerner & Wallace, 2003; Brescoll & Uhlmann, 2005). Non-traditional custody placement is still at a large shortcoming in the legal system. Based on what is known from the literature, fathers are at a disadvantage, when wanting to take on a non-traditional role, to gain full physical placement of the child during a divorce proceeding (Brescoll & Uhlmann, 2005). There is significant difficulty financially, socially and emotionally for males who are willing to take on the nontraditional role. There is evidence that a father plays a very important part in the development of a child. Furthermore, there is little evidence that the child would adjust better when living with the parent of the same sex. In order for society to gain a more positive stance regarding non-traditional child placement, it is necessary to evaluate the attitudes of those who are directly involved in the decision making in custody cases. Current studies show a lack of research involving non-traditional parents including homosexual parents disputing custody placement, grandparents who are awarded custody and fathers who have physical placement of the child. The current study focuses on the attitudes of social work students and their stance on non-traditional child placement including fathers and homosexuals. Theoretical Framework The theory that used in this study is the Feminist Theory (Chibucos et al., 2005). This theory emerged during the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Although this theory was originally meant to empower women, over the past 30 years this theory has progressed into a variety of theoretical perspectives encouraging change in social structures. The feminist perspective actively seeks to change social conditions under which women and oppressed groups live. It also has developed into a theory where gender is viewed as a social construction and argues that gender and gender relations are vital to all social life. From a feminist perspective, research must recognize the values and biases that exist among researchers and all members of society. As applied to this study, the Feminist Theory would suggest that because of the slow movement of social change in today’s society and of gender oppression, regarding Who Gets Custody? Current perspectives of Social Work Students traditional custody placement more positive attitudes would be portrayed in traditional custody placement versus non-traditional placement situations. Purpose Statement The purpose of this study was to examine the central research question, “what are the current attitudes of social work students regarding non-traditional child placement,” to identify current attitudes of social work students in order to advance the knowledge and rights of non-traditional parents in divorce situations. Based on the literature and the Feminist Theory, it is predicted that our sample group will be in favor of the traditional child placement versus the non-traditional child placement situation. It is also predicted that the sample will support findings that fathers have a significant disadvantage for custody placement based on gender bias. It is hypothesized that the social work students will favor traditional child placement versus non-traditional child placement as supported by Braver et al. (2002). Methods Participants The site of this study was at a small Midwestern university. Participants included 23 social work students. Of these 21 were female and two were male. The age range of the participants were seven participants from 18-21 years of age, nine between the ages of 22-25 and the remaining seven were 26 years or older. In terms of academic status, there were six juniors, 15 seniors and two non-traditional returning students. Research Design The purpose of this is to identify current attitudes from the sample population and then be able to use that data to generalize about a larger population of similar students in a social work course. This survey design type is best described as a cross sectional study design in that it capture attitudes from a cross section of the population at one point in time. The form of data collection was self administered questionnaires. The rational for using this method is that it was the most efficient method to gather the data directly on campus due to the fast pace of the research course, convenience, low cost, and the quick return of data. The study used a non-random purposive sample design, as the purpose was to gather information from students in a specific course who would have the knowledge base to answer questions regarding non-traditional and traditional child placement. The ethical protection of human subjects was provided by completing the Human Subjects Institutional Review Board (IRB) training; this study received approval from the IRB. Data Collection Instrument In order to address social work students regarding non-traditional child placement a survey was designed. The survey included a cover letter with an implied consent which included a description of the study, definition of any terms not commonly known, risks and benefits, time commitment, voluntary participation, confidentiality, and contact information of the research team and the supervisor as well as the instructions for completing the survey. The survey consisted of three demographic questions relating to gender, age, and academic status. Participants were then given five closed-ended statements based on a 5-point Likert scale which measured the intensity of the Who Gets Custody? Current perspectives of Social Work Students respondents’ attitudes ranging from one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree). Questions were formed by the literature and theory regarding what factors related to the attitudes of non-traditional child placement. The survey instrument has both face validity and content validity, because the questions and concepts addressed in the survey are literature inspired and cover a full range of concepts under the larger topic. The questions address a broad range of issu