In this article, the authors review changes in family law over the past 30 years in the following areas: marriage, divorce, child custody, remarriage and stepfamilies, unwed fathers, third-party visitation, nontraditional partnerships, assisted reproduction, and adoption. The authors also discuss the role that the social sciences have had in the family law revolution. Finally, the authors speculate about future changes in family law and the role that the social sciences will play in these legal reforms.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Law Institute. (2000). Principles of the law of family dissolution: Analysis and recommendations (Tentative Draft No. 4). Philadelphia: Author.
2.
Atkinson, J. (1984). Criteria for deciding custody in the trial and appellate courts. Family Law Quarterly, 18, 11-32.
3.
Avery, R. J. , & Mont, D. M. (1994). Special needs adoption in New York State: Final report on adoptive parent survey (DHHS Contract No. 90CW 1012). Washington, DC: Department of Health and Human Services.
4.
Blaisure, K. , & Geasler, M. (1999, July). Divorce education across the U.S. Paper presented at the Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education Conference, Washington, DC.
5.
Blank, R. M. (1997). It takes a nation. New York: Russell Sage.
6.
Bogenschneider, K. (2000). Has family policy come of age? A decade review of the state of U.S. family policy in the 1990s. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1136-1159.
7.
Bonauto, M. (2000). Civil union update [Online]. Available: www.glad.org
8.
Cahn, N. , & Singer, J. (1999). Adoption, identity, and the constitution: The case for opening closed records. University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, 2, 150-194.
9.
Census Bureau. (1999). Interracial married couples: 1960 to present [Online]. Available: www.census.gov/population/socdemo/ms-la/tabms-3.txt
10.
Chambers, D. L. , & Polikoff, N. D. (1999). Family law and gay and lesbian family issues in the twentieth century. Family Law Quarterly, 33, 523-542.
11.
Cherlin, A. (1992). Marriage, divorce, remarriage. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
12.
Elrod, L. D. , Spector, R. G., & Atkinson, J. (1999). A review of the year in family law: Children's issues dominate. Family Law Quarterly, 32, 661-717.
13.
Emery, R. E. (1995). Divorce mediation: Negotiating agreements and renegotiating relationships. Family Relations, 44, 377-383.
14.
Fine, M. A. , & Demo, D. (2000). Divorce: Societal ill or normative transition? In R. Milardo & S. Duck (Eds.), Families as relationships (pp. 135-156). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
15.
Fine, M. A. , & Fine, D. (1994). An examination and evaluation of recent changes in divorce laws in five Western countries: The critical role of values. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56, 249-263.
16.
Gallagher, M. , & Waite, L. (2000). The case for marriage. New York: Doubleday.
17.
Goldstein, J. , Freud, A., & Solnit, A. (1973). Beyond the best interests of the child. New York: Free Press.
18.
Johnston, J. , Kline, M., & Tschann, J. (1989). Ongoing postdivorce conflict: Effects on children of joint custody and frequent access. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59, 576-592.
19.
Katz, S. N. (1999). Establishing the family and family-like relationships: Emerging models for alternatives to marriage. Family Law Quarterly, 33, 663-675.
20.
Krause, H. (1986). Family law (2nd ed.). St. Paul, MN: West.
21.
Lerman, R. L. (1993). A national profile of young unwed fathers. In R. L. Lerman & T. J. Ooms (Eds.), Young unwed fathers (pp. 35-39). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
22.
Mahoney, M. (1994). Stepfamilies and the law. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
23.
Mason, M. A. (1988). The equality trap. New York: Simon & Schuster.
24.
Mason, M. A. (1994). From father's property to children's rights. New York: Columbia.
25.
Mason, M. A. (1998). The modern American stepfamily: Problems and possibilities. In M. A. Mason, A. Skolnick, & S. D. Sugarman (Eds.), All our families (pp. 95-116). New York: Oxford University Press.
26.
Mason, M. A. (2000). The custody wars. New York: Basic Books.
27.
McLanahan, S. , & Sandefur, G. (1994). Growing up with a single parent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
28.
Mosher, W. D. , & Bachrach, C. A. (1996). Understanding U.S. fertility: Continuity and change in the National Survey of Family Growth, 1988-1995 [13 pages]. Family Planning Perspectives [Online serial], 28(1). Available FTP: Hostname: agi-usa.org Directory: pubs/journals/2800496.html
29.
Nagourney, E. (2000, February 15). Study finds families bypassing marriage. The New York Times, p. F8.
30.
National Center for Health Statistics. (1995). Fertility/infertility [Online]. Available FTP: Hostname: cdc.gov Directory: nchs/fastats/fertile.htm
31.
Patterson, C. J. (2000). Family relationships of lesbians and gay men. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 1052-1069.
32.
Pearson, J. (1999). Domestic and international legal framework of family law: Court services: Meeting the needs of twenty-first century families. Family Law Quarterly, 33, 617-635.
33.
Perry, T. L. (1999). Race matters: Change, choice, and family law at the millennium. Family Law Quarterly, 33, 461-474.
34.
Regan, M. C., Jr. (1999). Establishing the family and family-like relationships: Marriage at the millennium. Family Law Quarterly, 33, 647-662.
35.
Roseman, E. (2000, Fall). OPEN 2000: Are you ready for open records?Resolve of Northern California Quarterly Newsletter, 6.
36.
Seltzer, J. (1994). Intergenerational ties in adulthood and childhood experience. In A. Booth & J. Dunn (Eds.), Stepfamilies (pp. 89-96). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
37.
Siegel, A. J. (2000). Note: Setting limits on judicial scientific, technical, and other specialized fact-finding in the new millennium. Cornell Law Review, 86, 167.
38.
Sugarman, S. (1998). Single-parent families. In M. A. Mason, A. Skolnick, & S. Sugarman (Eds.), All our families (pp. 13-38). New York: Oxford University Press.
39.
Triber, G. A. (1998). Growing pains: Disputes surrounding human reproductive interests stretch the boundaries of traditional legal concepts. Seton Hall Legislative Journal, 23, 103-140.
40.
U.S. Department of State. (2000). Hague convention on intercountry adoptions [Online]. Available: www.travel.state.gov/adoption_info_sheet.html
41.
Wardle, L. D. (1999). Reorganizing the family: Divorce reform at the turn of the millennium: Certainties and possibilities. Family Law Quarterly, 33, 783-800.
42.
Warshak, R. A. (2000). Remarriage as a trigger of parental alienation syndrome. American Journal of Family Therapy, 28, 229-241.
43.
Weithorn, L. A. , & Grisso, T. (1987). Psychological evaluations in divorce custody: Problems, principles, and procedures. In L. Weithorn (Ed.), Psychology and child custody determinations: Knowledge, roles, and expertise (pp. 157-181). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
