| The intent of public policy is to bring about a specific change, to a specific population, which would otherwise not be possible or likely to occur. Although public policies are intended to benefit the public in some manner, they are not always effective. There are any number of reasons why a policy might succeed or fail, however, the literature suggests that policies are usually successful for one of three reasons: (1) the law permits sanctions for noncompliance, (2) the law offers the public or a specific portion of the public a benefit, or (3) the law compels or encourages the public to behave in a particular manner. Similarly, studies indicate that there are approximately four potential reasons for policy failure: (1) when policies are poorly implemented, (2) when the target population faces institutional barriers, (3) when policy solutions are incomplete and (4) when there are inadequate resources to fully implement the law. One kind of policy that has been intended to benefit the lives of divorced families is that which states a presumption for joint legal or physical custody. These laws have been controversial because there is concern about having a blanket custodial arrangement for all families, regardless of levels of functioning. Nonetheless, some of these laws have existed for two decades, the effects of which remain unexamined. The current study explores the influence of New Hampshire's 1981 presumption for joint legal custody on the involvement of divorced fathers in the lives of their children, by surveying fathers in the state of New Hampshire and a neighboring state, which has no presumption law. While the law was intended to increase father involvement, this study found that a law stating a presumption for joint legal custody has no impact on father involvement at this point in time. The author cites a number of reasons for policy ineffectiveness, including: (1) the lack of theory used to draft the policy, (2) inadequate resources in the population which uses or is affected by the law, (3) the fact that the law no longer offers parents unique rights, (4) family dynamics and (5) social systems. |
