Improving Parent-Child Relationships Within the Divorced Family: A Call for Legal Reform

In this Article, I address these three questions within the framework provided by the goal to be achieved. Part I outlines the present system and its problems, discussing both its effects on divorced family members and the problems inherent in the exclusive custody rule. Part II builds a proposal for legal reform by first considering the effect of conflict within the family, then identifying five value guidelines that should control the relationships, and finally describing the proposal in detail. Part III analyzes the pros and cons of the reform proposal to determine whether its adoption could establish a healthier environment for the divorced family.