Refusal of Polygamy Authorization Based on an Analysis of Psychological Impacts on Child Growth and Development

Abstract

The debate regarding the granting of polygamy permission in Indonesia remains oriented towards the fulfillment of administrative requirements, such as the consent of the first wife and financial capacity, thereby frequently neglecting the best interests of the child as an integral part of substantive justice. Various empirical studies indicate that children in polygamous families are vulnerable to psychological, social, and academic problems that adversely impact their developmental process. This study aims to analyze the scientific and legal bases for rejecting polygamy permission applications that contradict the principle of the best interests of the child, as well as to reconceptualize the notion of justice to encompass emotional and relational dimensions. This study employs a normative legal research method utilizing statutory, conceptual, and case approaches, integrated with a synthesis of empirical findings in psychology, Indonesian positive law, and Islamic family law. The results indicate that the mechanism for granting polygamy permission in Indonesian positive law still focuses on the fulfillment of formal requirements and has not accommodated the assessment of the husband's psychological capacity or the psychological impacts experienced by the child. The findings further demonstrate that psychological assessment constitutes a crucial element in the evidentiary process of polygamy applications, enabling the principle of the best interests of the child to serve as the primary consideration for judges in examining such applications to manifest substantive justice in accordance with the objectives of maqāṣid al-syarī‘ah.