Law and society in a time of transition

This dissertation is used to analyze the reform of the US divorce
and custody laws – with special consideration for the legal
development in California. A particular focus is on the reasons,
which led to the no-fault-reform in the 1960s – an era of
socio-political upheaval. First, a portrayal of the concept of
society and family in the light of the changes in contemporary
history is shown. Here, the basics of the American system of values
and the reasons for the changes in society since the 1960s are
explained. Following an excursion into legal history and legal
tradition, the larger second part discusses the liberalization of
divorce law and the resulting withdrawal of governmental
intervention from divorce proceedings. Due to the abolition of the
fault principle and the introduction of the failure principle,
problem solving was shifted from the courts to the spouses.
Individuals were now allocated a greater level of personal
responsibility. The impulse for this change in the law came from
the State of New York, which was to reduce the “divorce tourism“ in
federal states with less restrictive laws. As a result, the custody
law was also reformed and joint custody was introduced. The
development from patriarchal role relations within the family to
the introduction of joint custody is the subject of the final part
of this work.