How Parental Gatekeeping Can Impact Your Child Custody Case
Parental gatekeeping describes a situation in which the custodial parent unilaterally decides to block or restrict the children’s access to the other parent. Parental gatekeeping can appear in many forms. These range from one parent attempting to shield the child from real harm to other forms of more insidious gatekeeping that involve parental alienation. Frequently, the gatekeeping parent, will limit or deny access claiming that the child is either in danger from the non-custodial parent, or claim that the child does not want to be with the parent. In this article, we’ll be considering the negative form of parental gatekeeping which can have a profound impact on your child custody case.
It’s important to understand that if you have concerns about your child’s safety, you must address them with the court. You do not want to violate a court order based on a presupposed belief that you cannot substantiate. You want to go through the court to ensure that your hands are clean when you make efforts to protect your child.
Legal and psychological perspectives on parental gatekeeping
Parental gatekeeping often finds its way into child custody disputes. The courts ultimately admonish the gatekeeping parent that they cannot unilaterally make decisions that impact the child, avoid visitation arrangements, or countermand the court’s rulings based on their own opinion. It is closely linked to the concept of parental alienation.
Forensic child psychologists often believe that parental gatekeeping has a negative overall impact on the well-being of the children. “Parental alienation” on the other hand, is a controversial topic among developmental psychologists. Not all believe that the term is clearly defined and note that there is a lack of reliable assessment tools. These researchers suggest that we employ alternative terms to describe the process of parental alienation. These terms acknowledge that a child’s desire to refuse contact with a parent may stem from multiple causes, not just the influence of one parent on the child.
Notable characteristics of parental gatekeeping
Parental gatekeeping is characterized by a variety of actions and attitudes that influence the child’s relationship with the non-custodial parent. According to some research, about 20% of mothers exhibit restricting gatekeeping behaviors even in intact families. These behaviors intensify during and after separation and divorce. This is often the result of one parent (usually the mother) perceiving themselves as the primary caregiver. This allows them to feel justified in blocking or restricting access of the non-custodial parent to their children.
In fact, this can have severe negative consequences on your child custody case. A court will award full custody to one parent when they believe that parent will be better facilitating a relationship between the child and their co-parent. If evidence shows that this is not true, it could result in the courts awarding joint custody of the children to both parents or otherwise admonishing the gatekeeping parent with legal sanctions.
Talk to a Rockland County, New York Child Custody Lawyer Today
The Law Office of Robert S. Sunshine represents the interests of Rockland County residents in child custody disputes. Call our Westchester County family lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin discussing your next steps right away.
