Joint custody: research, theory, and policy

A majority of states have now enacted legislation addressing the issue of joint custody of children after divorce. This article examines current research on the subject, explores its implications for family theory, and attempts to draw some empirically based conclusions regarding policy. The literature would seem to support a structuralist view of the family and to undermine normative theories of the family life cycle. The author concludes that policy should not be aimed at developing a presumption of joint legal custody alone, but, rather, of joint physical custody with specified limitations.