The best interest of the child is defined as a court ruling by a judge for parents to have joint custody rights to see and spend time with the child, the judge does what is best in the interest of the child. The decision that the judge makes in the best interest of the child cannot be overruled by the parent’s desires or concerns, it is clearly the judge’s decision. The legal categories for abuse and neglect is called child and emotional maltreatment. LaMance (2014) reported that Child Abuse is one of the nation’s most serious crimes and there are judges in courts all over the country who penalize seriously for child abuse (LaMance, 2014). When it comes to gaining custody of a child especially if the child has suffered from child abuse, the three factors that courts use to determine what is in the best interest of the child. One, the maturity as well as the health of the parent. Simply, if either parent is not mature enough to take care of the child because all the parent wants to do is go out and party then the child is not safe. Two, if the parent is able to actively provide for the child in the aspect that the child cannot provide for themselves which most of them cannot. Third, the lifestyle and social life of the parent. No court wants to award custody of a child to a parent who do not care enough about them to keep them safe from strangers. One of the factors that can be hard to determine is actual noticeable bruises on the child that suggests that child abuse took place, the parent that is abusing the child will act like the other parent is abusing the child by pretending to play the aggrieved parent card so others including a judge would buy into their act. Another factor that is hard to determine if child abuse took place is if the abusing parent uses relatives to help the abusing parent cover up abusing the child. The final factor that might make child abuse hard to determine is if the child is forced to lie saying that they are partaking in rough housing with friends in order to cover up for the parent abusing them.
References
LaMance, K. (2014, July 17). Child's Best Interest Standard. Retrieved November 22, 2014, from http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/childs-best-interest-standard.html
