Abstract
M.Litt. et Phil.
Divorce has become a widespread phenomenon in modern society. The high
divorce figures indicate a change of attitude in society. Today divorce has become a
highly probable and accepted event with fewer stigmas attached to it. For children,
the divorce of their parents is a totally unplanned life event over which they have
little or no control. It can therefore be defined as a non-normative idiosyncratic life
event. This event inevitably leads to stress and can have certain deleterious, but
also positive, effects on children.
The specific effects that a child experiences will be determined by an interaction of
variables, viz. his personality and temperament, the environment and his family
home. Riegel (1975) states that development evolves out of crises which can
therefore be constructive and have significant meaning. If the child can adapt and
work through the event of divorce constructively the divorce can lead to growth, and
not necessarily to stagnation and more problems.
In the litigation of custody some development has taken place. Traditionally, young
children were placed in the custody of their mothers, and the judges who did the
assignments depended on information which was obtained from the parents. This
resulted in decisions which were not always in the best interests of the children. To
assist the judges in the placement of children, family advocates were appointed,
thus fulfilling the requirements of the Act on Mediation in Certain Divorce Matters,
(Act 24 of 1987). The task of the family advocate is to act as a watchdog on behalf
of minors who have been subjected to divorce and subsequent litigation over
custody disputes.
Custody disputes cause tension and uncertainty for the children involved. The
family advocate ensures that the children are exposed to as little disruption as
possible during the litigation process, and also sees to it that the proposed ruling in
connection with the children is in their best interests.
The motivation for this research stems from the developments which have taken
place regarding the placement of children after divorce where a custody dispute
erupts, as well as those regarding the functions and purpose of the family advocate
in the process.
Questions can be raised as to whether the system of family advocates succeeds in
its primary aim to act on behalf of the children, and whether the children involved in
a custody dispute are not subjected to more stress as a result of the litigation. As
few study regarding these questions has been done and many new questions have
evolved, an exploratory study was conducted on the subject.
The aim of this study was to evaluate children with respect to three variables,
namely, 1) positive self regard 2) loyalty conflict between biological parents 3)
depression.
These evaluations were done on three groups, namely, 1) children in a nuclear
family, 2) children in a single-parent family where divorce had occurred, and 3)
children in a family where a custody dispute had taken place.
A non-experimental method of research was used. To test the specific hypotheses
the following test instruments were used:
Bene-Anthony family relations,
Draw a Person Test (D.A.P.), and
Draw a Family Test (D.A.F.).
The conclusions of the study are, firstly, that children in nuclear families do have
higher self regard than children from single-parent divorced families, but these latter,
in turn, do not have higher self regard than those from custody dispute families.
Furthermore, children from nuclear families do not have less loyalty conflict than
children from single-parent divorced families, but these latter do have less loyalty
conflict than those from custody dispute families.
Finally, children from nuclear families do suffer less from depression • than children
from single-parent divorced families, but these latter do not have less depression
than those from custody dispute families.
As this was merely an exploratory study only tendencies can be deduced from the
results. Further studies will require larger and better controlled samples. Further
research and development in the field of custody litigation is necessary so that the
whole family, and especially the children, can use this life crisis as an opportunity for
growth.