ASSESSMENT OF FAIRNESS IN CHILD-CUSTODY DECISIONS

Court-appointed child advocates, attorneys, guardians ad litem, and th erapists were asked to rate preferred traits for mothers and fathers, and to make custody decisions and abuse likelihood ratings for childre n in one of two vignettes that varied only as to whether mother or fat her was described as incompetent to parent without threat of further a buse. Results revealed that this sample of professionals did not hold double standards with respect to attributes important for mothers vers us fathers. To the contrary, interpersonal sensitivity traits, traditi onally identified as most prevalent among women, were valued equally i n mothers and fathers and preferred for both parents to interpersonal potency, traditionally ascribed more readily to men. Further, decision s about custody and placement or abuse likelihood were not affected by any sex-role stereotypes professionals herd about parents, nor by pro fessionals' gender or specific occupation. The only factor that affect ed custody judgments and abuse likelihood ratings was the competence o f the parent in question. These findings suggest that biases with rega rd to gender or traditional sex-role preferences for parents are disap pearing among professionals who make important placement decisions in the lives of abused children. Future studies must assess whether these theoretical findings translate into actual behavior in real-life abus e cases for the professional groups represented in this sample.