Despite the Arizona family court's purported focus on the "best interests" of the child, it is inherently parent-centered and does not, in actuality, serve children's well-being. When children are offered opportunities to participate in this legal system, studies have found positive impacts to both the children and the judicial system. The overwhelming majority of these studies were conducted in countries that have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; the United States is not one of those countries. As such, facilitating children's participation in the court process by encouraging judicial interviews is one way Arizona family law could better promote children's best interests and well-being. What began as a quest for research on how judicial interviews affected children emotionally and psychologically, has evolved into a critical analysis of the family law framework as it exists in the United States—particularly, the State of Arizona. Through a detailed presentation of Arizona family law, this papers demonstrates the court's focus on parents' rights—often in the absence of children's rights. An exploration of the ways in which various philosophical and legal theories work to critique and expose the dominant power relationships in the family law structure follows. It is only through such deconstruction of this law that children's voices can be effectively reincorporated into the family law schema and their "best interests" properly considered.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/595835 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Inman, Shasta Nicole |
| Contributors | MacCorquodale, Patricia, MacCorquodale, Patricia, Atwood, Barbara, Simmons, William Paul |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Thesis |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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