Child Custody Four Social Work Ideologies Assignment

Assignment Task

Part A

Drawing on insights from at least four ideologies discussed in the lectures and tutorials in this subject make an assessment recommending which parent should be given residency of the children.

In your answer, consider:

1. the children's wishes, and the weight to be accorded to these wishes.
2. the attitude to the responsibilities and duties of parenthood shown by each of the parents.
3. the capacity of each of the parents to care for the children and provide for their needs, including emotional
4. the need to protect the children from exposure or subjection to behaviour which may harm them; and
5. any other matter which you consider

Use each of the criteria above as headings for your responses in Part A.

Part B

How does the application of these ideologies to this case study demonstrate how ideologies shape our understanding of situations we might encounter in social work practice?

Case Study

You have been asked to make an assessment and recommendations regarding a custody dispute. Rachael aged 6 and Ben aged 8 live with their mother Jane, who works as a secretary, and Jane's mother Ruby. They live in a mining community in rural NSW. The application for their custody is by their father Bill, who formerly worked as a miner, and now lives in Tasmania with his new partner Jasmine. With Jasmine's inheritance, they run an angora goat farm, which is financially prosperous. Bill and Jane have been separated for 4 years.

Allegations have been made by each parent about the other: Jane has alleged that Bill has sexually abused the children and is violent; Bill has alleged that Jane is very disturbed. and is systematically twisting the children against him. You have been given reports by a psychiatrist, a psychologist and a social worker working in child protection. These reports suggest that Jane exaggerates common infant emotional and behavioural problems and sees normal variations as due to sexual abuse, and while stating that sexual abuse could never be categorically ruled out, strongly emphasised that they could find no evidence of sexual abuse by Bill. These reports suggest that custody be given to the father.

A school report states that the children are progressing well in all areas. Bill wants the children to go to Tasmania to live with him and Jasmine. To date, the children have been consistently looked after by their mother and grandmother.

You conduct a series of interviews of family members. You have had the opportunity to assess Bill, Jane, and the children alone and with their mother. You have only seen Bill twice and have not seen the children independently with their father. This has not been undertaken because of the strength of the children's expressed wishes. You have met Ruby once.

Interviews with Bill

Bill presents very well. He claims to have a calm loving relationship with Jasmine, whom he says gets on well with the children.

He was born in Britain. He said his parents, who still live in Britain, are his best friends and that he has an open and warm relationship with them. He described his parents as gentle-natured, and that they brought him up to be caring and sensitive. He described. his father as tactical and diplomatic and his mother as 'more hotheaded’ and said that he could have a more extreme' relationship with his mother which was not possible with his father. He said that 'I can see how I can be like my father or like my mother'.

He expressed regret that 'things were so awful' with Jane when they had been so happy. 'She was lovable and eager to please'. He said that he took her into his circle of friends. When the children were born; it was 'the happiest day of my life'.

He said he was sad and frustrated about the last 6 years and was unable to find an answer for it. 'Many things have been thrown at me. 'She was a smart lady. Why did she debase the whole thing to a level of ridicule?'. “I've been trying to get her to withdraw her [sexual abuse] allegations or apologise. I believe the allegations were created by her to have a damaging effect and out of desperation. I can see that she is a very sick individual, and hope that she can overcome her illness someday. My solicitor asked what I’d like the result to be. I'd like to see my children. But what I'd like foremost is for Jane to be cured, and the capacity for the children to develop into balanced, loving human beings’.

According to Jane, he had threatened to take the children on several occasions and was suicidal at one point in relation to· having no direction in life without his wife and children; when you question him about this, he denies it. After the second interview, he sends you a fax likening Jane's influence over the children to that of an evil being, a monster who pre-programs the children.

He had received legal advice to go ahead with seeking custody, as the professional reports were favourable to his cause, including the report from the psychologist whom he employed.

He acknowledges that the children are alienated from him. He persists in calling his son each Sunday but has not had any contact with Rachael for 2 years. Ben says such things as 'I hate you. I don't want to talk to you, leave my family alone', and often then hangs up. Bill said that Jane on at least one occasion was in the background, saying 'Hang up, hang up'. He said that he was hoping that he would be able to overcome what he saw as the pre-programming of the children.

He denied being ever involved in violence and said he had never been questioned by the police for things he had done or gone to court or had warnings from the police. He admitted that Jane had had to call the police on one occasion when they were separated. He had jumped the fence to see the children. He had held the sliding door open in his bid to see the children, and it came off its hinges. Ruby phoned the police, and he was later served with an AVO.

He speaks freely, with very minimal questioning. He presents as mild mannered, reasonable, and emotionally contained.

Interviews with the children

Both children have difficulty separating from their mother. Ben says he is afraid of being watched through windows, and of going into the backyard because of his fear of being grabbed. He tells you that when he went to his father's house, his father used to lock him up with Rachael, and he used to smack them. Ben often has nightmares and sleeps in his mother's room when he is scared.

Rachael doesn’t want to come and talk to you. She feels that her wishes wouldn't be heard and that she would be forced to see her father.

She says that there is nothing she wants to change about her mother, that she is good, and that she sleeps with her mother several nights per week, because she is scared of going to her room at night.

Of her father, she says 'I wish he'll never come near us again. He's mean, he doesn't care about us at all'. Once her father had tried to get on her mum and kill her with a knife. 'This was when we were babies. Mum told us, and granny told us the story, and mum was holding Ben when he tried to kill her'. She denied that she had actually seen her father being violent to anyone.

Interview with Jane

Jane is coherent but presents in an anxious manner. She is aware of the content of the professionals' reports but is still convinced that the children were abused by their father. She tells you that the repeated silent phone calls which she had received have now stopped. She said that she has been coping well and is well supported by her family and friends. She has no worries except about the outcome of this case. You observe that the children enjoy their relationship with their mother. You also observe that they have separation anxiety problems with their mother and in other settings.

Interview with Ruby

Ruby has battled all her life after her husband was disabled in the mines. She cared for his elderly parents as well as her own while also nursing her husband. At night she worked in the bar to support the family. Ruby and Jane are not well off financially, but Ruby is now on a pension and more financially secure than she has ever been before. She looks after the children while Jane works.

She reports that Bill is unreliable in relation to keeping engagements with the children, and that he is easily moody. Ruby is convinced that the children had been sexually abused by their father. She says that she used to pull the blind down so they wouldn't be worried about him looking at them.

Developmental history

Both the children's development has taken place in the middle of a parental war. Ben had asthma, reflux, and night terrors as a young child. After the parents separated; Ben was distressed in relation to either leaving his mother and/or being with his father. Jane was very anxious during this period. Rachael had very bad reflux as a baby, which necessitated many visits to specialists. Jane interpreted some of Ben's somatic and behavioural symptoms as signs of sexual abuse.

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