Assessing Empowerment in Divorce Mediation (original) (raw)
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Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 1986
This article summarizes the results of an evaluation of mediation services in three court-based programs. Among the issues considered,are client evaluations of the mediation experience and their assessments of immediate and long-term effects. Two comparison groups are utilized: parents who contested custody without the offer of court-based mediation and parents who divorced but did not contest custody. Results of the research indicate that mediation provides a valuable compliment to the existing domestic relations court processes. Mediation enjoys high user satisfaction and helps promote compliance with the agreement, a sense of equity, and continued cooperation. Thus, while the expectations of the process should not be overstated, it appears that even a brief mediation with a troubledpopulation can produce modest but positive benefis.
Factors Affecting the Outcome of Divorce and Paternity Mediations
Family Court Review, 2011
Divorce mediation, an alternative to litigation when resolving disputes raised by the dissolution of a marriage or the separation of unmarried parents, has gained popularity over the past few decades. Yet, research is needed to better understand what processes make family mediation successful and for whom family mediation is successful. To study predictors of reaching agreement in family mediation, we gathered data from divorce and paternity cases at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law Viola J. Taliaferro Family and Children Mediation Clinic. Numerous factors, including history of intimate partner violence, father's reported concerns about participating in mediation, higher levels of father's income, number of mediation sessions, and attorney representation, were associated with lower rates of agreement. Associations between significant predictors are presented, as well as the combined impact of attorney representation and a history of relationship violence, which together significantly predicted lower agreement rates. The implications of these findings for understanding family mediation processes are considered.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND EMPOWERMENT IN CUSTODY AND VISITATION CASES
Family Court Review, 2005
This article reports a State Justice Institute funded research project attempting to demonstrate the di@erence between mediation and evaluation disputes over child custo+, and visitation where domestic violence is involved. The researchers attempted to develop samples at two courts-Hennepin County Circuit Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Mulinomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Oregon.
MANDATORY MEDIATION: ENCOURAGING RESULTS FOR THE COURT SYSTEM
Family Court Review, 2005
An evaluation of the effects of a local mandatory mediation rule on the court system was conducted. The outcomes of a randomly selected sample of divorce cases initiated after the mandatory mediation rule was invoked were compared to three groups: cases initiated in the same county prior to the mandatory rule, and preand post-mandatory mediation cases from a comparable county with no mediation requirement. The rule had several effects as the mandatory mediation sample showed: a higher proportion of stipulated agreements about custody and visitation arrangements; a "spillover" from custody issues to a higher proportion of agreements on all issues; and less time spent in the legal divorce process. Implications for the court system in terms of time and money are discussed, as well as the relative benefits of court-ordered, as opposed to voluntary, mediation.
Client Evaluations of Mediation Services
Family Court Review, 2005
Since 198 1, California law has required parents who cannot agree on terms for child custody and visitation to use court-based mediation before proceeding to a court hearing. In 1991 alone, court-based mediators worked with an estimated 65,500 families (Ricci et al., 1992). Mediation services vary across 58 superior courts, according to local rule.' How do parents assess the mandatory mediation step? Do client circumstances affect reactions to mediation? Does public response vary with the type of service model offered?