Volume 14, Number 1, 1997
Articles
- Questionable Beliefs About Child Sexual Abuse Allegations During Custody Disputes - P. Susan Penfold
Studies suggest that professionals are unaware of personal biases that influence attitudes and decisions in custody disputes complicated by sexual abuse allegations. This article examines six commonly held assumptions that hev little validity, and proposes that gender bias, political and economic shifts, and an unequal playing field in the courtroom may be operating to blame mothers and obscure some genuine cases of sexual abuse.
- The Invisibility of Male Violence in Canadian Child Custody and Access Decision-Making - Melanie Rosnes
This article maintains that, contrary to the findings of Lorenne Clark, the Canadian judiciary does not give wife abuse the weight it deserves in child custody and access decision-making. Case law decided over a two year period from 1992 to 1994 is examined, and the importance of considering ideology and the language of legal reasoning, is stressed. The article concludes that s.16(9) and 16(10) of the Divorce Act, are indeed interpreted in ways which have serious implications for women in delaing with violent men in child custody and access litigation.
Case Comment
- Designated Insurance and Pension Beneficiaries and Unfulfilled Expectations - Keith B. Farquhar
Book Review
- Louis A. Knafla and Susan B. Binnie, Ed: Law, Society and the State: Essays in Modern Legal History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995). - Chantal Morton