From Father's Property to Children's Rights - by Mary Ann Mason (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Combining historical and legal scholarship, this is an analysis of the history of child custody in the USA from colonial times to the present day. It draws on history to illuminate contemporary issues, offering a rich perspective on the historical relationship of children to their parents. The author draws on three periods of pivotal change in social attitudes and the law, connecting these transformations to the changing status of women and the increasing power of mothers. He describes how the present move away from maternal preference toward equal custodial rights has been promoted by feminists' struggle for equal political rights and a new theory of equal parenting adopted by social scientists. Includes a new preface by the author.

From the Back Cover

'A first-rate book. Mason combines a lively style with sound scholarship as she traces the historic roots of contemporary child custody issues from colonial times to illuminate the cross currents of community values and the bitter legal controversies of the present. A timely, sophisticated contribution. Highly recommended to judges, family law attorneys, mediators, expert witnesses in custody disputes, and students entering the field.'-judith S. Wallerstein, author of Second Chances: Men, Women, and Children a Decade After Divorce

Review Quotes

Shows that attention to child welfare today is not as consistent as we might assume. [Mason's] evidence reveals a system struggling to find a clear path through conflicting political and social interests while the best interests of the child are often ignored.... But what are the best interests of the child? How should courts proceed when children's interests conflict with those of their parents or even of the state?... Such questions become intractable in a society that has lost all consensus on what family, parenthood, and childhood mean. Mason has no easy answers, but her history of custody law holds a mirror up to a society that sorely needs to look honestly at its treatment of children.-- "Boston Book Review"

About the Author

Mary Ann Mason is Associate Professor of Law and Social Welfare at the School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of The Equality Trap, coauthor of Why Kids Lie, and coeditor of Debating Children's Lives: Current Controversies on Children and Adolescents.