ENABLING CHILDREN OF DIVORCE TO WIN

Divorce mediators, attorneys, judges, and psychologists approach the issues in marriage dissolution from disparate vantage points. Legal niceties, actuarial acrobatics, and egosaving mechanisms tend to dominate the proceedings. Too often, however, some of the professionals have neither the training nor the experience to recognize the potential impact of such decisions on the children of divorce. The children rarely have an advocate whose sole task it is to make certain that their "best interests" are truly served. Questions are raised and suggestions for research are offered in an effort to reduce children's victimization and enable them to emerge as winners.     

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND STRUCTURAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE DISENGAGEMENT OF NONCUSTODIAL FATHERS AFTER DIVORCE

The phenomenon of noncustodial fathers' disengagement from their children's lives is critically examined. Based on data obtained from a cross-national (Canada and Scotland) study on the impact of divorce on noncustodial fathers, the argument is developed that these fathers' disengagement from their children's lives results from a combination of structural constraints and fathers' own psychological response to the threatened or actual loss of their children and the predivorce father-child relationship. While divorce represents a loss which deprives fathers of an attachment figure and a role or identity, it also constitutes a situation where fathers are judicially and legislatively disadvantaged on the basis of gender. Attachment theory constructs relating to situations of loss and bereavement frame the analysis of fathers' psychological adaptation to divorce and psychological factors contributing to their disengagement from their children, and analyses of gender are used in an examination of the structural consequences of divorce for noncustodial fathers and structural factors contributing to their disengagement. This study also documents the destructive effect of a purely adversarially based approach to divorce.     

MEDIATION AND DIVORCE

This article describes the Danish system, tracing its roots from the days when the crown dealt with all matters involving the family. The role of the amtmen in granting divorce through this administrative process is described. A total of 94% of all divorces in Denmark are handled through this procedure.     

IMPASSES OF DIVORCE

Creating an environment in which children can develop with trust and confidence is a key issue for social policymakers, family practitioners, and parents. Although allied by this concern, too often the three groups behave as if their interests are opposed; children can then become casualties. The process of separation and divorce creates particular opportunities and special hazards in this respect, which have enormous implications for the future well-being of individuals and communities. This report describes a model for conceptualizing, in the context of divorce, how it is that potential allies can sometimes become implacable foes, and considers some ways forward.     

PRO SE DIVORCE LITIGANTS

With the increased number of divorce litigants appearing pro se in the past century, trial court judges and court personnel are forced to deal with their conflicting obligations with more frequency. It is virtually impossible for a trial court judge to ensure all litigants have a fair and meaningful trial without compromising their neutrality. Likewise, court personnel are allowed to give out legal information but not legal advice, with the definition of legal information and advice not neatly packaged into two separate and distinct categories. Consequently, changes must be made. This note suggests various solutions that can be imposed to either reevaluate the role of trial court judges and court personnel so that they no longer have conflicting obligations and are able to accommodate the needs of the pro se litigants or implement services that can provide pro se litigants with other avenues of obtaining information and assistance.     

STANDARDIZATION OF DIVORCE MEDIATION

The importance of controlling for the effects of “mediator” variables has largely been overlooked in the mediation research. A survey of conciliation workers attached to the Victoria Family Court found no standard practice in the orientation of clients to the process of mediation, and the delivery of mediation services.