JUDICIAL ATTITUDES REGARDING CUSTODY AND VISITATION ISSUES

State judges in Louisiana were surveyed by mail with regard to their a ttitudes dealing with custody and visitation issues. The most preferre d custody arrangement was school year with one parent and summer with the other parent, followed by (2) continuous custody by one parent, (3 ) alternate six months, (4) alternate months, (5) alternate weeks, and finally, (6) split week. The most preferred visitation schedule was e very other weekend followed by (2) every weekend, (3) more often than every weekend, (4) one weekend per month, and finally (5) less than on e weekend per month. When asked to rate the importance of 12 factors w hich are considered in custody decisions, the highest ratings were giv en to factors dealing with parent-child relationships and the family u nit. The lowest ratings were assigned to the preferences of younger ch ildren.