Divorce, Custody, and Spousal Violence: A Random Sample of Circuit Court Docket Records

The fastest growing marital status category in America is divorced, with the number of divorced individuals quadrupling between 1970 and 1996. The majority of children in divorced families live with a single parent and often lose contact with the noncustodial parent. A recent review of the literature suggests that many noncustodial fathers fail to keep contact with their children and become delinquent in child support payments because of their dissatisfaction with the custody arrangement. However, there has been little examination of how custody arrangements are typically determined or settled. In addition, divorces that involve spousal violence bring further complications to child custody, visitation, and child support decisions. This study included a 20% random sample of court records for all divorces settled in one county judicial circuit court during 1998. The purpose of this study was to examine characteristics of divorcing adults as well as characteristics of child custody arrangements, visitation, and child support decisions. Contrary to popular belief, findings from this study indicate that divorce actions were almost always settled through agreement of the divorcing parties rather than by adjudication. About 38% of the couples had children in common and between 78 and 92% of cases were settled through agreement, which suggests that fathers are in fact agreeing to the custody arrangement, rather than being forced into it. About one in five records overall noted spousal violence, and there was no significant difference in settlement methods for couples with or without spousal violence. Cases with children and spousal violence were significantly more likely to have also mentioned substance use and postdecree activity. This study suggests a need for more focused attention on divorce cases with spousal violence to reduce postdecree court involvement and safety of children and adult victims, as well as further study into what causes noncustodial parents to lose contact with their children.     

Co-optation,competition and resistance: mediation and divorce professionals in Israel

This paper investigates the development of family mediation in Israel within the theoretical framework of the competition between professions (Abbott, 1988; Shamir, 1993), and the co-optation model of Coy and Hedeen (2005). It describes the formal institutionalization of family mediation in Israel and examines the claims made by lawyers, therapeutic mediators, and lawyer-mediators about the nature and boundaries of their professional enterprise and their goals and practices. Based on 254 questionnaires, semi-structured taped interviews and professional documents, our study found differences in the way the professionals construct the nature of the competition over mediation. While lawyers describe mediators as invading their realm of divorce practice, therapeutic professionals view mediation as a new field of knowledge which they are claiming as their own, in competition with legal professionals. Moreover, although elements of Coy and Hedeen's (2005) co-optation model were useful in describing the developing relationship between the divorce professionals, we found different strategies of resistance at each stage of the process.     

SUPERVISED VISITATION: A CALL FOR A SECOND GENERATION OF RESEARCH

With the divorce rate rising and related child visitation disputes becoming an increasingly difficult issue before the courts, supervised visitation programs have proliferated over the last decade. The literature demonstrates that ongoing contact between children and both parents following separation and/or divorce is important for children's socio‐emotional adjustment and positive child/parent relations. However, there is a paucity of literature demonstrating a relationship between supervised visitation programs and child/parent relationship outcomes. Based on the lack of outcome research the authors argue for a second generation of research regarding intended and unintended consequences of supervised visitation. This article reviews and synthesizes the current literature, highlighting strengths, limitations, significant findings and proposes a critical need for evidence‐based research.     

Mediation,financial remedies,information provision and legal advice: the post-LASPO conundrum*

The near-total collapse in numbers of solicitors providing legal advice and assistance to publicly-funded clients attempting to settle private family law issues through mediation since the legal aid reforms implemented in 2013 raises important questions about how, if at all, clients in mediation can receive legal information and advice other than from lawyers in financial cases following divorce. This article explores, in a preliminary way, this aspect of mediation practice, drawing on small-scale qualitative data from a study conducted shortly prior to the legal aid reforms concerning the settlement of such cases. It explores how mediators then approached their (permissible) function of providing clients with legal information and how they dealt with cases where they felt that the proposed outcome was particularly unfair to one party or unlikely to be endorsed by a court, and asks how mediation practice – and legal practice – may come under pressure to change in this brave new world.     

BRINGING CHILDREN TO THE MEDIATION TABLE:

With the rise of divorce mediation as an effective means of resolving divorce and custody disputes, a question that arises is whether a child should actively participate in the mediation process to make his or her voice heard. This article discusses the costs and benefits of involvement, focusing on four specific approaches to the inclusion of children in divorce mediation. This article comes to the conclusion that the integration of children in mediation ought to be considered on a case-by-case basis, and further proposes that a child be included in divorce mediation in circumstances where the child's input is needed to help parents resolve an issue of dispute that concerns their child's interests.     

Disputed child custody: strategies and issues in mediation

Disputed child custody is a significant life stressor for both adults and children. Recent efforts have been made to develop a model for family mediation and subsequent clinical strategies that can attempt to address the stressors involved in divorce and perhaps resolve, through mediation, the posttrauma stress experienced by both spouses and children. Reviewed is the literature on the impact of separation and divorce on families and the use of family mediation to resolve disputes. It further addresses psychologic factors involved in the mediation process and the possible effects of mediation on divorce. An established family mediation model for treatment is presented in detail, as are clinical issues often addressed in the family mediation process. Issues and import for clinical application and research are offered.     

PROFESSIONAL INTERDEPENDENCE IN DIVORCE PRACTICES

Divorce mediation is one area of the new and growing field of interpersonal mediation. Differences and similarities between divorce mediation and divorce psychotherapy are discussed in this article, and a method for teamwork between the two professions is proposed. The authors take the approach that the separate but overlapping practices of mediation and psychotherapy can be interdependent and that specific benefits to divorcing clients can result when divorce mediation and divorce psychotherapy are practiced collaboratively.     

Divorce Israeli Style: Professional Perceptions of Gender and Power in Mediated and Lawyer-Negotiated Divorces

This study examines how the power of women is constructed by divorce professionals in a divorce process that is governed by rabbinical family law, the egalitarian ideology of the recently established family courts, and the growing use of mediation in divorce disputes. It is based on 254 questionnaires and 57 interviews with lawyers, mediators, and lawyer-mediators. We found that except for a minority of women lawyers, practitioners claimed that women were not disadvantaged by family law, and that mediation does not adversely affect weaker parties. However, their reactions to hypothetical situations indicated that rabbinical law does matter for women's bargaining power, and for lawyers' recommendations for mediation. This study reveals the complexities of the social construction of gender and power in divorce negotiations and the role of women professionals in empowering divorcing women.     

FATHER INVOLVEMENT AND LONG‐TERM YOUNG ADULT OUTCOMES: THE DIFFERENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF DIVORCE AND GENDER

The present study investigated the relationship between retrospectively reported father involvement and current reports of psychosocial outcomes in an ethnically diverse sample of 1,989 young adults. Outcomes included subjective well‐being, which has been traditionally used as an outcome of divorce, and desires for more or less father involvement, which have only recently been conceptualized as an outcome of divorce. The present results indicate that reported father involvement was related to subjective well‐being primarily in children from intact families, whereas it was related to desired father involvement primarily in children from divorced families. Among participants from divorced families, young women were more likely than young men to desire more expressive father involvement than they received. Implications for family court practices are discussed.     

MANDATORY MEDIATION OF CUSTODY IN THE FACE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Mediation is frequently mandated as a first step for custody, visitation, and divorce cases. As a process that requires a balance of power between participants, mediation is not an appropriate method to resolve domestic violence disputes, a phenomenon that reflects profound disparities in power between the perpetrator and the victim. Of all marriages referred to court-based divorce and custody/visitation mediation programs, 50% to 80% involve domestic violence. This raises very serious questions about mandatory mediation. This article considers the effects of domestic violence on the mediation process. It questions the use of mandatory mediation and suggests ways that mediators might recognize and respond to domestic violence.     

Prevalence and correlates of physical spousal violence against women in slum and nonslum areas of urban Bangladesh

This study explores the prevalence and correlates of past-year physical violence against women in slum and nonslum areas of urban Bangladesh. The authors use multivariate logistic regression to analyze data from the 2006 Urban Health Survey, a population-based survey of 9,122 currently married women aged between 15 and 49 who were selected using a multistage cluster sampling design. The prevalence of reported past-year physical spousal violence is 31%. Prevalence of past-year physical spousal violence is higher in slums (35%) than in nonslums (20%). Slapping/arm-twisting and pushing/shaking/ throwing something at the women are the most commonly reported acts of physical abuse. Multivariate analysis shows that the risk of physical spousal abuse is lower among older women, women with post-primary education, and those belonging to rich households and women whose husbands considered their opinion in decision making. Women are at higher risk of abuse if they had many children, believe that married woman should work if the husband is not making enough money, and approve wife-beating norms. This study serves to confirm the commonness of physical spousal abuse in urban Bangladesh, demonstrating the seriousness of this multifaceted phenomenon as a social and public health issue. The present findings suggest the need for comprehensive prevention and intervention strategies that capitalize on the interplay of individual and sociocultural factors that cause physical spousal violence. Our study adds to a growing literature documenting domestic violence against women in urban areas of developing south Asian nations.     

Reframing the mediation debate in Irish all-issues divorce disputes: from mediation vs. litigation to mediation and litigation

Mediation currently plays a minor role in the Irish family justice system, yet a policy consensus exists that more couples should be encouraged to mediate and that increased rates of mediation will reduce the numbers seeking redress through the courts. The Mediation Act 2017 adopts this position, assuming that the provision of information on mediation will increase uptake and that mediation offers an alternative to litigation for most civil disputes. This article reviews attempts in Ireland, England and Wales to encourage family disputants to mediate, identifying weaknesses in the information strategy. It also examines the legal framework governing all-issues divorce and dissolution in Ireland, pointing to the limited potential for mediation to act as an alternative to litigation. It concludes by arguing that policy focus must shift away from encouraging mediation as an alternative to litigation towards more nuanced understanding of mediation as a support to court based dispute resolution.     

离婚的财产法后果：批评性评析和欧洲前景展望

离婚后扶养、净益补偿和养老金补偿是德国离婚财产法补偿制度的三大支柱。近年来,这三大制度都经历了不同程度的修订和改革。这些改革在净益和养老金补偿方面产生了对离婚以后的经济负担合理分配的结果,但是在扶养法领域改革却发生了相反的影响,照顾子女的妇女所遭受的不利益没有得到足够的补偿。2010年2月4日签署的德法协定提供了一个适用于德法跨国婚姻的统一夫妻财产制规则。这一跨国的统一实体法规则可能为未来欧洲统一婚姻法提供了蓝本。     

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

This report describes the findings from a study of 79 mediation sessions tape-recorded at five sites in England: three independent agencies and two probation services. Mediators were found to have extensive power to influence both process and outcome, although this is restrained by the need to depict their role as formally neutral. This power is used both positively to encourage some options and negatively to discourage others. The content of settlements is not controlled exclusively by the parties. References to children's interests seem to be rarer than might be expected. They appear to arise more as a means of sanctioning parents than as a way of focusing discussion on what would be best for their children. There are few differences between the behavior of probation officers holding joint interviews with couples in the course of preparing a welfare report and the behavior of mediators working for independent agencies. Those that do occur seem to be more related to local contingencies than to some fundamental difference between court-associated and independent work. While co-working sometimes achieves the benefits claimed by its proponents, especially in the provision of additional insights into disputants' problems, it brings greater risks of unacceptable pressure from the concerted action of two mediators. This report does not undermine the case for seeing mediation as a useful addition to the means by which people may choose to arrange their divorces. However, it does argue that there is a need for clients to be given much clearer information about exactly what they should expect and to have a freer and more informed choice about whether or not to participate. It also underlines the need for mediators to have adequate training, especially in understanding the practical implications of divorce, and to be made properly accountable.     

GOING TO COURT AS A LAST RESORT: ESTABLISHING A DUTY FOR ATTORNEYS IN DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS TO DISCUSS ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION WITH THEIR CLIENTS

This Note advocates for the creation of a uniform ethical requirement that all attorneys in divorce proceedings involving children inform their clients about alternative dispute resolution (ADR), particularly mediation and collaborative law. By emphasizing cooperation and negotiation among the divorcing parents, both mediation and collaborative law offer these would-be litigants the opportunity to move forward with their parental duties long after the divorce is finalized. Using the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct as a template, this ethical requirement will ensure that clients are fully informed of the availability of ADR and of the chance to forgo potentially unnecessary litigation. Ultimately, the implementation of an ethical requirement holds the potential to minimize the impact of divorce on children by facilitating the process of moving forward for the family as a whole.     

SAMSON AND DELILAH IN DIVORCE MEDIATION

Does divorce mediation pose special problems for women that it does not pose for men? This article argues that the metaphor of power imbalances that has been invoked to express this concern has not only caused those in the field to see husbands and wives in political terms, but also prevented them from seeing how women, as well as men, influence the outcome of the discussions that take place between them.     

CHILD‐FOCUSED AND CHILD‐INCLUSIVE DIVORCE MEDIATION: COMPARATIVE OUTCOMES FROM A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF POSTSEPARATION ADJUSTMENT

This study compared outcomes over 1 year for two groups of separated parents, who attended two different forms of brief therapeutic mediation for entrenched parenting disputes. The two interventions each targeted psychological resolution of parental conflict, enhanced parental reflective function, and associated reduction of distress for their children. The child‐focused (CF) intervention actively supported parents to consider the needs of their children, but without any direct involvement of the children, while the child‐inclusive (CI) intervention incorporated separate consultation by a specialist with the children in each family, and consideration of their concerns with parents in the mediation forum. Repeated measures at baseline, 3 months, and 1 year postintervention explored changes over time and across treatments in conflict management, subjective distress, and relationship quality for all family members. Enduring reduction in levels of conflict and improved management of disputes, as reported by parents and children, occurred for both treatment groups in the year after mediation. The CI intervention had several impacts not evident in the other treatment group, related to relationship improvements and psychological well‐being. These effects were strongest for fathers and children. Agreements reached by the CI group were significantly more durable, and the parents in this group were half as likely to instigate new litigation over parenting matters in the year after mediation as were the CF parents. The article explores the potential of CI divorce mediation to not only safely include many children in family law matters related to them, but also to promote their developmental recovery from high‐conflict separation, through enhanced emotional availability of their parents.     

GENDER ISSUES IN FAMILY LAW

Family mediation has been the target of criticism from feminists, the legal profession, and mental health professionals. Although this article will primarily address the concerns of feminists, it will, to a limited extent, address some of the concerns put forth by the other groups because of the similarities in their perspectives. Many of the concerns and issues expressed by feminists are valid on one hand, yet contradictory on the other. By exploring the gains made by women and how these gains were incorporated in the Ontario Family Law Act, the contradictions inherent in their arguments will be revisited and discussed in relation to a feminist-informed mediation process. This article will explore seven aspects of the feminist critique of family mediation: protection of women and children's rights, spousal and child support, equal distribution of marital property, negotiations, empowerment, custody, and spousal abuse. Many of these issues are intertwined and therefore will occasionally be discussed in relation to other issues.     

PARENTS BEYOND CONFLICT

This article describes a parent education program for high-conflict families in the Multnomah Country Circuit Court, Portland, Oregon. The method emphasized an educational approach teaching conflict resolution skills. This course was rooted in the tenets of cognitive restructuring: if parents think differently about the other parent and their shared task of raising their children, they will feel differently, and they will act differently. The authors beleived many of the difficulties between parents were caused by the negative perception of the other parent created during the spousal relationship. They also believed the key to successful co-parenting is to reframe these perceptions emphasizing cooperation and joint problem-solving. Furthermore, they believed as the cooperation and joint problem-solving improvement would have a positive, reinforcing effect. Finally, the authors believed parents must learn to separate conflict in the spousal role from conflict in the parenting role.