Mediation & Alternative Dispute Resolution


New findings about mediation and other alternative dispute resolution processes give insight about their effectiveness and application in legal systems around the world.

A more complete list of research report about divorce, remarriage and stepfamilies published in 2015 or between 2010-2015.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Kaspiew, R., Moloney, L., Dunstan, J., & De Maio, J. (2015). Family law court filings 2004-05 to 2012-13 (Research Report No. 30). Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. Read full publication

Trends in family law court filings over a nine year period provide insight about the impact of the court reforms that encouraged greater use of non-court mechanisms for resolving parenting disputes.  Results indicate a substantial decrease in court filings regarding child issues.  This report extends the findings of the 2009 study Evaluation of the 2006 Family Law Reforms.

Mediation

SABĂU, D., & SANDU, C. (2015)  Mediation: Styles Used in Cases Concerning Divorce. Conflict Studies Quarterly, 55.  http://www.csq.ro/wp-content/uploads/CSQ-12.pdf#page=55

In Romania alternative dispute resolution for conflicts between divorcing, separated or divorced couples have expanded rapidly.  This work looks at the mediation process and how mediators think about their work.

Legal Issues in divorce


Improving how we handle divorce disputes remains an important area of research and policy analysis.

Murphy, J. C., & Singer, J. B. (2015).  Divorced from reality:  Rethinking family dispute resolution.  New York, NY:  NYU Press.  ISBN: 9780814708934

Law professors outline ways to improve our policies and procedures to help families manage their disputes in more effective ways.  They suggest moving dispute resolution services out of the court and into the community, involving children more effectively in the decision-making process and insuring more time and involvement with both parents in post-divorce parenting plans.

Li, K. (2015). What He Did Was Lawful?: Divorce Litigation and Gender Inequality in China. Law & Policy. doi:

An examination of gender inequality in court proceedings before and during the divorce process.  This study examines the China legal system.

Family Court Review, July issue, 2015


Topics:  peacemaking, family law, alternative dispute resolution, religious values,

Mosten, F. S. (2015). Peacemaking for Divorcing Families: Editor’s Introduction. Family Court Review, 53(3), 357-360. doi:

Burgess, H., & Burgess, G. (2015). Applying the Strategies of International Peacebuilding to Family Conflicts: What Those Involved in Family Disputes Can Learn from the Efforts of Peacebuilders Working to Transform War-Torn Societies. Family Court Review, 53(3), 449-455. doi:

Cloke, K. (2015). Designing Heart-Based Systems to Encourage Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Divorcing Families. Family Court Review, 53(3), 418-426. doi:

Coates, C. A. (2015). The Parenting Coordinator as Peacemaker and Peacebuilder. Family Court Review, 53(3), 398-406. doi: 

Daicoff, S. S. (2015). Families in Circle Process: Restorative Justice in Family Law. Family Court Review, 53(3), 427-438. doi: 

Gamache, S. J. (2015). Family Peacemaking with an Interdisciplinary Team: A Therapist’s Perspective. Family Court Review, 53(3), 378-387. doi: 

Howe, W. J., & Scully, E. P. (2015). Redesigning the Family Law System to Promote Healthy Families. Family Court Review, 53(3), 361-370. doi: 

Lewis, H. T. T. (2015). Helping Families by Maintaining a Strong Well-Funded Family Court that Encourages Consensual Peacemaking: A Judicial Perspective. Family Court Review, 53(3), 371-377. doi:

Lund, M. E. (2015). The Place for Custody Evaluations in Family Peacemaking. Family Court Review, 53(3), 407-417. doi:

Marx, J. A. (2015). The Role of Western Religious Values in Peacemaking for Divorcing Families. Family Court Review, 53(3), 388-397. doi:

Morgillo, L. (2015). Do Not Make their Trauma Your Trauma: Coping with Burnout as a Family Law Attorney. Family Court Review, 53(3), 456-473. doi:

Mosten, F. S. (2015). Unbundled Services to Enhance Peacemaking for Divorcing Families. Family Court Review, 53(3), 439-448. doi: 

Nobile, J. J. (2015). Adoptions Gone Awry: Enhancing Adoption Outcomes Through Postadoption Services and Federal and State Laws Imposing Criminal Sanctions for Private Internet Rehoming. Family Court Review, 53(3), 474-486. doi:

Prisco, R. (2015). Parental Involvement in Juvenile Sex Offender Treatment: Requiring a Role as Informed Supervisor. Family Court Review, 53(3), 487-503. doi:

Schepard, A. (2015). July 2015. Family Court Review, 53(3), 355-356. doi:

Divorce Research Update– intimate partner violence, 8-3-15


Intimate partner violence in the divorce process remains a complicated situation for courts, families and those who care about them.  By understanding variations in intimate partner violence and the patterns of the divorce process can provide a better foundation for helping these families.

A more complete list of research report about divorce, remarriage and stepfamilies published in 2015 or between 2010-2015.

Gulliver, P., & Fanslow, J. L. (2015). The Johnson Typologies of Intimate Partner Violence: An Investigation of Their Representation in a General Population of New Zealand Women. Journal of Child Custody, 12(1), 25-46. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2015.1037051

Hardesty, J. L., Hans, J. D., Haselschwerdt, M. L., Khaw, L., & Crossman, K. A. (2015). The Influence of Divorcing Mothers’ Demeanor on Custody Evaluators’ Assessment of Their Domestic Violence Allegations. Journal of Child Custody, 12(1), 47-70. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2014.943451

Kaplan, P. L. (2015). Comment on Kleinman and Walker’s “Protecting the Psycotherapy Clients From the Shadow of the Law: A Call for the Revision of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) Guidelines for Court-Involved Therapy”. Journal of Child Custody, 12(1), 93-95. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2015.1037053

Khaw, L., & Hardesty, J. L. (2015). Perceptions of Boundary Ambiguity in the Process of Leaving an Abusive Partner. Family Process, 54(2), 327-343. doi: 

Lambert, J. E. (2015). Introduction to the Special Issue on Attitudes and Current Research Concerning Intimate Partner Violence: Issues for Child Custody. Journal of Child Custody, 12(1), 1-3. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2015.1039918

Meier, J. S. (2015). Johnson’s Differentiation Theory: Is It Really Empirically Supported? Journal of Child Custody, 12(1), 4-24. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2015.1037054

Saunders, D. G. (2015). Research Based Recommendations for Child Custody Evaluation Practices and Policies in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Child Custody, 12(1), 71-92. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2015.1037052

Divorce Research Update– 7-27-2015


New findings about predictors of divorce, marital quality, cohabitation, GLBT divorce and more.  The most recent issue of the Journal of Family Psychology Volume 29, Issue 3, (Jun) includes 5 articles that address important issues in our understanding of divorce.

A more complete list of research report about divorce, remarriage and stepfamilies published in 2015 or between 2010-2015.

Goldberg, A. E., & Garcia, R. (2015). Predictors of relationship dissolution in lesbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parents. Journal of Family Psychology,29(3), 394.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000095

Goldberg, J. S., & Carlson, M. J. (2015). Patterns and Predictors of Coparenting After Unmarried Parents Part. Journal of Family Psychology,29(3), 416-426. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000078

James, S. L. (2015). Variation in Marital Quality in a National Sample of Divorced Women. Journal of Family Psychology,29(3) http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000082

Bourassa, K. J., Sbarra, D. A., & Whisman, M. A. (2015). Women in Very Low Quality Marriages Gain Life Satisfaction Following Divorce. Journal of Family Psychology,29(3) http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000075

Rhoades, G. K., Stanley, S. M., Markman, H. J., & Allen, E. S. (2015). Can Marriage Education Mitigate the Risks Associated With Premarital Cohabitation? Journal of Family Psychology, 29(3), 500-506. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000081

 

Social Dynamics Shape Brain Functioning….Divorce Research Updates 7-20-2015


Brains shape how we view the world, but our social and cultural worlds shape our brain.

A more complete list of research report about divorce, remarriage and stepfamilies published in 2015 or between 2010-2015.

Abraham, A. (2015). How Social Dynamics Shape Our Understanding of Reality. In Neuroscience in Intercultural Contexts (pp. 243-256). Springer New York.

In this chapter, Abraham examines the capacity for human beings to create and immerse themselves in multiple fictional worlds yet still not lose sight of reality.  She writes, “Behavioral and neuroimaging evidence indicate that cultural factors, such as ethnicity and socialization, exert considerable influence on several facets of human psychological functioning including self-perception, self-concept, fundamental attribution error, experience of emotion, self-esteem and life satisfaction, cognitive dissonance, motivation, and memory.”

 

 

Divorce Research Update– J of D & Remarriage


Relocation, emerging adults, international perspectives.  The July 2015 issue of the Journal of Divorce and Remarriage.

A more complete list of research report about divorce, remarriage and stepfamilies published in 2015 or between 2010-2015.

Abela, A., Casha, C., Debono, M., & Lauri, M. A. (2015). Attitudes About Remarriage in Malta. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 56(5), 369-387. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2015.1046799

Al Gharaibeh, F. M. (2015). The Effects of Divorce on Children: Mothers’ Perspectives in UAE. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 56(5), 347-368. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2015.1046800

Jensen, T. M., & Bowen, G. L. (2015). Mid- and Late-Life Divorce and Parents’ Perceptions of Emerging Adult Children’s Emotional Reactions. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 56(5), 409-427. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2015.1046795

Saini, M., Allan-Ebron, D., & Barnes, J. (2015). A Critical Review of Relocation Research Specific to Separation and Divorce. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 56(5), 388-408. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2015.1046797

Divorce Research Update 7-6-2015


 A cross cultural look at the antecedents and consequences of divorce can provide further insights into our understanding of divorce.

A more complete list of research report about divorce, remarriage and stepfamilies published in 2015 or between 2010-2015.

Härkönen, Juho (forthcoming). Divorce. In Scott, Robert A. & Kosslyn, Stephen M. (Eds.), Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.

A nice summary of some theoretical and methodological issues to consider in studying divorce with some good references to this literature in Europe.

Terekhina S.A. Approaches to assessing the psychological well-being of minors when the parents divorce. Psikhologiia i pravo = Psychology and Law, 2015. no. 1, pp. 119–128. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.). Download PDF-fulltext (576 kb)  

Only the abstract is in English, but this summary hints at some careful thinking about the conceptualization of “psychological well-being” in regards to children who have experienced the divorce of their parents.

Andersson, G., Obucina, O. & Scott, K. (2015).  Marriage and Divorce of Immigrants and Descendants to Immigrants in Sweden, Stockholm Research Reports in Demography 2015: 14.  (as noted on the paper this document has not received careful scientific review.)

A thoughtful examination of the marriage, divorce and remarriage patterns among immigrants to Sweden.  The sample is large enough to examine variations among different immigrant groups (e.g., Eastern European and the Middle East/Africa).  The authors explore the differential impact of “migration stress” on the marital patterns of immigrant children and adults.