Shared custody: judicial reasoning and psychological criteria Custodia compartida: razonamientos judiciales y criterios psicológicos

Abstract

When parents end their relationship, one of the most relevant aspects is related to the measures adopted in relation to their children. Since the legalization of divorce in 1981, various legislative changes have
been made and some Autonomous Communities have enacted laws where joint custody is the preferred option. The study aims to analyze the reasoning used by judges / magistrates to support shared custody, and to know to what extent judicial decisions take as reference expert reports and the criteria that are provided in them. For this, a cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in which 163 sentences of the year 2016 of the Autonomous Community of Aragon were analyzed. The results show a trend towards greater argumentation of the granting of custody and shared custody. The most frequent judicial reasoning is the personal aptitude of the parent, the best interest of the minor and the stabilit  of the same, among others. On the other hand, the forensic criteria most used by psychologists in their assessments are the ability of parents and the quality of parenting practices