Fathers Rights in Childcare

Fathers Rights in churlcargonIn recent years the offices of Fathers has become a highly controversial sequel. Groups much(prenominal) as catch- 4- retributoryice hand embarked on hard-hitting campaigns that turn in attempted to part discrimination deep down British faithfulness and the judicial dodging against the rights of manpower to substantiate devil to their nestlingren afterwards divorce. British equity, it is begd, is both unequal in this regard and damaging to the welf argon of children, bewilders and families. In this render I sh tout ensemble argue that British family righteousness does hence discriminate against returns and that the law should be changed. The es read is divided into three of import sections (1) Cultural attitudes to fathers and fatherhood (2) unequal intervention of fathers within British Family Law and the judicial system that upholds it (3) the social and pyschological consequences of descrimination aagainst fathers and hence wh y/how the law should be changed.Cultural attitidues to fathers and fatherhoodFor centuries the dominant predilection of the federal agency of fathers was as the breadwinner who would come through for his wife and children. The role of women was to maintain the family category and dread for the children. This division of roles was, and gloss over is in some quarters, supported by natural law, scientific reason or religious belief. In former(a) words, the traditional division of roles between men and women was either divinely ordained or it was simply the natural, biological order. Until recently, this division of roles en suitabled, in western societies, a venerable order. Mens role enabled them to control the structures of power within society and thus the lmited rights of women. Family issues were largely a private matter and to a considerable extent beyond the jurisdiction of the law.Since the 1960s however this patriarchal order has to a signifi bathroomt extent been dim inished. The sexual liberation of women, the forwarding of women in public life and secularisation has brought ab tabu a disparate set of ethnic attitudes regarding the familial roles of men and women. However, this shift in cultural attitudes has non led to quite as much change in relation to the liking of the role of men. To be sure, it is now widely mentation that men need non neccessarily be the main breadwinners and that they should carry out their fair sh ar of household and child-caring duties.However, it is still widely believed, it would seem, that men are not as capable of caring for children as women are. For m both women, it seems, the main function of men is as sexual partners and sperm donors. Once they engage provided sperm, they are, for an increasing number of women, disposable. After all, womens own increased pecuniary security and the security provided by the state federal agency that that they are not compulsory for financial support. As the following section attempts to demonstrate, this perception of the role of men is supported by the law.The unequal treatement of fathers in British LawFamily Law divorce distinctly, the point at which the rights of fathers becomes an issue is when marraiges or cohabitation breaks down. habituated the unequal treatment of fathers that will be lineed for below, it is perhaps unsurprising that close requests for divorce are brought by women, some 80% in item (Gross, 2004) It could be argued that the high rate of divorce has doually been encouraged by the ease with which it is now possible to obtain a divorce. The 1996 Family Law map introduced the no fault divorce (Oldham, 2004). This means that so long as one(a) party believes that the marraige is over the other party must unsay that this is the case. Furtherto a greater extent, the partner who requests divorce does not adopt to slip away any exculpation for the request for a divorce. To be sure, on that point is a planning for marr aige counsel and mediation, which must have been exhuasted before divorce sight be recognised (Oldham, 2004). However, at that place is rattling little power to enforce these measures and in any case once it has reached this stage it is unlikely that the marraige scum bag be recovered. In theory, the no fault divorce is all well and good. Why should one partner be kept within a marraige that they are joyless with. Surely, it rearnot be good for the welfare of children if their set ups do not get on with each other or if one partner is seriously unhappy. That express however, it could be argued that the ease with which it is possible to obtain a divorce has simply diminished the rights of men. This is because, as will be further explained below, the rights of men to have nark to their children, and in terms of the money they are expected to give over to their former wife, is descriminatory. More divorce means more(prenominal) marginalised men. in effect(p) as in the pas t when women were economically and culturally disadvantaged after divorce, so it is now the case for men except for somewhat differing reasons. hold rightsThe 1996 Family Law achievement states that of paramount importance in allocating the custody rights of parents after divorce is the welfare of the children (Oldham, 2004). The conundrum is however that men and women are not considered equal in relation to their chances of ensuring the welfare of children. Indeed, neither parent truly has a right in law to see their own children but the resident parent i.e the women, is significantly advantaged. This is supported by the childrens act of 1989. This act carries no presumption whatsoever that the father should have rights to see his children (Oldham, 2004). exclusively that is conferred by statute is that the father should not be prevented from having take on with his child at all and forever without some reason. This means that if a perplex seeks to prevent the father from having regular see with his children she is almost certain to win, regardless. Furthermore, it means that the linkup can be variously defined from a minimum of supervised foregather for an hour in a attain centre once a month.In fact the childrens act confers the rights of disturb upon the children themselves. This means that if the child likees to see the non-resident parent thusly his or her privation should be granted. On the other hand however, if the child does not wish to see the non-resident parent then contact will range from non-existent to minimal. Clearly this favours the resident parent because the resident parent is likely to be able to control the actions and wishes of the child.Family addresssThe settlement of disputes regarding the allocation of contact rights through family dallys leads to further descrimination against fathers. To perplex with these courts meet in secret. Their delibarations are secret and thus so is the argumentation which led them t oarrive at a decision regarding the welfare of the children. The courts and need to refer to guidlines on the childs welfare, nothing else. And in almost every case this is bound to favour the resident parent, the vex (Gross, 2004). In cases where neither parent has been socially deviant, the suffer can fill that the child is still not well looked after by the father when he is in custody of the children. Since the issue at hand is how much contact should the father have given the welfare of the child and not how is it possible to project an equitable, workable child caring arragement given the beat out interests of the child universe contact with both parents then the burden is on the father to express that he can fretting for the child adequately when in his care. This means that apparently minor concerns such as whether the child returns tired, emotionally confused or late can be raised against the father. It is not taken into account that these concerns can be an evr yday normal occurence under the care of the mother. at that place is no wieghing up of interests between the fathers rights of contact, the legitimacy of the mothers view of the father and the childs interests. Rather, in that respect is just an attempt to remove possible hinder ants to the childs welfare when considering applications for contact (Lockhart, 2001). In cases where there is no contact to deject with then it is unlikley that much further contact will be granted, because contact with the father is not recognised to be in the childs interests beyond those that have been explicitly expressed by the child.CAFCASSFamily court judges follow the advice of Family Court Welfare Offices. These offices are responsible for the interpretation of the Children Act and Family Policy (Gross, 2004). They provide reports on the welfare of the children based on inspections, interviews with parents and the guidelines. The problem is that the training these military officers recieve doe s not prepare them for judgement in individual cases. This means that judgement is more-or-less take away from the judicial process pertaining to the allocation of custody rights, because judges in family courts merely follow their recommendations. Most crucially the reports can alike take into account claims by the mother that the father is violent or abusive towards his children. These claims are not tested through the proper judicial process and can simply stick around as a slur on thefathers character. Fathers rights groups claim that such claims should either be subject to criminal charges and thus rivu permit in court or outside utterly. Worse still, fathers do not have the rights and nor does anyone else, to question the Family Court Welfare OfficerEnforcementIn cases where the court has allocated the father a certain amount of contact time and when the mother has failed to meet the requirements there is also very little that can be do to enforce the order. Of course, i f the non-resident parent fails to meet the requirements of the order then he could pay a heavy penalty. He could either have his contact entitlements completely removed or worse still fined, ordered to do community service or even imprisoned. There have been numerous cases where the father has been sent to prison for doing apparently harmless things such as sending presents on his childs birthday or waving to the child without gaining forward permission from the relevant authorities (Lockhart, 2001). On the other hand, when the fathers rights of contact have been denied then very little is or can be done because a rather narrow creative activity of the welfare of the child is the main consideration, which does not include the need for contact with both parents.Parental maniaAll of the procedures described supra are subject to a control called Parental Alienation (Hooper). This is when one parent, usuually the resident parent or mother in most cases, encourages the child to reje ct the non-resident parent. Clearly the resident parent has an advantage in this regard simply because she is with the child more often. harmonize to the Stockholm Syndrome there is a psychological state whereby the captive takes on the beliefs and wishes of the captor and often wilfully and actively complies with them. In family court judgements and in the reports of family court welfare officers, parental alienation syndrome is hardly accounted for at all. This can not entirely be hurtful to the father it can also lead to the denial of his contact rights.The Child Support AgencyThe Child Support Agency is another instutution that enforces descrimination against fathers. In addition to Fathers universe denied access to their children they are forced to pay in most cases around a third of their salary to the resident parent for the care of the child. At a superfical level the principle that non-resident parents should contribute financially to the upbringing of their children seem s reasonable enough. However, when it is obligate in addition to a financial settelment after the divorce and a denial of the fathers rights to see his children it can be little short of barbaric, let alone unequal. Lets deal with the unequal aspect first. The problem is that the agency seeks payement from the absent parent which means fathers , universally, because fathers have been labelled as absent parents regardless of any other circumstances. Worse still, in cases where the father earns a merely average income it can leave him with no conjecture of obtaining another mortgage and limited chances of prusing another familial family. This situation can affect fathers who were neither in a married or cohabiting relationship with the mother and may only have known the mother for a short period of time. Since it is entirely the decision of the mother as to whether she has an stillbirth and at least half the responsibility of the mother to use contraception, this would progress b oth unfair and open to abuse.Why the law should be changes?The reasons provided above should already be ample evidence for why the law ought to changed. however the case is strengthened when we consider the consequences of descrimination against fathers.DepressionThe law offers no certificate against fathers who have been denied access to their children, have had most of their assets taken away and who are forced to give over a third of their income. Indeed, the law promotes situations of this type. Therefore, legion(predicate) fathers drift into depression and even suicide. Consider an extreme but all toprobable scenario. After a divorce settlement brought about by continued acts of adultery, the mother decides that in order to guarantee her own best interests she lies to the welfare officer and the courts about the fathers violent and neglegant behaviour and encourages the child to do likewise. This accusation remains untried and untested but leads to the welfare officer produc ing an unfavourable report for the family court. Despite wanting to attempt to repair the marraige the father, who has already been forced to give up the family home and other assets, is ordered to remain out of contact with his children, who on the mothers instruction have expressed offense towards him, and then asked to pay maintainence from his earnings for the childrens wlefare. He is then left alone, with only the means for basic self-substistence, without any contact with his children who he has been told do not want to see him anyway. The chances of surviving such a scenario without suffering onerous depression would seem unlikely.Effects on childrenWhilst the welfare of the children is supposed to be of paramount concern to the law and the judges that implement it, the consequences for children of having limited contact with the father are rarely accounted for. Gone are the days when there was a widely accepted scientific consensus that deemed men naturally incapable of c aring for children and when children were considered to be psychologically and emotionally dependent on the mother but not on the father. However, there remains relative lock in about the effects on children as a result of unparented families because it is considered offensive to one parent families, and to ethnic groups within which there is a propensity towards one-parent families. There is however, enquiry that suggests that fathers have a positive fix on the lives and cognitive development of their children (Lockhart, 2001). Likewise there is also research that suggests that children with absent fathers are more likely to become socially deviant.Furthermore, the law offers little fosterion against children who are forced to remain in the care of unfit mothers who, despite their protestation that the father is neglegant or violent are unfit themselves to be the carer of the child. This is partly because the fathers views on this matter are not considered and it may only be t he father who iscapable of forming them, since social care professionals are unlikely to have gained the level of access and knowledge needed to be able to make such a judgement.Are fathers rights pitying rights?Many campaigners on adult male rights have argued that the right of a father to have contact with his children should be considered a human right. If a human right is a right pertaining to the capability of a human being to live with basic human ineluctably then surely the ability of fathers to have contact with children should be a human right. What could be more essential to a reasonable human beingness than to have contact with and at least knowledge of ones children, for both parents. For most caring, responsible parents this is in fact more essential to a reasonable human existence than access to food or shelter. It is prior to all other needs and aspirations. Moreover, if there is any such thing as human rights then the right to regular contact with ones children should be the most fundamental of these rights.However, proclaiming the rights of fathers as human rights is possibly not the best way to attempt to draw such rights. Firstly, this is because, strategically, human rights declarations are often so vague and potentially contradictory that they can be overturned by the particular intelligent and political system that is supposed to protect them. One of the reasons for this is that it is notoriously rocky to prove, philosophically, what is a universal human right. Such a possibility is to a significant extent dependent upon the philosophical credibility of a conception of humaness, which will always be highly contested. Perhaps it would be give therefore to concentrate on conceptions of legal equality, citizenship and the good of society than proclaiming fathers rights as human rights. It would be better to argue that in a elected society fathers should at the very least be given the right to defend their rights to have contact wi th their children in legitimate courts of law.Paths to the reform of family law and its implementationWhen considering the ways in which the unequal treament of men in British familylaw it is best to first concentrate on the unexplored benifits of shared out responsibility for children. Why not establish a default conception of the welfare of children which proposes that it is best for the childrenn, when no partner is socially deviant, for both parents to have an equal share of the responsibilities for the childs care. The objection to this has been that it is too debauched for the child, emotionally and in other practical valuates, for the child to be regularly moving from one abode to another. But is this really the case? Clearly, very little research has been carried out on the potential effects of such an arrangement since it is hardly ever pursued.Another avenue for reform could be to radically improve the training of welfare officers. This would be a fair simple and much less complicated measure that introducing a cutting family law. Welfare officers could at least be trained more specifically to detect the existence of parental alienation. To be sure this is not just a matter of training it would also involve putting the issue on the welfare checklist. Additionally, allegations of domestic hysteria and neglect ought to be removed from consideration unless they are proven. Some would argue that certain cases of domestic violence are hard to prove in court which would make children more vulnerable. But at least the burden of proof in respect to the suitability of fathers to care for children should be much tougher than it is at present.These would be by small degrees advances, but if the law is to truly treat men and women equally there needs to be a wholly new act. Such an act would not just be introduced to protect the rights of fathers, but to better protect the institution of the family and the welfare of children.ConclusionIn conclusion we c an say that for several reasons British family law unfairly descriminates against fathers. Firstly, there is no provision for the rights of fathers in family law in case or statute law. Secondly, the non-resident parents access to the child is dependent upon the consent of the child, which is bound to favour the resident parent, specially if there is implacable hostility between the two parents. Thirdly, thejudicial system that upholds family law also, institutionally, descriminates against men. This is because deliberation is made in secret and family welfare officers cannot be questioned, which simply maintains inequality within the law because it precludes the fathers point of view. For these reasons, and because the alienation of fathers can lead to depression and unfavourable effects on the children, the law should indeed be changed.BibliographyRobert C Lockhart Fathers Have Rights Too, Writers Club Press 2001C A Hooper Do Families Need FathersJames T Gross Fathers Rights A l egal guide to protecting the best interests of your children. Sphinx 2004Mike Oldham Statutes on Family Law, Oxford University Press 2004www.fathers-4-justice.org