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The purpose of this study has been to examine assessments in custody disputes, where there is information that one of the parents has perpetrated violence within the family and has been awarded custody and resident parent, to look into how the court motivates and reasons for granting this parent custody and residence. The study was formed based on a qualitative method and then the collected data was analyzed with a thematic analysis. Based on the thematic analysis, three main themes have been developed: violence as a risk factor, the best interest of the child and, finally, parenting ability. Under these three main themes, each theme has two sub-themes. The study data have been analyzed on the basis of previous research and three theoretical starting points, which are developmental psychology, social learning theory and finally feminist perspective.

The results show how the court's assessments in custody disputes can differ based on circumstances in the family. A major factor that in many of the disputes formed the basis for the court's assessment was the parents' conflict and their difficulties to co-operate, but also one parent's attitude towards the other was an argument for the court's assessment. One aspect that recurs in the study is how the assessment of violence can look like in custody disputes, how much emphasis is placed on information about violence and how the significance of the information is assessed on the basis of various circumstances. The best interest of the child is also a topic that recur in all of the court's assessments and is described as the basis for the judgment, which is expressed in various ways, including how the court has taken the child's expressed will and the child's feelings into account.