Search results

Showing 1 – 3 of 3 results.

Curated

Restricted

Custody Evaluations When There Are Allegations of Domestic Violence: Practices, Beliefs and Recommendations of Professional Evaluators in New York City, 1997-2009 (ICPSR 30321)

Released/updated on: 2013-01-31

Geographic coverage: New York City, United States, New York (state)

Time period: 1997-01-01--2007-12-31, 2007-01-01--2009-12-31

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the beliefs and investigative practices of psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers who had been appointed by a court to evaluate families in disputed custody cases when there were allegations of domestic violence. The research team conducted a Case Review study (Part 1) and administered an Evaluator Survey to corresponding case evaluators (Part 2) between August 2007 and December 2009. The case review study was implemented through four private non-profit legal services agencies in New York City that provide free legal representation to domestic violence victims in civil proceedings including custody and visitation litigation. A total of 69 cases involving custody or visitation issues that were litigated and resolved between 1997 and 2007 were identified for inclusion in the study. The case review study involved the development of a Coding Scale for Custody Evaluations with Domestic Violence (DV) Allegations in order to rate the characteristics of the custody evaluations and the court outcomes. Raters coded each of the 69 cases in the case review sample with the Evaluation Coding Scale. The research team administered the Evaluator Survey (Part 2) to 14 custody evaluators who had completed evaluation reports for the cases in the Part 1 case review study.

Curated

Restricted

Mandatory Custody Mediation in San Diego, California, 1996 (ICPSR 20365)

Released/updated on: 2010-05-27

Geographic coverage: San Diego, United States, California

Time period: 1996-01-01--1996-12-31

The purpose of the study was to provide empirical data to inform the debate and lead to meaningful answers to questions in custody mediation and domestic violence including equity of outcomes for families with partner violence versus those without any evidence of violence, and the issue of health and safety outcomes for the children. Researchers examined every seventh action filed in the Family Court in San Diego during the calendar year 1996. Each of the 512 nonagreement mediation reports and its associated Court Screening Form were scanned in its entirety and subsequently printed. Each report also contained an appended page, containing a detailed parenting plan in which the mediator summarized the percentage of physical custody recommended for each parent. Each report was studied and content analyzed by three trained raters who had no access to the Court Screening Form and so were blind to any a prior domestic violence allegations. The majority of coding items called for yes/no responses. Other coding items allowed the raters to choose from among more than two options. A variable was coded in a particular direction if all three raters agreed or if two of the three raters agreed. The domestic violence sample (n = 200) included all of the selected cases with domestic violence indicators on the current screening form, prior allegation of domestic violence on a court screening form and/or a permanent domestic violence restraining order in the case file that was available to the mediator, and clear cases of domestic violence as documented by the mediator in which there was absolutely no indication of domestic violence on any screening form or in the case file. The nondomestic violence sample (n = 200) included 200 of the remaining 312 cases that had no indicators of domestic violence in the file and no mention of domestic violence in the mediation report. The data includes five categories of variables: general case information, parental factors, child factors, family interaction factors, and current parental relationship.

Curated

Restricted

State Laws and Child Custody Recommendations in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence, 2009-2010 [United States] (ICPSR 36594)

Released/updated on: 2018-03-19

Geographic coverage: United States

Time period: 2009-01-01--2010-12-31

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

This study was a secondary analysis of Custody Evaluators' Beliefs about Domestic Abuse Allegations, 2009-2010 [United States] (ICPSR 30962 - https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR30962.v1). The purpose of this study was to conduct further analysis of a recent, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) sponsored national survey of professionals to better understand the relationship between family law statutes and professionals' recommendations for child custody and visitation in cases of intimate partner violence. The samples involve 512 child custody evaluators and 200 judges from 46 states. Evaluators and judges responded to a case vignette of serious intimate partner violence (IPV). They indicated recommendations they would make for custody and visitation and the perceived risk of future harm. Evaluators also reported on their history of actual recommendations in IPV cases. The original study investigated beliefs about custody, value-laden beliefs, knowledge professionals had acquired on IPV, the number of survivors they had known, and their work setting, education, and other demographics. In the current study, statutory provisions with sufficient sample sizes of professionals with and without the provisions were used in the analysis.