Voorskoolse kinders se belewing van ’n hofgeding oor toesig en beheer

Abstract

The effect of a custody dispute on preschool children

The motivation for the research on which this article is based highlights the consequences of the placement of children after the divorce of their parents and in instances in which a custody dispute erupts. The functions and purpose of the family advocate in this process are also taken into consideration. The aim of this article was to evaluate children with respect to three variables, namely, 1) positive selfesteem, 2) the loyalty conflict between biological parents and 3) depression. These evaluations were undertaken within three groups, namely, 1) children in a nuclear family, 2) children in a single-parent family where divorce had occurred and 3) children in a family where a custody dispute had taken place. A nonexperimental method of research was used. To test the specific hypotheses the following test instruments were used: 1) Bene-Anthony family relations 2) Draw a Person Test (D.A.P.) and 3) Draw a Family Test (D.A.F.). The conclusions arrived at indicate firstly, that children in nuclear families do have a higher self-esteem than children from single-parent divorced families, but the latter, in turn, do not have a higher self-esteem than those from families undergoing a custody dispute. Furthermore, children from nuclear families do not experience less loyalty conflict than children from single-parent divorced families, but the latter experience less loyalty conflict than those from families undergoing a custody dispute. Finally, children from nuclear families suffer less from depression than children from single-parent divorcedfamilies, but the latter do not experience less depression than those from families exposed to a custody dispute. As the research on which this article is based merely has an exploratory nature, only general trends can be deduced from the results. Further studies will require larger and better controlled samples.