Castigating mothers: The judicial response to ‘wilful’ women in disputes over paternal contact in English law

Wallbank, Julie

doi:10.1080/09649069808410261

Cited by 12 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…In contrast, the good postseparation mother is evaluated almost solely in terms of her willingness to support father contact (Eriksson & Hester, 2001;Harrison, 2008;Kaganas & Day Sclater, 2004;Kaspiew, 2007;Rhoades, 2002;Smart, 1991Smart, , 1997Smart & Neale, 1999b;Wallbank, 1998Wallbank, , 2007. 5 Mothers, in high profile media cases as well as those in more everyday circumstances (Elizabeth, 2010;Tolmie et al, 2009), who resist the notion of joint parenting by failing to prioritize above all other considerations paternal contact provisions, are now viewed with considerable suspicion.…”

Section: The Disputed Ground Of Custody Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6 Such mothers are often portrayed as motivated by malicious concerns-for example, revenge for an affair-rather than legitimate concerns about a child's well-being (Boyd, 2003(Boyd, , 2004(Boyd, , 2006Chesler, 1991;Coltrane & Hickman, 1992;Fineman, 1988;Kaspiew, 2007;Morris, 2005;Neustein & Lesher, 2005;Rhoades, 2002;Smart, 1989Smart, , 1997Smart & Neale, 1999a, 1999bWallbank, 1998Wallbank, , 2001Wallbank, , 2007. Even mothers who are seeking to protect their children from harm find themselves being increasingly defined in negative ways (Chesler, 1991;Davis, 2004;Eriksson & Hester, 2001;Fineman, 1988;Harrison, 2008;Neustein & Lesher, 2005;Rhoades, 2002;Smart, 1997;Smart & Neale, 1999b;Wallbank, 1998Wallbank, , 2001Wallbank, , 2007.…”

Section: The Disputed Ground Of Custody Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As father contact becomes increasingly valorized, the importance attached to financial support is diminishing. Finally, and significantly given our purpose, a proven history of violence 4 does not usually overturn the designation of fathers seeking contact with their children as "good enough" (Collier, 2006;Eriksson & Hester, 2001;Harrison, 2008;Kaspiew, 2007;Rhoades, 2002;Smart & Neale, 1999b;Wallbank, 1998Wallbank, , 2007.…”

Section: The Disputed Ground Of Custody Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As joint legal custodians, mothers and fathers possess equal decision-making rights over their children's lives and are held to be equally responsible for meeting their children's needs. While the laws establishing joint legal custody in Anglo-Western countries do not always specify a presumption of ongoing father contact, the expectation of ongoing father contact has nonetheless become normative (Boyd, 2003(Boyd, , 2004(Boyd, , 2006Hunt with Roberts, 2004;Kaganas & Day Sclater, 2004;Neale & Smart, 1997;Smart, 1997;Smart & Neale, 1999a, 1999bTolmie, Elizabeth, & Gavey, 2009Wallbank, 1998Wallbank, , 2001Wallbank, , 2007. In addition, legislation governing the care of children following separation and/or divorce produces an expectation that parents will cooperate to reach an agreement on parenting arrangements that are in the "best interests of their children.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In an attempt to diffuse this conflict, joint parenting has emerged as a powerful new ethos governing postseparation parenting arrangements across the Anglo-West 1 (Fineman, 1988;Kaganas & Day Sclater, 2004;Neale & Smart, 1997;Smart, 1997Smart, , 2004Smart & Neale, 1999a, 1999bWallbank, 1998Wallbank, , 2001Wallbank, , 2007. Joint parenting, in the form of joint legal custody, is founded on an assumption that both parents should continue to play a role in the child's upbringing postseparation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

The Gendered Dynamics of Power in Disputes Over the Postseparation Care of Children

Elizabeth

Gavey

Tolmie

2012

Violence Against Women

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A dichotomized picture of postseparation parents has emerged in family law that juxtaposes violent relationships with those that are "normal." Domestic violence scholars and advocates have played a role in reproducing this picture in their quest to secure protection for women and children. Although sympathetic, we argue this construction generates a number of problems: in particular, it obscures the gender power dynamics in relationships where women have not experienced violence. Interviews with separated mothers in dispute over contact arrangements reveal that there are significant continuities in the gender power dynamics they experience, despite differences in their exposure to male partner violence.

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Section: The Disputed Ground Of Custody Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Disputed Ground Of Custody Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Disputed Ground Of Custody Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The Gendered Dynamics of Power in Disputes Over the Postseparation Care of Children

Elizabeth

Gavey

Tolmie

2012

Violence Against Women

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Getting tough on mothers: regulating contact and residence

Wallbank

2007

Feminist Legal Stud

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This article critically examines the relationship between shared residence and contact after the breakdown of the parents' relationship. It examines the background to the government's main emphasis on methods of monitoring, facilitating and enforcing contact as the most efficacious method of proceeding in respect of the law reform agenda, focussing particularly on the potential impact of punitive enforcement measures on primary carers, usually mothers. The article sets the discussion within its wider cultural context in respect of fathers' rights claims that family law currently favours mothers, and shows how recent legal developments constitute part of a package to manage postseparation relationships between parent and children. It also examines some of the emerging case law to show how the judiciary is using shared residence orders and transfer of residence to deal with protracted and very difficult contact disputes, and in ways which were not anticipated when shared residence orders were first introduced. Drawing on feminist legal commentaries the argument will be made that the use of transfer of residence and shared residence orders in these disputes is extremely worrying, especially in light of the growing body of empirical research which heralds caution. The article will conclude by suggesting that far from favouring mothers, both the law reforms and the case law effectively construct mothers as integral to the problem of contact. They are treated as the site of and solution to the 'problem' of contact, and the means of dealing with the problem is by increasingly punitive measures which are inappropriate in a family law context. At the same time non-residential fathers who do not uphold contact escape legal sanctions.

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Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Resident Mothers and the Moral Dilemmas they Face During Custody Disputes

2010

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Recent scholarship has critiqued the tendency for separated mothers in custody disputes to be defined as hostile and alienating. Through the presentation of three case studies, drawn from an interview-based study with 21 women, we show how such pejorative constructions only arise when the conflicting gendered moral accountabilities of contemporary motherhood are overlooked. We found that mothers tend to believe that contact with non-resident fathers is generally in a child's best interests. However, as a result of balancing complex moral obligations for the care of their children, they may raise questions about particular kinds of arrangements for contact with particular fathers. We argue, therefore, that family law practice will lead to better outcomes for children when professionals listen to the history of, and reasons for, mothers' positions. To enable family law professionals to undertake this task, we offer an alternative interpretive framework for making sense of women's stories. Should family law professionals make use of this framework, it is likely that they will understand that the positions mothers adopt are often the outcome of the difficult moral dilemmas they encounter in caring for their children, and that the reductive rubric of the 'hostile mother' needs to be treated with scepticism.

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Castigating mothers: The judicial response to ‘wilful’ women in disputes over paternal contact in English law

Cited by 12 publications

References 3 publications

The Gendered Dynamics of Power in Disputes Over the Postseparation Care of Children

The Gendered Dynamics of Power in Disputes Over the Postseparation Care of Children

Getting tough on mothers: regulating contact and residence

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Resident Mothers and the Moral Dilemmas they Face During Custody Disputes

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