A) CUSTODY AND ACCESS

Department of Justice Canada. Federal Child Support Guidelines: A Guide to the New Approach. Ottawa: Ministry of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 1997.

This booklet was designed to outline the new Federal Child Support Guidelines that came into effect May 1, 1997, as the result of an amendment to the federal Divorce Act. The publication consists of three parts: The first part summarizes what the guidelines are about and how to use them. The second part provides enough information for most people to be able to estimate how much child support would be appropriate in their situation. The third part illustrates specific aspects of the guidelines and presents material that may be useful in certain situations.

"The tables are a useful tool for parents whose circumstances are relatively straightforward" (1997: 3), but may not be appropriate for those who are undergoing inimical separations. For example, the process relies on both parents having equal access to information regarding income and expenses. This assumes that those involved are either cooperating, or that they are able to retain legal counsel. The issue of women and children escaping violent situations is simply not within the scope of the booklet. Nevertheless, it will be instrumentally useful for women who wish to calculate with relative ease the amount of child support to which they are entitled.

This report reviews three conceptual models of family that have guided family policies pertaining to income tax, child allowance, child/spousal support, and the like. Each model is analyzed in terms of eight specific questions regarding its underlying ideology and assumptions. The author's choice of questions and subsequent analysis of each model is clearly grounded in a feminist theoretical framework. Although this report does not address the issue of wife assault, per se, each of these conceptual models and its role in shaping family policies does, indirectly, have financial implications for women (and their children) who have left abusive relationships. This study will be of interest to feminist researchers, policy analysts, and advocacy/lobbying groups who are working to improve and safeguard sex equality in family policies.

This pilot study was conducted in order to (1) identify and define various types of custody/access arrangements and levels of child/spousal support (and parents' levels of satisfaction with these outcomes) and (2) assess the feasibility of conducting a similar study on a national level. The study is grounded in a mainstream theoretical perspective and draws on two sources of data: court files (from Hamilton, Ontario and Hull, Quebec), and telephone interviews with 34 divorced parents whose names were selected from the court files in the two aforementioned jurisdictions. Information from the court files was coded using a data form constructed for this purpose, and subjected to a quantitative data analysis. Interview respondents were asked a series of closed-ended questions regarding their marital and divorce history and the issues surrounding the court proceedings. The interview data were subjected to a quantitative descriptive data analysis.

Although both the court files data collection instrument and the interview schedule include questions pertaining to abusive incidents which may have precipitated the breakdown of the marriage, this factor is not addressed in the discussion of the research results. To this extent, the project has implications for future research directions and methodologies. Specifically this study will be of interest to researchers who wish to examine the types of access/custody orders, spousal/child support orders, and levels of satisfaction experienced by women who have left violent relationships.

As indicated in the title, this manual is intended for family lawyers and advocates who are representing women clients involved in custody and access litigation. This resource manual, written from a feminist perspective, focuses on issues such as the impact of wife battering on the disposition of custody and access cases. Other "problematic" issues discussed include child sexual abuse allegations, the use of expert witnesses, the ability to challenge expert witnesses, and the situation of lesbian mothers. The resource manual consists of three major sections: (1) a discussion section which addresses each of the aforementioned issues; (2) a list of relevant case law pertaining to these concerns; and (3) an annotated bibliography. In addition to lawyers and other legal professionals, this document may also be of interest to front-line women's organizations who offer legal advocacy services as part of their service mandates.

This book is a documentation and analysis of women's experiences in custody and access disputes. It is written from a feminist, collectivist perspective and is based on the stories of over 1,000 women who have interacted with the Vancouver Custody &Access Support & Advocacy Association. Its purpose is to highlight the ways in which the family justice system is biased in favour of the patriarchal nuclear family. Through mechanisms such as legal "gender neutrality" and the mediation process, the justice system denies, and thus perpetuates, the extensive power that an abusive man has over a woman and her children. In particular, the current process for establishing custody and access undermines a woman's autonomy and safety by enforcing continued contact between her and her ex-partner. As the authors insist, "abusive men continue the abuse through custody and access disputes" (1996: vii) and "no amount of training on the part of a mediator can make up for the control an abuser has over a battered woman" (1996: 29). The authors call for legal and procedural reform that will assume "gender reality", rather than the existing gender neutrality.

This book will be of particular interest to advocates and front-line workers who wish to make changes to the current family justice system. In addition, it will provide information and validation to women who are feeling doubly victimized by their ex-partners and the Divorce Act.