IS THE TURN TOWARD COLLABORATIVE LAW A TURN AWAY FROM JUSTICE?

The new trend in Collaborative Family Law (CFL) in the United States and Canada raises new questions about theories of justice. CFL achieves many of the goals of a viable theory of justice and its implicit critique of the legal system is a valid one. However, it unnecessarily demonizes law and has yet to explicitly articulate where it fits in terms of its own theory of justice. After considering the claims made by CFL, it is apparent that while some are productive, others are problematic and should be discarded. Specifically, CFL's rejection of factual determinacy may be inappropriate in some cases. The CFL approach has the potential to ignore problems of power imbalance, and may sacrifice just outcomes for the sake of efficiency. The emphasis on relationships and the need for their protection is not always an appropriate approach, and in demonizing law in favor of private ordering, CFL unnecessarily rejects the importance of law as a site for public participation in the creation and defense of norms. CFL is an important step forward in law reform, but if it is to fulfill its potential, it needs to incorporate within its practice a theory of justice that avoids the pitfalls of liberal individualism and allows for the public authorship of norms.     

COOPERATIVES FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: A PROSPECTUS

The author describes research that addresses the problem of organizational change associated with the use of new information and communication technologies. The author focuses on the change processes associated with the use of the World Wide Web by cultural heritage organizations: archives, galleries, libraries, and museums. This research note outlines the research problem and the theoretical perspectives and research methodologies to be used in the research.     

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE POLICE AND THE LARGER ATTITUDE COMPLEX

Growing concern with the effect of negative public attitudes toward the police on police-community polarization and morale and effectiveness has led to numerous efforts to improve the image of the policeman and to facilitate more positive relationships with the community. It is proposed that the eflectiveness of such programs is hindered by their failure to consider that public attitudes toward the police do not exist in isolation, but are a part of a broader complex of attitudes toward the system of legal justice and its various representatives. Data from four different samples of residents of a western state provide some tentative support for this hypothesis. Implications of the data for programs designed to improve police-community relationships are discussed.