Towards a Structure of Indifference: The Social Origins of Maternal Custody (Sociology and Economics)

This book studies the legal change in presumption of custody from fathers to mothers—a process that occurred between 1880 and 1920 in all Western countries that permitted divorce.  Among other considerations, Friedman explores why a shift of such magnitude has been lost to the public memory in such a short time, and why fathers ceded custodial rights without duress or action of any kind.  In focusing on the state’s role in each instance and on the class character of divorce in earlier times, the author uncovers a diffusion of family responsibilities that had striking consequences for the welfare of children after divorce.