POSTPONED PARENTHOOD: A CANADIAN STUDY

The latest Canadian data indicates that 20 percent of births in Canada are to women aged 30 years and over. Postponed parenthood has become an increasing viable option for Canadian couples. This paper reports on a study of 46 couples who delayed their childbearing. It is the first Canadian study of this area of family life.     

EARLY INTERVENTION MEDIATION

Early Intervention Mediation was a fifteen-month research project conducted at the Court of Domestic Relations of Hamilton County, Ohio. The project's intent was to test the efficacy of the early introduction of mediation to resolve parenting issues. The project involved ordering half of all divorcing parents, who were unable to agree on custody arrangements for their children, to attend mediation within six weeks after filing for divorce. The other half of divorcing parents were a control group who followed existing court procedures. At the conclusion of the project, results were compared between the two groups. In 61% of divorce cases ordered to mediation, parenting issues were fully resolved. Families were spared damaging and costly litigation, and the court reduced judicial hours.     

LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP OF A COURT-BASED INTERVENTION FOR DIVORCING PARENTS

This study investigated whether participation in an educational program for divorcing parents is associated with a lower incidence of relitigating divorce-related decisions over time. A systematic review of court records indicated that couples who attended this program (n = 159) in central Illinois were just as likely as those in the control group (n = 43) to relitigate over a 6-year period. Furthermore, county-wide rates of relitigation increased from 2 years before to 3 years after the program's introduction. However, reports obtained from participating families suggest that the program may serve an important function for families in which there is a high risk of triangulating children into postdivorce conflict.     

COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE IN THE CANADIAN LANDSCAPE

This article looks at the growth of collaborative practice in Canada in the last decade and the legal and Canadian cultural underpinnings influencing this growth. Government recognition of and support for collaborative process has come from both the federal and provincial governments. Statutory support in family law statutes and in ethical standards for lawyers encourage alternate dispute resolution and have helped normalize consensual dispute resolution options. The article also looks at decisions from Canadian courts relating to the practice of collaborative law, including the confidentiality of collaborative process negotiations as set out in the participation agreement and the standard of care necessary for collaborative lawyers.     

THE DIVORCE EDUCATION INTERVENTION MODEL

This article offers a divorce education intervention model that court systems can use to determine the level of programming that fits their goals for divorce education and their available resources. This model includes three levels of education that vary by extent of presenter and parent involvement: basic information, feelings and skills, and brief focused intervention. Eight program components are compared: goals, personnel, strategies, resources, examples, parental involvement, potential outcomes, and limitations.     

INTERVENTION VS. CO-OPERATION: LEGITIMACY OF THE EBRD CONDITIONALITY

The EBRD is a “political bank.” “Multiparty democracy, pluralism and market economies” are the conditions (termed as “conditionality”) to get financial resources. The EBRD conditionality is coercive and intrusive. In sense of its nature, it is political rather than economic. Since it is purposed to foster the transition of open market, it is legitimate. In essence, it is believed to be a form of good international co-operation rather than that of willful or arbitrary intervention.