What are the different types of custody a court can award and explain each?

LAW240  Family Law ;Kramer vs. Kramer Assignment,

Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 drama about a child custody battle and issues concerning divorce as it relates to children.  Millions of children’s lives each year will be impacted by divorce.  Many of those children will find themselves at the center of a custody lawsuit being torn between two parents they love and having to face the challenges and insecurities divorce oftentimes creates.
For this assignment you are to watch the film Kramer vs. Kramer and carefully review the material in chapter 9 of the OCR.  I have provided a link for the movie in the Course Information folder.  You are to write a 5 page, double spaced, 12 font,  paper discussing the following legal issues presented in the film:
1.    What are the different types of custody a court can award and explain each?
Years ago the courts presumed that a young child was better off with the mother unless it was proven that the mother was unfit.  This doctrine was referred to as the tender years doctrine and was used by the court in deciding the custody dispute between the Kramers.
2.    Do you agree with this doctrine?  Why or why not?
3.     What standard does the court use today in determining which biological parent should get custody and what factors are considered?
4.    Why, in Kramer vs. Kramer, did the court not award joint custody?  In what types of situations is joint custody most successful?
The judge in the Kramer case makes a ruling without ever having interviewed the child.
5.     Do you think a judge should speak with a child concerning the relationship of the child with his or parents?  Explain.
6.    Why do you think it would be important to interview the child?
7.    What problems do you foresee in speaking with the child?
8.    Should the age of the child make a difference?
Assume you were an attorney and trying the Kramer case today.
9.     What party, the mother or father, would you prefer to represent?
10.    What arguments would you make on behalf of your client to convince the judge that your client should be awarded custody?
11.    In your opinion, did the trial depicted in Kramer vs. Kramer accurately reflect the way courts today would treat custody cases?  Explain.
This paper is due by the end of week 9 and must be typed.  This paper should be in essay form and not question/answer format.  If outside resources are used, including the OCR, proper citations and a works cited page must be included.  Please submit this assignment through the Assignment folder in the Week Nine Course Materials folder.  Papers will not be accepted unless submitted through the Assignment folder.