The Hand That Rocks the Cradle: Maternal Gatekeeping after Divorce

Abstract

Divorce occupies an enduring place in the American social structure; a common transition well-known to substantially impact the family.Its place in the legal system seems equally assured, as family law cases continue to occupy, if not clog, legal dockets.'From 1984-94, there was a sixty-five percent increase in domestic relations cases in the legal system. 2 In 1994, state trial courts oversaw 4.7 million cases involving domestic relations, with thirty-nine percent of those cases involving divorce and eighteen percent involving child custody and support issues.3 Legal and mental health professionals recognize that the issues germane to divorce and child custody force an uneasy alliance between legal and mental health concerns.Such concerns are often intertwined inextricably, be they financial or child welfare preoccupations.Despite, or because of, this recognition, attorneys in training rarely receive sufficient exposure to practical psychological knowledge of which they can avail themselves once in practice.Although family court judges and attorneys increasingly hear and rely on social science data, 4 a

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